Gear shifting issues at 60,000 miles

[Damo334]

Hey all,

I'm new here. I recently bought a Ford Mondeo 2012 Zetec 1.6 TD on finance. It has 60,000 miles on the clock. I have an escalating issue and really hope someone on here could help me.

Basically, I travel a lot, to get to work. About 100 miles a day, on motorways. I only bought the Mondeo 2 weeks ago, and it has the same symptoms as my old 2002 Renault Megane 1.9 DCI, which is the fact that it can 'at times' be very difficult to shift into 2nd gear, and even less commonly, 1st gear. It feels like something is trying to stop me change into those gears.

My old Megane eventually died, as I heard a loud bang and was suddenly unable to drive anywhere. I could get the car into any gear, and rev in neutral no problem. Revving in gear would just cause a grinding sound, and move nowhere. Conclusion was the gearbox was damaged and needed replacing, although most believed it to be the driveshaft before the garage told me this.

As my Mondeo is experiencing the same symptoms, I would really like to ask for some help here, before the issue escalates and becomes a repeat occurance of breaking down. I just heard I may just need to top up the fluids, and not doing so could have caused my old car's gearbox to eventually break entirely. Is this true? Is it really that simple to fix?

Sorry, I'm not mechanically minded :( 

Thanks for reading,

Damien

[pragmatix]

If it's still under warranty take it back to the dealers

[BOF]

 

On Friday February 26, 2016 at 7:47 PM, Damo334 said:

Hey all,

I'm new here. I recently bought a Ford Mondeo 2012 Zetec 1.6 TD on finance. It has 60,000 miles on the clock. I have an escalating issue and really hope someone on here could help me.

Basically, I travel a lot, to get to work. About 100 miles a day, on motorways. I only bought the Mondeo 2 weeks ago, and it has the same symptoms as my old 2002 Renault Megane 1.9 DCI, which is the fact that it can 'at times' be very difficult to shift into 2nd gear, and even less commonly, 1st gear. It feels like something is trying to stop me change into those gears.

My old Megane eventually died, as I heard a loud bang and was suddenly unable to drive anywhere. I could get the car into any gear, and rev in neutral no problem. Revving in gear would just cause a grinding sound, and move nowhere. Conclusion was the gearbox was damaged and needed replacing, although most believed it to be the driveshaft before the garage told me this.

As my Mondeo is experiencing the same symptoms, I would really like to ask for some help here, before the issue escalates and becomes a repeat occurance of breaking down. I just heard I may just need to top up the fluids, and not doing so could have caused my old car's gearbox to eventually break entirely. Is this true? Is it really that simple to fix?

Sorry, I'm not mechanically minded :(

Thanks for reading,

Damien

 

 

 

For the first part of the answer, see post from pragmatix: if it is the dealer's responsibility, get them involved from the start.

I'm not sure the stuff about your Megane makes things that much clearer: when you say your Mondy has the same symptoms, do you mean all of them (presumably not). If not all, which ones?

Now, this could be the clutch or the gearbox. If the clutch isn't fully disengaging, the gears will be difficult to select. The gearbox and/or the linkages could be the problem, but, if it is the gearbox itself usually first gear is the most problematic and it is usually worse when cold.

If, by 'fluids' you mean the gearbox oil, then that could be an issue. Usually, it would only get that bad if practically all of the oil had gone, and that would take a fair amount of oil losing and presumably a fair amount of oil where you had parked. Now, there is the possibility that a little oil escapes or the oil goes 'off' and the gear shift gets worse, but that isn't what you reported, but something worse.
 

[Damo334]

On 28/02/2016 at 5:50 PM, BOF said:

For the first part of the answer, see post from pragmatix: if it is the dealer's responsibility, get them involved from the start.

I'm not sure the stuff about your Megane makes things that much clearer: when you say your Mondy has the same symptoms, do you mean all of them (presumably not). If not all, which ones?

Now, this could be the clutch or the gearbox. If the clutch isn't fully disengaging, the gears will be difficult to select. The gearbox and/or the linkages could be the problem, but, if it is the gearbox itself usually first gear is the most problematic and it is usually worse when cold.

If, by 'fluids' you mean the gearbox oil, then that could be an issue. Usually, it would only get that bad if practically all of the oil had gone, and that would take a fair amount of oil losing and presumably a fair amount of oil where you had parked. Now, there is the possibility that a little oil escapes or the oil goes 'off' and the gear shift gets worse, but that isn't what you reported, but something worse.
 

Hey BOF,

I left my car at the dealership today. They are going to take a look at it tomorrow morning, to see what the issue is. However, I just received a phone call stating that they tried driving in my car it appears to be just fine. They will still look at it tomorrow just in case. With that in mind, it must be the way I drive then. I thought I was doing everything right.

The Mondeo is showing the same symptoms as the Megane, where it is difficult to get into 2nd gear. It's like the gear stick is catching on something, so more force is necessary to 'jam' it into gear.

1st gear seems just fine for the most part, it's never an issue first thing in the morning; when 2nd gear is at it's worst. However, it CAN be difficult to get into 1st whilst on the road, i.e. during traffic - but that may just be myself trying to get into 1st too early, i.e. enough revs to stay in 2nd.

By fluids, I was referring to oil and clutch / brake fluid. Unfortunately, that all seems OK, as everything seems to be hitting the maximum line. So, this is not the issue :(

My dealer just drove me home now, and was saying in the car that if it becomes difficult to get into a gear, just lift the clutch up a little bit, while still attempting to get into that gear, then the car will just naturally slip into gear.

I also just read the following:

"You don't have to press the clutch pedal all the way down in order to change gear. In fact, if you do this, you will cause unnecessary stress and wear on the diaphragm spring in the release mechanism. To change gear, you only have to clear the drive to free the gearbox, which is achieved as soon as you have passed the 'biting point'. "

See, I had a huge gap from passing my test (at 20) to actually driving again (24), so I think I may have been driving incorrectly. I tend to ensure the clutch is practically touching the floor, then I change gear, then I slowly release the clutch. According to my dealer, and the text above, I'm not supposed to do this.

Thanks,

Damien