2017 FORD FIESTA S Out of Warranty Clutch/Transmission issue?

[MnVa]

My car has 35k miles on it. I bought it with 14k 4 years ago, so I'm easy on the car and know how to properly use a clutch.
Been driving them for about 50 years.
The issues. Since the day I bought it I thought that the clutch was softer than many I have owned in my lifetime, but thought it
just Ford. I did notice straight away it would pop out of gear in reverse frequently. Told by a Ford mechanic, that was a frequent complaint the
gears are really too small and allow them to slip out of gear occasionally.
I had no other issues so I accepted that explanation. Then last month - out of the blue- the I'm going to pull into a parking space and I am in 2nd gear and
it suddenly locks in 2nd gear. I wasn't going to force anything so I turned the car off and restarted it, and it was back to normal. THEN it did this in my drive way
locking into gear. Again, turned ignition off and restarted. There are no noises or grinding, the car stays idled, but that gear is locked tight.

Then yesterday, going to thru a large wide busy intersection, it did it again, BUT this time, the clutch pedal dropped to the floor, gear locked, and I had no brakes.
I was stranded. I pumped the clutch once and it came back up, then i cut the ignition off and restarted. Again it came back to normal.
I got home and checked the brake fluid. It is up to the max line, but i see down around the clutch near the transmission where some fluid had leaked out.
Ford will not help with getting it diagnosed even. At 34k plus miles I should'nt be having a safety issue like this and have no clue what the issue could be.
I cant afford a dealership and the 2 affordable garages I know, I had little confidence they had an ideal. Seemed more like it was going to be alot of time just taking things apart, then replacing parts...Im and older female on a fixed income and would like to have an idea of what could be wrong so Im not just dragged around by a garage.
Anyone deal with this kinda of issue? If so what was it? Thank you

 

[Dpro]

My car has 35k miles on it. I bought it with 14k 4 years ago, so I'm easy on the car and know how to properly use a clutch.
Been driving them for about 50 years.
The issues. Since the day I bought it I thought that the clutch was softer than many I have owned in my lifetime, but thought it
just Ford. I did notice straight away it would pop out of gear in reverse frequently. Told by a Ford mechanic, that was a frequent complaint the
gears are really too small and allow them to slip out of gear occasionally.
I had no other issues so I accepted that explanation. Then last month - out of the blue- the I'm going to pull into a parking space and I am in 2nd gear and
it suddenly locks in 2nd gear. I wasn't going to force anything so I turned the car off and restarted it, and it was back to normal. THEN it did this in my drive way
locking into gear. Again, turned ignition off and restarted. There are no noises or grinding, the car stays idled, but that gear is locked tight.

Then yesterday, going to thru a large wide busy intersection, it did it again, BUT this time, the clutch pedal dropped to the floor, gear locked, and I had no brakes.
I was stranded. I pumped the clutch once and it came back up, then i cut the ignition off and restarted. Again it came back to normal.
I got home and checked the brake fluid. It is up to the max line, but i see down around the clutch near the transmission where some fluid had leaked out.
Ford will not help with getting it diagnosed even. At 34k plus miles I should'nt be having a safety issue like this and have no clue what the issue could be.
I cant afford a dealership and the 2 affordable garages I know, I had little confidence they had an ideal. Seemed more like it was going to be alot of time just taking things apart, then replacing parts...Im and older female on a fixed income and would like to have an idea of what could be wrong so Im not just dragged around by a garage.
Anyone deal with this kinda of issue? If so what was it? Thank you

If your car is a S it uses a different manual than the ST manual. That sounds like BS on the Ford Mechanics part cars don’t usually pop out of gear unless there is a clutch or synchro issue if it pops out of reverse which is usually a straight cut gear no syncro I would suspect the clutch.Oh and sinc you mentioned youre pedal dropping to the floor that sounds like a possible slave cylinder failure or master. If I remember correctly the clutch master and brake master share the fluid reservoir if a fail lire happened in it could effect both of them

 

[Sam4]

But not a 'much different' transmission. The getrags are inadequate....st 6 speed, 5spd, or auto.

 

[Dpro]

But not a 'much different' transmission. The getrags are inadequate....st 6 speed, 5spd, or auto.

did you say the getrag is inadequate? It’s actually a pretty decent transmission as far as manuals go . I have seen a lot worse .
I do not believe the standard Fiesta 5 speed is Getrag, Getrags are not cheap transmissions, and the Auto is a Ford deal through and through no relation to the Getrag.
People upgrade our trannies because some of us put a lot HP through them quite honestly with a tuned stock Turbo its a stout transmission. Sure when add another 80-150 mor HP it’s pushing it harder but no it’s not inadequate in stock form at all .

 

[rallytaff]

If I remember correctly, I had a Getrag transmission on my 1980 Vauxhall Chevette HS2300. Never had a problem with it all the time I owned the car. Great car with 160hp after tweaking which was a lot in those days! Would have loved the HSR that Pentti and others drove!

 

[M-Sport fan]

It actually is a Getrag IB5 version in the base Fiesta manual cars, as compared to our IB6 iteration.

