Minnesota Focus Owners Club

So,

My shifter is really snug and difficult lately. It is pretty hard to shift into 1st and 2nd. Reverse is REALLY hard to find and shift into. The other gears are okay for the most-part. Reverse seems to be getting more and more difficult.

What is causing this? What can i do to fix it? Would the 6-speed shifter for sale on here solve my problems? Thanks again for the help with stuff like this.

Take it to a mechanic. You're gonna have a million other problems trying to put a getrag in the ST.

Cold weather can be a big factor in itself but the Duratecs have also had some issues with clutch disc delamination (basically the disc gets thicker) which causes difficulty in shifting.

Does the issue seem to be temperature related?

I've also run into one guy that had a roll pin in the shift shaft shear off and cause a similar shifting issue.

A Getrag swap can be done but it's a lot more involved than you'd think.

Good to know. Thank you.

Here's the problem though. I am very low on money this year with my wife's job being cut. It's hard to find a trustworthy mechanic who will tell me what is wrong with my car rather than...well, B-Sing me into a whole bunch of crap. No offense to mechanics on here.

If you can get down this way theres guys on here like Focinite and Focusmech (tech here at Tousley) or about the best independent shop I know is Lutz auto in Hugo.

FORDSVTPARTS wrote:Cold weather can be a big factor in itself but the Duratecs have also had some issues with clutch disc delamination (basically the disc gets thicker) which causes difficulty in shifting.

Does the issue seem to be temperature related?

I've also run into one guy that had a roll pin in the shift shaft shear off and cause a similar shifting issue.

A Getrag swap can be done but it's a lot more involved than you'd think.

We must have posted at the same instant. I was meaning to respond to tgnorman in the first one. Anyways, It does seem as if the disc is thicker. It doesn't seem to be weather related, because reverse is consistently difficult. I won't do the swap...in my ignorant mind, it seemed like an easy fix...but apparently not so much. Does anyone know of any trustworthy mechanics up this way?

I don't know of any shops in Duluth sorry.

so after driving it around for awhile it doesn't get better? one day i was having shifter problems too (really hard to move) and after a 30 min warm up when i shifted next it was fine, that's in an auto.
do you plug in your car?
can you find a heated garage to park it in and let it thaw out before you pay a shop to tell you you're clogged up with snow

Monkey-Gein wrote:so after driving it around for awhile it doesn't get better? one day i was having shifter problems too (really hard to move) and after a 30 min warm up when i shifted next it was fine, that's in an auto.
do you plug in your car?
can you find a heated garage to park it in and let it thaw out before you pay a shop to tell you you're clogged up with snow

Not the same thing at all.

i know what you're saying steve. but ther are external moving parts on a manual. they are completly different from an auto but still there

I have a large garage, but it's not heated. I suppose I can start plugging it in at night and see if that makes a difference. This morning it shifted into reverse pretty well actually. Maybe it's just a fluke.

The MTX is notorious for being hard to shift when cold, it's really just a fact of life with a manual transmission in our climate.

My Getrag gets pretty bad in temps near or below zero and I remember my old MTX's were a fair bit worse, my 2000 ZX3 was MUCH better when I used the block heater so give it a shot and see what happens.

Synthetic gearbox oil? Made a world of difference with mine when I switched over.

tgnorman wrote:Synthetic gearbox oil? Made a world of difference with mine when I switched over.

That's what they come with I thought?

CleanZX3 wrote:

tgnorman wrote:Synthetic gearbox oil? Made a world of difference with mine when I switched over.

That's what they come with I thought?

I know mine felt like trying to shift through a bunch of bearing grease before I put synthetic in it. Makes a world of difference.