Hi, over the past few months my car has been struggling to change gear. It is an automatic, so we came to the conclusion the transmission filter and fluid needs changing. Thinking this was a fairly easy job, we ordered the filter and fluid and took it to the garage. It turns out we haven't got the correct filter or fluid. Can anyone help in regards to what fluid and filter we need! The car is an 07 regards ford focus zetec 1.6 ltr engine, 4 speed. Thanks, I hope somebody can help!!

Is it the zf gearbox?

Not that I know of, it's my mum's car. It's got that bad that to get it to the garage I had to drive it in manual mode in second gear and it really struggled. Sometimes it refuses to select reverse. We might be wrong in regards to the transmission filter we just want to know what the problem could be

Could be a bad selector, Do you get transmission failure on screen?

Yes usually after about ten minutes of driving in manual. It won't drive in automatic so I select manual and drive in second gear. The original problem was that it was over revving before selecting a gear then it got worse upto this point now. Just hope it isn't too expensive to fix

Is it best to be put through diagnostics to find out what it is?

Definitely should have an error code with it. You can try the on-board computer to check if there's any useful codes

The car is in a garage at the moment but won't touch it until we know exactly what the problem is. So you think it could be a gearbox selector problem?

Also when the problem started we checked the transmission fluid dipstick and it was dry so the ford dealer told us to get some in which we did but the problem just got worse to be honest

I think the damage is already done. If you had no oil in there your talking friction damage grinding gears and floating contaminant. When your car is cold the oil is more dense, less movement and less presence of issues whereas about 10 minutes in the car is heating up, the stuff is moving around and risking locking up the gearbox. I would be very cautious here and consider a new gearbox as a potential resolution.

Ok thanks very much for your help

I hope I'm wrong fella and looking forward to better news. Let us know how it goes

Will do. Would it make a difference if we changed the filter and fluid or is it a waste of money? We know it's a transmission fault from the message on the screen. Clutching at straws I think. Going to get in touch with ford today.

If you haven't already it can make a difference and can prolong it's life

Job done, got put on diagnostics found 6 faults ford narrowed it down to the filter so it's been flushed. £210 down but it runs better. Still struggles but mechanic reckons the gearbox itself might have worn but after running it for a while that might fix itself. Fingers crossed! Cheers for the advice.