UK Focus Manual Gear Stick spring gone
Justin Case
I remember this being discussed at some length some time ago however
despite Google searches I can't find anything about it (thought that I had
"filed" it but can't find it anywhere).
My 2000v 1.8 Zetec manual has a gearstick which has gone wobbly. I seem
to remember that there was a spring which breaks and that it was relatively
easy to fix.
1. Do I need to get it to my Ford dealer immediately?
2. Will it cause any more damage by driving and of course, gear changing?
3. Is it expensive to fix?
4. Is it easy to do oneself?
Thanks Guys,
First thing gone wrong in 37000 miles (other than rattles, fuses and the
pedal box knocking..........)
Justin
Chris
Justin Case wrote:
> Hi all and particularly Paul G and Tim,
> I remember this being discussed at some length some time ago however
> despite Google searches I can't find anything about it (thought that I had
> "filed" it but can't find it anywhere).
> My 2000v 1.8 Zetec manual has a gearstick which has gone wobbly. I seem
> to remember that there was a spring which breaks and that it was relatively
> easy to fix.
> 1. Do I need to get it to my Ford dealer immediately?
No.
> 2. Will it cause any more damage by driving and of course, gear changing?
Very unlikely
> 3. Is it expensive to fix?
No- from memory about £2 to £3.
> 4. Is it easy to do oneself?
Yes, as long as you are a) patient and b) not ham fisted
>
> Thanks Guys,
> First thing gone wrong in 37000 miles (other than rattles, fuses and the
> pedal box knocking..........)
>
> Justin
>
>
Try searching the UK Focus owners club forums (forum.ffoc.co.uk/forum) -
one of the guys there did a step by step description of the process,
with part number etc. I did some photos when I replaced mine which I can
try and find if you get stuck.
Cheers,
Chris
Cut along the dotted line to reply
Justin Case
cause any problems if I drive around to garage etc.
Tried looking at the ffoc pages, it looks like the forum bit is offline at
the moment being updated. I did a search when on the site and it came up
with nothing. Tried every combination of "broken gear shift/stick/knob/box
spring etc" with no luck.
Now that you have re-assured me that I won't have a problem driving to the
garage, I shall try local Ford dealer tomorrow morning. Will let you know,
if it is cheapish and they can do it, might let 'em, if expensive and they
can't do it anyway, I may try and see how hamfisted I am? Don't search for
pics yet in case they fix it for me, don't want to waste any more of your
time.......thanks again for prompt reply#
Justin
"Chris" <ch...@chrisangalongthedottedline.free-online.co.uk> wrote in
message news:br7r1t$des$1...@sparta.btinternet.com...
Paul Giverin
Case <Justin...@takedogoutb4replyingNOSPAM.pom> writes
>Thanks for your prompt response Chris; at least I am happy that I won't
>cause any problems if I drive around to garage etc.
>Tried looking at the ffoc pages, it looks like the forum bit is offline at
>the moment being updated. I did a search when on the site and it came up
>with nothing. Tried every combination of "broken gear shift/stick/knob/box
>spring etc" with no luck.
Its back online now. Try searching for "spring gear lever" in the
drivetrain section and you will find it. Anyway, to save you time I've
cut and pasted the article below. The spring costs £1.28 apparently.
======================================================
Remove cup front cup holder plastic bottom bits.
Remove rear centre ashtray thing.
Remove little plastic round screw cover from under rear centre ashtray.
Unclip the gearstick leather (with plastic bracket - just fiddle and
pull) and unscrew the gearknob and take both off.
Now the handbrake, ooohh this one was difficult as I had just had my
break tightened during a service.
Unclip the leather handbrake surround and slide up and over the
handbrake.
Unscrew the two screws where the cup holders were and the one under the
ashtray and keep em safe.
Now you've got to pull the handbrake all the way as far as it will go or
you wont be able to life the centre console over the top of it properly.
If you cant get the console over the handbrake then pull the brake some
more.... I was surprised at how much i had to do this.
Now you can have a look at the problem, if you move the gear stick
around it becomes clear where the 'spring' is and how you can get to it.
From memory, I then too out the three screws that were holding the main
plastic surround in place (difficult to imagine without the use of
pics...maybe someone can help here...just follow the instuctions.)
Anyway when this main black plastic bit is loose the you'll be able to
twist it around and pull it out completely.... them you can get to the
spring, which looks alot like the one you bought from the Ford dealer
for a little over £3.
