In January, I bought a 2008 1.8 Tdci Mondeo Hatchback. It has a 6 forward gear box. This is my first experience with diesel engine and I have little experience with a manual transmission. I bought the car from a dealer who guarenteed the drive train the car so I expect the clutch was looked at carefully before I bought it and it had it's 120,000 Kilometer servicing in June from the dealer.

When I down shift from third to second, the car will sometimes judder and I must go to 1st. None of this is smooth. I am mishandling the gears in this car or there is a mechnical problem that needs attention? I expect that the car should proceed smoothly by shifting into second in these circustances However. I understand that this car is a bit underpowered with a 1.8.

Any way, I'd appreciate any ideals or suggestions.

Richard

had this exact problem twice & went thru 3 boxes trying to find a good one.eneded up buying a brand new box from ford (half price),& still expensive as hell.

It'll be your 2nd gear synchro is failing.No other option but to have it repaired. folk will tell you to try an oil change,but it wont make any difference(it might for cpl days but it'll revert back to the original problem).

The only other thing I can think of is getting your gear selector cable at gearbox lined up properly.

you put it into 2nd gear,unsnap the little clip at cable(box end),get someone to sit in car holding it in 2nd gear position,then just snap the little clip back.thats it. It'd be great if that helps but i suspect it could be your synchro as mentioned before

just read your post again. Im a bit puzzled as to the shuddering though.do you feel any shuddering thru clutch pedal?

120,000k is about the mark when synchro's start to play up. A lot of folk try new oil change but dont realise the synchro needs friction to work,so putting in new oil is a no-no most of the time. These 6 speed boxes are a pain in the !Removed! full stop.

Thanks for your reply Stooge75. The shudder feels like the engine. the car shuddpers. Since I posted, I've skipped trying to get into 2nd and now go straight to 1st which helps a lot. But it's really not very smooth.

Also since I last posted I have experiened that I would describe as "sudden acceleration" which seems to have nothing to do with the engine and may be nothing more than not decellerating when I expect it. I just wonder how this fits into your scenerio

99% of the time, the car is a joy to drive. There are some tricks to driving a diesel with a 6 speed and I just hoping I was the cultrip. I live in Hungary and the ford dealer is the only semi-trust worthy service provider for me.

Thanks again.

when you mention the lack of deacceleration,do you mean when you press clutch in to downshift? are your revs sticking when shifting down a gear?

thanks for you prompt reply.

I didn't express myself well. I'll try again. In certian cases, I take my foot off the accelerator to allow the car to slow down slightly and the car feels like it speeds up very briefly. This happens very rarely and its over quickly and it's possible that I just sense the car is accelerating while in fact its just maintaining its speed. I have little oppotunity to analyze the situation. Its entirely possible I was in second grear went this appented and that's why I asked about the problem you mentioned about the 2nd grear synchromesh.

The revs are not sticking. The sudder is similar to when a engine doesn't produced enough power for the grear. Anyone who has driven a manual transmission has had this experience.

thanks again.

at what speed are you trying to get 2nd gear?

Thank you for your interest

Slow -- 15 to 30 MPH

I should have mentioned long ago, that I cannot detect any slippage in the clutch at any speed in any gear.

Its a waste of time trying to diagnose this problem online. It could be just an engine mount,DMF starting to fail,could even be injector related but doubt it. You need to take it to a good mechanic,(forget Ford),they should find the source of the problem.

just one thing,how are you managing to get it into 1st gear?or are you just talking about putting gear-stick into 1st gear position only,then into 2nd? If you're having to go into 1st position,before 2nd,it'll either be your DMF is starting to fail,your cable selector isnt lined up properly,2nd gear synchro is knackered,or a problem with 2nd gear.

as i said its pointless trying to find the cause here,as it'll only be rectified once a mechanic makes his diagnosis(which will probably need gearbox taken out etc).sorry,i know its not what you wanted to hear,but transmission problems can be a nightmare on these cars.(been there lol)

first of all, I agree that it's hardly likely we can deduce a valid diangnosis on this forum. I appreciate your time and thoughts and sharing your experiences.

The purpose of my original post to determine if the problem was caused by me or the car and I think I have you answered my question.

I would like your opinion about one more matter. Ignoring everything else in this thread, is it possible for a actual physical grear change to be delayed a moment or two after the driver has changed the gears?

Just curious.

Thanks again.

No,what makes you ask that?

Just wondering. Still pondering the cause of the car not decelerating when I exect it to.

Thanks

does it slow down or not? when you change gears,what does your RPM do? have you looked at rpm clock to see if your revs are sticking? I have a feeling its maybe your clutch pedal sensor playing up if its what i think it is. Mines went about a month ago,when ya change gears,you should be able to tell just by the sound of the engine,or by looking at rpm if its going back to 750/800 when you press clutch in. does it? also if its your clutch sensor,does the car lurch when you change gear,& take foot off clutch to engage the gear?

to be honest im not sure you even have a problem lol

To be honest with you, I'm also not sure I have a problem. The RPMs sound find.

I think it's time to put this thread to bed. Everything I know to say about the situation I've all ready said. I guess, I'll just let it go until I have to do something.

Thanks againf for your interest. I've enjoyed exchange posts with you.

Richard