 

[M-Sport fan]

MnVa; I am not sure if it is a shared (brake and clutch fluid) reservoir on the base Fiestas or not.

But, you could have one of those 'trusted' less costly indie shops try to just totally flush out the clutch system's {brake} fluid first (before just throwing expensive parts and labor at it blindly), as I am quite sure that it is the original factory fluid, which is probably LONG LONG overdue for a flush/change at this point (as most likely the brake system is as well ), and if it has taken on excessive moisture and air, could cause some of those symptoms.

I am quite impressed that a more advanced age woman is driving a manually shifted car in this day and age.

I am 68, and also on a very fixed income as well, and when women my age see me driving a small sporty hatchback, with a manual gearbox. they look at me funny.

 

[Sam4]

did you say the getrag is inadequate? It’s actually a pretty decent transmission as far as manuals go . I have seen a lot worse .
I do not believe the standard Fiesta 5 speed is Getrag, Getrags are not cheap transmissions, and the Auto is a Ford deal through and through no relation to the Getrag.
People upgrade our trannies because some of us put a lot HP through them quite honestly with a tuned stock Turbo its a stout transmission. Sure when add another 80-150 mor HP it’s pushing it harder but no it’s not inadequate in stock form at all .

I'll modify and say the "Ford/Getrag Joint Venture product" is inadequate. Cheap internals.

 

[XR650R]

I am 68, and also on a very fixed income as well, and when women my age see me driving a small sporty hatchback, with a manual gearbox. they look at me funny.

I jokingly refer to my Fiesta as "the chick magnet," because it's anything but.

The trannys aren't bad, but a lot of people have had failures with the master/slave cylinders. I'd start there.

 

[rallytaff]

MnVa; I am not sure if it is a shared (brake and clutch fluid) reservoir on the base Fiestas or not.

But, you could have one of those 'trusted' less costly indie shops try to just totally flush out the clutch system's {brake} fluid first (before just throwing expensive parts and labor at it blindly), as I am quite sure that it is the original factory fluid, which is probably LONG LONG overdue for a flush/change at this point (as most likely the brake system is as well ), and if it has taken on excessive moisture and air, could cause some of those symptoms.

I am quite impressed that a more advanced age woman is driving a manually shifted car in this day and age.

I am 68, and also on a very fixed income as well, and when women my age see me driving a small sporty hatchback, with a manual gearbox. they look at me funny.

I'm 75 and never get weird looks. Maybe it's because I don't look my age!

 

[Dpro]

I'll modify and say the "Ford/Getrag Joint Venture product" is inadequate. Cheap internals.

and what are you basing this assement off of? Do you build transmissions, have you blown a trans? Do you realize most people that have blown trans have been pushing their trans with big Turbos usually a Garret and quite honestly not that many have blown ?
See you make a fairly generalized statement that does not bear out overall most ST owners have no problems with their trans. Ya Clark transmission makes a stronger trans because they know bigger Turbo’s can stress the trans so thwy make stronger ones but i think if you took a poll the overall majority of owners have not had problems. Ya there have been some cases of gear whine from the factory fixed under warranty but that does not warrant your statement. Show us the proof of your statement otherwise it’s just your opinion and not actual fact. Oh and I run a S280 and beat on my car hard and ya no trans issues.
So ya prove what you are saying,

 

[M-Sport fan]

I'm 75 and never get weird looks. Maybe it's because I don't look my age!

I don't either (or so I'm told ), and move much, much quicker than most my age, but I live in a development where they all know you MUST be over 55 to get a lease.

 

[Sam4]

and what are you basing this assement off of? Do you build transmissions, have you blown a trans? Do you realize most people that have blown trans have been pushing their trans with big Turbos usually a Garret and quite honestly not that many have blown ?
See you make a fairly generalized statement that does not bear out overall most ST owners have no problems with their trans. Ya Clark transmission makes a stronger trans because they know bigger Turbo’s can stress the trans so thwy make stronger ones but i think if you took a poll the overall majority of owners have not had problems. Ya there have been some cases of gear whine from the factory fixed under warranty but that does not warrant your statement. Show us the proof of your statement otherwise it’s just your opinion and not actual fact. Oh and I run a S280 and beat on my car hard and ya no trans issues.
So ya prove what you are saying,

ya right - opinion

 

[jmrtsus]

A long winded Getrag info post for those that may not be aware of how our transmission came about and the historical high quality of the Getrag units pushing growth of the company to the largest in the world. And no they did not make a special "cheap internals" IB-6 unit for Ford, nor did the "Joint Venture" have anything to do with manual transmissions. Here's the scoop.