Just grease the new part like the old one was, I used the same grease
from the old part (looks like lard), and fit it where the old one was...
The next bit is tricky as you will have to work out where the main black
plastic thing fits back in (you removed 3 screws earlier), this is what
took me some time, other wise the job is done is less than 10 mins.
Anyway, the black plastic thing has to fit back in like it was but along
with the new spring. If you fiddle for a very short time and think
logically, you'll do it..
Anyway, you'll know that it's all back together when you can feel the
spring working properly when you move the gearstick slightly....dont
move it too much as the black plastic thingy isn't screwed in yet....it
may be of help to hold the black plastic thing while checking it's all
together right.
Anyway, it worked quite well for me, and i then put all the screws back
and cliped everything back in, in reverse order to how we took it
apart.....
It's a shame I dont have a digital camera, or I would have taken some
photo's of the black plastic thingy....
Trust me, you'll know it when you see it...just unscrew it.
over £60 saved.... now you can buy those clear indicators and orange
bulbs...
========================================================
--
Paul Giverin
British Jet Engine Website
http://www.britjet.co.uk
Justin Case
as opposed to £60 which is a big difference.
Will have a look-see in the morning
Justin
"Paul Giverin" <pa...@giverin.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ozdMYyCgm31$Ew...@10.0.0.3...
Chris Whelan
"Justin Case" <Justin...@takedogoutb4replyingNOSPAM.pom> wrote in
message news:xLLBb.3055$va5...@newsfep1-gui.server.ntli.net...
> Great Paul, thanks for that. Sounds a bit fiddly for me but as you say is
£3
> as opposed to £60 which is a big difference.
> Will have a look-see in the morning
> Justin
I don't consider myself the world's greatest mechanic, but it only took me
20 minutes to do mine and that included giving the centre console a good
clean whilst it was out.
Give it a go!
Chris
--
Remove prejudice to reply.
Justin Case
realms of brain surgery so I have ordered the part from my local Ford dealer
(arrives after 2 this afternoon) cost £2.69 plus vat. Asked how much for
them to do it (" Uh, it's a bit fiddly that - about hour/ hour and a half -
but we can't do it until next week") says gruff voice in background and then
I was quoted £82.
Will collect the spring this afternoon and do it myself (hopefully). Good
point about cleaning out the centre console at the same time, mine could
certainly do with that. At least I am reassured that it is not a problem to
drive it and won't cause any more problems.
Very many thanks to all for quick response -
Thanks Chris for giving me the confidence and to Paul for the instructions.
I have looked at the ffoc site now it is back up and saw all the posts
there. Very useful - somebody has driven for 2 years with the broken spring
so I guess I panicked unnecessarily.
Cheers to all
Will let you know
Justin
"Chris Whelan" <cawhelan...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:br9anq$pp1j$1...@ID-117116.news.uni-berlin.de...
Justin Case
me £80.
All fixed and working AOK.
Only difference to Paul's instructions was that the centre console now has a
separate bit at the front and there is no need to remove it all.
I just screwed off the gear knob and then pulled the leather cover and the
front top half of the centre console just pulled out with it. This gave
sufficient access to get to the screws holding the "black plastic thingy".
No need to remove anything else, the centre console has obviously been
modded (because of spring failure?)
Only thing I did wrong was to check the existing spring and noticed that
there appeared to be nothing wrong with it so I put it back in, refitted the
black plastic thingy and it was still not working, flopping about as before.
I removed the black thingy again and when I pushed on the longest bit of the
spring, it broke off, obviously it had been broken but not completely so I
had a bit of practice at putting the spring and the black plastic thingy
back in.
Replaced new spring which was £2.69 plus 47p vat = Total of £3.16.
Instead of £82 plus vat,
Guys,
Thanks for the instructions and the confidence booster from Chris,
Great service and much appreciated,
Justin
Paul Giverin
<Justin...@takedogoutb4replyingNOSPAM.pom> writes
>Replaced new spring which was £2.69 plus 47p vat = Total of £3.16.
>Instead of £82 plus vat,
Its a real smug feeling isn't it.
James Frowen
I have the same problem with my car, I have driven with the faulty spring
for around 4 months. It does not cause problems and will not affect the
gearbox, it will simply just annoy you.
I will try and fix mine!!!
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