Fiesta ST150 Newbie with Gearbox problems

[Diddi]

Hi, Newbie here.
Have bought my daughter a 2008 ST150 as her first car and discovered it pops out of second gear on deceleration and a slight crunch when up-shifting into third gear when hot.
We're in Australia and there's not too many ST150's over here (Re-badged as XR4 in Australia).
Second hand gearboxes are as rare as the proverbial and quotes from wreckers for a second hand unit range from just over $2,000 to $2,700.
Hoping someone may be able to tell us if there is a way to rebuild these gearboxes so they are a bit stronger and where to source the parts to make it stronger.
Would also be appreciated if someone had advice as to where to source standard gearbox parts cheaper than Ford. EG: Did Mazda also run the IB5+ gearbox in any of it's vehicles, as Mazda parts are way cheaper here than Ford?

 

[D1JL]

Dave

 

[RubenZZZ]

I would look on ebay.uk for a used unit. My guess would be the synchros went bad.


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[Flaco]

Welcome !

 

[Diddi]

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately the cost of shipping from the UK to Australia is rather prohibitive.

 

[Sekred]

I would not bother with a used transmission from a wreaker, you have no real idea what it is like until you install it. The best option is to rebuild the transmission in vehicle and yes parts are expensive. Synchros in the transmission used friction to work and they wear out along with the spring loaded detents that keep the gears engaged. Nothing unusual about the symptoms you have if the trans has 150,000 kms plus depending on how its be driven.
I would take the vehicle to a transmission shop not Joes garage or Ford.
You would probably save about a 1000 bucks if you could R and R the trans yourself.

 

[Diddi]

Thanks Sekred. Have requested quotes from transmission specialist shops. Prices range from a starting point, depending on what they find, of $2,000 up to $4,000. Hence my inquiry if anyone knew if the IB5+ gearbox was used by any other manufacturer other than Ford as Ford parts are quite expensive in Australia. The local transmission shop insisted I would have to have a spare gearbox to put in the vehicle if they did the rebuild as it currently takes three months to ship any parts to Australia that aren't in stock, and they can't afford to have a vehicle sitting in the workshop that long.