st170 gear shift
Discussion
Hi all, my partner is interested in a little st 170, unfortunately the ones she has tried have ridiculously, tight or stiff gear changes, this didn't seem like a one off, 3 or 4 that she looked at were exactly the same, granted she isn't very strong bless her but even I thought it was a bit crap, however one came up for sale local to us so thought we'd go and have a prod with this one and it seemed much more manageable, so my question is, I assume they may have a habit of going stiff with age? (surely ford wouldn't sell them brand new this bad?) so therefore is it treatable and how? cheers for your help
Andy
Andy
AdamIndy said:
Anyone who has driven mine says the same, I guess I'm just used to it. Lubing/replacing the gearchange cables I guess would be the only solution.
that's the problem, I was expecting g a load of messages from people saying there is nothing wrong with them, but you do get used to something, I remember my first car was a cavalier SRi and over the years I never noticed the cable clutch getting heavier and heavier until I drove someone else's, so I done mine and it was light again. thanks for that advice she only has a 1.6 focus at the mo, so for her it will be a big jump in power, but like I said the ones she has tried have been impossible for her for every day use, so good news if it is a simple fix, you can pick them up now so cheap too so looking promising for herI got to spend a day hurtling around Dunsfold in a number of these when they were new. I seem to remember that my comment to the man from Ford at the time was, " the gear change is awfull and to make it worse, they given it an extra one" (6 speed boxes were unusual back then).
As others have said, they're not all that fast but the handling was great.
I too would try a Clio sport, great little cars to drive.
As others have said, they're not all that fast but the handling was great.
I too would try a Clio sport, great little cars to drive.
clio sport is a bit too small for her, she needs to get kids stuff in the boot, scooters, pushchair etc, so unfortunately not big enough, any way I spoke to a ford specialist today and he seemed puzzled as to what I was saying, he said that the gearbox shouldn't be any different to any other ford and said maybe needs new linkage or something, but my confusion was that for a problem seemingly quite common, I'd have thought a specialist might have had a few in over the years and been aware of it???? I agree they are not very quick, to her it will be almost double the power as it would be her second ever car, so shed love it. personally im not a fan of powerful front wheel drive cars, but each to their own I guess
I don't know if this might be the answer: http://www.pumaspeed.co.uk/product-Focus-ST170-Bil...
What about a Civic EP3 Type-R instead?
What about a Civic EP3 Type-R instead?
Deisel Weisel said:
I don't know if this might be the answer: http://www.pumaspeed.co.uk/product-Focus-ST170-Bil...
What about a Civic EP3 Type-R instead?
Thanks for the input, not sure if a short shifter is the answer, if there is a problem with the linkage/box or anything else, it would just be a very stiff/tight short shifter so same problem, but i'll look into civic's see if she likes them, good call, I just know there are plenty of st170's for a grand or less, not the tidiest in the world I'm sure, but some are advertised as mechanically sound and up together and if I get a grand for her mk2 2005 1.6 ghia with 1 previous owner from new with full dealer history I wont have to actually shell out anything ;-)What about a Civic EP3 Type-R instead?
Greg- said:
Mines a bit stiff as well, I do think I should get the gearbox oil changed or something, but I think it's just that gearbox is a bit crap.
Failing that, maybe look at the Clio 182 instead. Quicker car, better on fuel, better looking and probably will be more reliable.
Changing the oil will make no difference. It's just how they are. I've probably driven 10 to 15 of them including my own, they all were much the same. Some a little heavier, some slightly lighter. I think it's just the cable routing, there are a couple of tightish bends in both cables, not really much you can do about that unfortunately. The gearbox is well known to be a good one. Virtually unbreakable. I've read about plenty of turbo'd/supercharged 170's running ALOT of power with no gearbox issues. They are made by getrag.Failing that, maybe look at the Clio 182 instead. Quicker car, better on fuel, better looking and probably will be more reliable.
As for a Clio being more reliable? I bought mine with 53k, did the clutch, flywheel and csc, also put a new imrc solenoid on. Touch wood after 40k nothing at all has gone wrong. By far and away the most reliable car I've ever owned! If you buy a crap one, it will be crap. The same could be said for any car though. You won't find many, if any good 182's for a grand.
Also op, don't worry about the power aspect, trust me, the 1.6 feels sharper off the mark, the 170's long gearing and heavy flywheel really hinder it. its only when you start revving it the extra power becomes evident. I had a race with a Boggo 2.0 focus once, there was nothing in it until 5.5k when the inlet changes. Then I romped away!
above 5500rpm they do go fairly well, under that, they are just like any normal 2.0 car.I don't know where you are OP but if she/you want to try mine, you're more than welcome.
That's good to know! I've got use to it now so it's not a problem. I should clean mine up a bit as it's a cracking car on a B-road, but mine is hitting 100,000k and it shows.
For the OP, another choice might be Civic Type-S, Type-R in good nick are quite pricey these days. I also think you can get the Type-S in 5dr, which while is a bit of a ugly car it's got lots of space.
For the OP, another choice might be Civic Type-S, Type-R in good nick are quite pricey these days. I also think you can get the Type-S in 5dr, which while is a bit of a ugly car it's got lots of space.
cheers greg, she doesn't like the civics, already looked at those, we've been looking at mondeo st220's today, she likes the big boot, thanks for the advice guys, I do get the impression then that's just how they are, so knock that one on the head, lovely smooth engine in the mondeo, just looks weird a v6 the wrong way around (bloody front wheel drive lol) and the gearbox is lovely and light, just seems bazar that ford made a boo boo with the st170
Greg- said:
It's not a Ford gearbox in the ST170, it's from Getrag, it's the same 'box that is in the first BMW Mini Cooper S, but I don't think that has the same stiff change problem, it's just ST170 thing.
strange how it is the only one that's tight though, the st220 6 box is as you'd expect, along with the later models of st, but then it probably isn't the box itself as was mentioned in earlier posts probably the linkage somewhere, I was curious as to whether it was an age thing and repairable because as I said earlier I'd be surprised if they came out the factory as bad as some of them seem to beUnless she's absolutely set on an ST170 steer her towards the Mondeo. We had the focus as the Mrs didn't want anything as big as the Mondeo but I had a good long drive of the Mondeo and it's a world apart IMHO. We owned the focus from 17k for 7 years and only the second owner. Great car in the main, had the big expense of the clutch and DMF and a few of the other common niggles.
They're not great on juice so you may as well have the pleasure of the sound of a v6 and some better performance from the Mondeo. I had an st24 at the same time and i could get a genuine 30ish mpg, Mrs could only get 24 at best, improved on a run but otherwise it was juicy for the performance.
They're not great on juice so you may as well have the pleasure of the sound of a v6 and some better performance from the Mondeo. I had an st24 at the same time and i could get a genuine 30ish mpg, Mrs could only get 24 at best, improved on a run but otherwise it was juicy for the performance.
She has been nudging towards a 330i at the mo, we looked at mondeo ST's but the 330 is a fair bit quicker as it is quite a bit lighter and has a few more horses but more importantly loads more economical and in my opinion better to have rear drive when you got a bit of go under the bonnet. I had a front wheel drive car once, never again, the wheels just spin in the wet without even trying lol. I suppose if that's all a person has ever owned then they know no different. I'll just be shelling out a fair bit more money than I wanted to pay as the st170 is a bargain really and she has a focus at the moment so a decent upgrade in power from a 1.6
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