Notchy gear change - hard to put in 3rd?

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ItsAnArse

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2021
Messages
81
As the title says, going from a high mileage Fiesta to a low mileage Puma the gear shift is very tight. Feels like the new. I struggle to put it into 3rd, it's quite notchy.

I was planning on changing the gearbox oil anyway but wondered instead if this is normal?
 
I don't remember it being a struggle but the gear change is very precise, always felt great compared to others
 
I've since seen a track day video where someone seems to be slow to change to 3rd gear. No problem 1st to 2nd or 3rd to 4th. Just slower into 3rd and I wonder if this is why...
 
Check your gear box oil level, as I have seen many that have virtually no oil in there. Molyslip for gearbox's also works well if you have the correct level of oil. There is no need to change Gear oil unless you have had a bearing failure
 
DOH said:
Check your gear box oil level, as I have seen many that have virtually no oil in there. Molyslip for gearbox's also works well if you have the correct level of oil. There is no need to change Gear oil unless you have had a bearing failure

Apologies for the late response, I will have to check this. I believe the fill and drain ports are on the front of the IB5 behind a plastic cover? I think that's where they were on my Fiesta.

From what I can see the gearbox oil needed is 75w90. I will fire up my Windows XP machine with the Ford TIS on to check.

Another thing. I realised the gear change isn't via cable but by rods on this so I'm going to have a look at the linkages. See if I can lube them up or something. :cheer:
 
There is only a filling plug that you will need a large allen key to undo on the gearbox. There is no drain plug on the box
 
You can drain the box by removing the detent below the fill plug, just make sure you don't move the gear lever while the detent is out.

I've never been a fan of the filled for life thing. One of the first things I did on my millennium was change all the fluids, 72k miles and 22 year old oil is never the best combination in my opinion. When draining the oil it was very dirty, I flushed it through with a few litres of clean oil then ran it for a few days and drained and filled it again. It felt like a new gearbox after.
 
caprixpack said:
You can drain the box by removing the detent below the fill plug, just make sure you don't move the gear lever while the detent is out.

I've never been a fan of the filled for life thing. One of the first things I did on my millennium was change all the fluids, 72k miles and 22 year old oil is never the best combination in my opinion. When draining the oil it was very dirty, I flushed it through with a few litres of clean oil then ran it for a few days and drained and filled it again. It felt like a new gearbox after.

By detent, do you mean the reverse switch?

Filled for the life it will live. My other car is a 1998 BMW 528i with an auto box and I knew I wanted to do an oil and filter change on it. Bought the kit, you should have seen the state of the 200k mile oil and filter. YUCK!!!
 
The plug below the Allen key fill plug.
IMG_1106.jpg.6062891de1a0818fcbaa1ed7b267e30b.jpg
It's not a puma box but it's an IB5 and the same setup.
 
Brilliant, thanks very much. I've ordered some Motul Gear 300 75w90 which should arrive in the next few days.
 
I've successfully changed the oil, for the most part. The full capacity is 2.8 litres according to Ford TIS. I started with the fill plug of course (8 mm allen) and oil came pouring out. Pretty dark brown though I didn't know what to expect as I've only ever done this on my 5 series and that took bright red Dexron II (and was the darkest of browns).

I think it may have been a bit over filled. Unsure, I recall reading fill it to about 10 mm below the fill port. Which is pretty hard to judge in the dark at 8:45pm on the night before a 140 mile round trip (furthest I've done this far in the Puma).

The 5th gear detent came out with a 19 mm hex socket on a breaker bar. Pretty tight both plugs. It took 2 litres to fill it back up. So 800 ml remained of the original.

Seems to shift just as of it did before to be honest, but I'm sure it has made the box quieter. I want to drain another litre soon and replace it with fresh Motul.
 

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