Long ago (2016?) I had a conversation about fill levels with both Ford and Magna PT (owner of Getrag) and both stated the transmission in our car uses the same internals as all EU/USA IB-6 six speed Getrag. Per Getrag unlike the EU and USA, India and China get a cheaper design because they will accept a less smooth transmission at a lower cost. Our 6 speed is the same internal gear set as the IB-5 five speed with the addition of another gear per Getrag. The Getrag is one of the most widely used manual transmissions in the world and supplies almost all of the major companies, anyone with a stock or lightly modded car can tell you they are super reliable if not abused with bad driving or over powering them. I don't think my 215 HP is straining the transmission in the least and expect like all my other manuals to never open the unit. Many FiST owners were newbies to manual transmissions and use a clutch like and on off switch and jerk the car around. Just because you can make a FiST move down the road does not make you a good manual driver. Sounds like the usual clutch issues occasionally found in Fiestas for the OP.
At 70K mine is still fine. Changed the fluid about 6 months ago cause I felt like it. The only transmission I have ever had to rival ours was the 5 speed IB-5 Getrag that was in my BMW. People that ride with me marvel that they do not feel an upshift, a product of well over 50 years of driving a manual and a well designed transmission. If you can't drive this transmission smoothly you need to get someone to teach you how, hell you don't even need a clutch for upshifts just go slower on the shifter. A good sign of correct gear mesh and smoothness of the gears internal polishing.

From Hemmings Motor News

"Perhaps Getrag biggest boost to business came when it formed Getrag/Ford in 2001, practically doubling its business overnight in the 50/50 joint venture dedicated to making dual-clutch semi-automated gearboxes for Ford models around the world.

Getrag has truly become a global company, which can now make claim to being the largest independent transmission maker in the world, doing extensive business with European, American and Asian auto manufacturers. With a product portfolio that includes manual and dual-clutch transmissions, along with hybrid and electric drivetrain components, Getrag still provides the transmissions for many of the hottest European and Japanese cars, including the BMW M3, M5 and M6, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, the Mitsubishi Evolution GSR and all Ferraris."

Getrag has never made junk transmissions and still has a laser focus on performance transmissions since its first one built for Porsche in 1951. Contrary to hearsay Ford does not own Getrag, the did have a joint operation as stated above and Ford recently bought those facilities from Magna. Just the 2 buildings not the company, LOL!

In July 2015, Getrag was acquired by Magna Powertrain for $1.9 billion and was integrated into the company and is a publicly traded stock for Magna International symbol MGA.
BTW, I was told by a Ford engineer that to his knowledge our FiST transmissions were built in a Getrag factory in Mexico if I remember correctly.

 

[WannabeST]

MnVa; I am not sure if it is a shared (brake and clutch fluid) reservoir on the base Fiestas or not

I can confirm the base model fiestas do have a share fluid reservoir.

I would strongly recommend a full fluid flush. When I am hard cornering in the canyon or track my car will get a slight grind during shifting even if I granny shift it and I am almost certain it is from the fluid getting hot. I would imagine your issue is just that your fluid is old and has a lot of water in it. You're supposed to change your brake fluid every 2 years. Since your car is a 2017 model, the fluid should have been getting changed for the 3rd time now.

Do a full brake/clutch fluid flush and proceed from there. Post your results

 

[M-Sport fan]

I can confirm the base model fiestas do have a share fluid reservoir.

I would strongly recommend a full fluid flush. When I am hard cornering in the canyon or track my car will get a slight grind during shifting even if I granny shift it and I am almost certain it is from the fluid getting hot. I would imagine your issue is just that your fluid is old and has a lot of water in it. You're supposed to change your brake fluid every 2 years. Since your car is a 2017 model, the fluid should have been getting changed for the 3rd time now.

Do a full brake/clutch fluid flush and proceed from there. Post your results

AGREED!

 

[MnVa]

I'm 75 and never get weird looks. Maybe it's because I don't look my age!

Lol. Its all I have ever driven. Had a Chrysler Park Avenue once but automatics are no fun. I like a peppy manual any day!

 

[MnVa]

AGREED!

I have spoken with Ford and even though its a safety issue ( locked gear, no brake, no clutch) and only 34k miles they are offering little to no assistance. So I am looking for another
mechanic to do the bleed and go from there. Then Im going to post a claim with the NHSafety ppl. This model and transmission was a part of a class action law suit last year. Maybe
I will get some reimbursement if i yell loud enough aad long enough.

 

[MnVa]

MnVa; I am not sure if it is a shared (brake and clutch fluid) reservoir on the base Fiestas or not.

But, you could have one of those 'trusted' less costly indie shops try to just totally flush out the clutch system's {brake} fluid first (before just throwing expensive parts and labor at it blindly), as I am quite sure that it is the original factory fluid, which is probably LONG LONG overdue for a flush/change at this point (as most likely the brake system is as well ), and if it has taken on excessive moisture and air, could cause some of those symptoms.

I am quite impressed that a more advanced age woman is driving a manually shifted car in this day and age.

I am 68, and also on a very fixed income as well, and when women my age see me driving a small sporty hatchback, with a manual gearbox. they look at me funny.

 

[MnVa]

They are just impressed that you can drive it. I dont know alot of ppl that drive them honestly. I took mine to get tires at a local tire place and they had new guy
I would say in his thirties, he hoped in my car to drive it in the bay, and just set there. I thought, I know I left the keys in the ignition. So I finally walked over to him and asked him
if something was wrong. He was so embarrassed cause he hadn't never driven one. So i pulled it in myself.