1993 Festiva five speed stick transmission is really hard to shift

[Tom]

It's hard to push it in all the gears including reverse. I thought the transmission fluid was low but I took it to Ford and they said it was full that they could see it at the top of the gears.

It sat for five years and there was a puddle of oil under it about softball sized and good and wet with oil. The motor oil was full.

A new clutch was put in it. It only has 106,000 miles on it.

I have five Festivas and none has ever done this.

I think Ford charged me $30 and got a false reading.

[milehighbear]

All you have to do to check the transmission fluid is unscrew the speedometer cable(cable comes thru firewall on right hand side by brake fluid reservoir) remove a small bolt or screw and pull the cable gear up. If you can see the fluid, then its full. I drained my tranny and put some transmission stop leak in it. It really doesnt stop leaks, but its thick like stp and lubicates the gears pretty good. I also have two 93's with manual transmission.

[Tom]

All you have to do to check the transmission fluid is unscrew the speedometer cable(cable comes thru firewall on right hand side by brake fluid reservoir) remove a small bolt or screw and pull the cable gear up. If you can see the fluid, then its full. I drained my tranny and put some transmission stop leak in it. It really doesnt stop leaks, but its thick like stp and lubicates the gears pretty good. I also have two 93's with manual transmission.

That's what I paid the Ford Garage to do today. I'll double check it but if it's not fluid what could cause this. The shift lever moves real hard.

[JoDan]

I think it would have to do something with the linkage or the bushings because my old one used to have a stiff shifter until I replaced the whole assembly to the tranny and now the new one moves nice and free.

[Tom]

I think it would have to do something with the linkage or the bushings because my old one used to have a stiff shifter until I replaced the whole assembly to the tranny and now the new one moves nice and free.

So you got the same tranny but replaced the linkage?

[iceracerdude]

Most of the time when you get this kind of stiffness, it's just the bushings.
In fact the car I drive now in the picture, was sold to me because he thought the trans was shot too! It was just the bushings. If it's as bad as you describe, it will be a little hard to disassemble, but certainly not impossible. Mostly because of the tightness of the assembley to the exhaust pipe. Once you do that, clean all the rust off the bolts with a file if you have to and then replace the associated bushings and reinstall the cleaned and freshly greased bolts. Once that's done check the action and feel the difference. If the remaining non-removeable bolt or "pivot" point is binding (which it just about has to), grind the head off of it and punch it out. Replace it with a bolt of the same thickness and replace the bushings on it as well.
Here's three bushing parts sources and the numbers they each use!
I've only ever purchased mine from Napa, and they were about $1.25 ea. at the time.
I don't know what the other guys charge.
Ford bushing part # E7GZ-7A133A
Mazda bushing part # B001-46-062
Napa part # ATM0771303
$10 bucks worth of bushings and about an hour's time sure beats a trans replacement.
Remember to always use jack stands and Good luck

[Tom]

Most of the time when you get this kind of stiffness, it's just the bushings.
In fact the car I drive now in the picture, was sold to me because he thought the trans was shot too! It was just the bushings. If it's as bad as you describe, it will be a little hard to disassemble, but certainly not impossible. Mostly because of the tightness of the assembley to the exhaust pipe. Once you do that, clean all the rust off the bolts with a file if you have to and then replace the associated bushings and reinstall the cleaned and freshly greased bolts. Once that's done check the action and feel the difference. If the remaining non-removeable bolt or "pivot" point is binding (which it just about has to), grind the head off of it and punch it out. Replace it with a bolt of the same thickness and replace the bushings on it as well.
Here's three bushing parts sources and the numbers they each use!
I've only ever purchased mine from Napa, and they were about $1.25 ea. at the time.
I don't know what the other guys charge.
Ford bushing part # E7GZ-7A133A
Mazda bushing part # B001-46-062
Napa part # ATM0771303
$10 bucks worth of bushings and about an hour's time sure beats a trans replacement.
Remember to always use jack stands and Good luck

Super response, I'll look into this right away. What about liquid wrench or penetrating oil? Can that help.

[iceracerdude]

Yes, it will help in the disassembly process. Take the nuts off first, because one of the bolts should actually be threaded into the far side of it's bracket.

[denguy]

Another source.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170542738839

[Tom]

Thank you gentlemen.

[Tom]

Yes, it will help in the disassembly process. Take the nuts off first, because one of the bolts should actually be threaded into the far side of it's bracket.

I sprayed penetrating oil on all of the bushings and tapped them very gently with a hammer and soaked them good and then got in and started shifting with the motor off. Right away everything started to loosen up. I then went back under and sprayed heavily again and got in and shifted it some more a whole bunch of times in and out of all the gears. I then started it up and took it for a road test and it works perfect. Thanks everybody for your help. It started out so stiff that it wouldn't even go in gear. Now it is completely normal. Thanks again. I thought I had a bad tranny. Great forum.

[Festiva Time]

Great news! You need to disassemble it and grease them, otherwise it will happen again, soon. Penetrating oil won't last long.

[Safety Guy]

Yep. Come spring, or any warm period, you know what to do with some nice new grease!

Karl

[iceracerdude]

The bushing's are designed in such a way that they don't need grease to do their job!
The inherent problem with the design is, it's not designed to be rust resistant. We all use grease to keep the rust off of the non-nylon bushing balance of the parts!
You are going to want grease, or you're going to want to take it apart every year!

[lessersivad]

You might try going to a John Deere dealer and getting a product called "Fluid Film". it goes on thin then thickens up after sitting.

It ain't cheap, (around $10 a can) But it'll protect better than WD40 or PB Blaster.

Google it to get more info. Just my 2¢.