I have a 2005 Ford Focus Man Trans, and am having issues getting it into first gear and into reverse. This happens most often when the car is cold. I am kind of wondering what it may mean before I take it in to have the issue fixed. It has 65 thou miles on it and I would think that I dont need a new trans already?
The gear oil (or whatever) in the tranny is probably just turning into jello in the cold. My last Sonata would do that as well. Does it work OK once it warms up?
Well it will do it when it is warmed up also, but not as often. The clutch is working fine, but I cant seem to get first gear to engage correctly, I will have to shift it into second to get it into first.
I’ve never driven a Focus, so it’s hard to say for sure, but some cars just do that. Without going into overly technical stuff, it’s just a “feature” in how the transmission is designed. My MR2 does it going into reverse sometimes. When you put it into second before you put it into first you’re “setting up” the transmission to accept the change into first. (mechanics reading this, yes, I know, but I’m giving the simple explanation here).
I hope that is all it is, I just read in some other posts that people were needing to have new trans put in their cars, that ford had an issue with this stuff. I dont want this to be somethng simple and take it in and somone say i need a new trans and all I really needed was a lube of some sort!!!
Well, again, without knowing the specifics of your tranny, I can’t really say if this is normal or indicative of a problem. You might be better off asking some Focus enthusiasts - -google Focus message board.
I suspect the clutch is not quite “working fine.”
If the clutch is not disengaging fully when you depress the pedal, it will do EXACTLY what you describe.
Please check the clutch fluid level in the reservoir as a first step.
How does it shift when the engine is not running? Is it difficult to get into first or reverse when it’s not running?
What date did this car go into service? If it was a leftover at the end of the year and bought in 2006, it may still be under warranty, as it came with a 5 year, 100k powertrain warranty.
Read what the others say before proceeding, but I had a like problem and a change of the transmission fluid took care of the problem for me. The OEM fluid was something like 90W and I drained it and replaced it with something like 70W90 synthetic. It even got me about 1 mpg better. I say that because that car I had was a 1970 (or maybe 1965) over thank kind of time, three are changes.