The vehicle has covered 42k miles and has full Ford service history.

The problem:- when moving the selector lever from P to R the movement is very stiff and grates as two dry metal surfaces rubbing together. It only occurs between P to R and back again, other than that the box changes ok. It is a tiptronic box. It is so stiff my wife cannot move the selector lever out of P. Any thoughts?

On auto's you will know that you have to pull the little release under the knob itself. When you put the brake on, it closes the circuit and releases this pin, however, if its not fully disengaged, its likely that this is stopping you from moving it smoothly. To the top right of the selector, you will see the a little black square, this is the emergency release from park. If you open the up and activate this switch that should disengage the locking lever and might help to make things more smooth until its repaired.

Thank you James.

I have done as you suggested but to no avail. I wonder if it is the locking pin moving over the quadrant to a position where it is no longer in contact with it, perhaps it needs greasing. Also, could it be the gear selection cable inner binding on the outer sheath but then I would have thought the operation would be rough throughout the range of movement. I shall delve further and report back.

Hi Phil, I agree disassembling the knob and checking the pin is a good place to start, but as you say, I think the selector is less likely to be the issue given that it is free moving the rest of the way. It could be as simple as one of the plastic shutters on the gear selector cover could be damaged and is just catching on something underneath, where you need to apply brute force to overcome it.

Have you checked the colour of your transmission fluid? May need changing

Hi Byron,

No I haven't checked it although the last time I was in at the local Ford dealers I asked the question about oil changes for the auto box and the reply was it was not a requirement.

For the last twenty years I have been running a Volvo 240 auto and the last two cars were Honda CR-v's both autos and in every case there was an oil change requirement at some stage - I used to get the oil changed every two years regardless of mileage and had no problems. The Volvo auto box was still working sweetly at near 200k miles.

I will check the oil as you suggest, however I think I shall get it changed anyway. I have always tended to knock the selector into neutral in standing traffic as it takes the load of the clutches, however the last owner probably left it in drive as my wife tends to do unless I remind her.

Thanks for your input and I will report back.

Ford also said the same to me, if that was the case though why would they provide a dipstick for the trans fluid? Other boxes are sealed so why different on the C-Max..

I read somewhere that your meant to change it every 35k, think it was honest john website, I did find this though:

http://www.justanswer.com/uk-ford/6ham0-ford-cmax-zetec-recently-become-owner-2008.html

It's all to do with reducing the servicing/maintenance cost when they release the models

Update on the stiff selection problem:-

The selector problem seems to have improved on its own over time and although can be a bit stiff it does not grate as in metal to metal contact any more, however I was in the local Ford garage and asked the question about first gear selection when coming to a stop, it thumps sometimes. The auto box technician took it out for a run and declared all was fine and he could find no fault. When questioned about oil changes he said the oil in the box was clean but he would remove the pan and change the oil if I wished, I declined the offer.

Thank you to all who tried to help with this problem.

Phil