[sbambor]

hoping for some good advice. I have a 2012 Hyundai ix35 with 110k on clock. For along time now I've had intermittent issues getting the gear into first, but it has got a lot worse lately. It can feel dangerous pulling out at junctions because I don't know if I'm in 1st or third (quite often what you think is 1st turns out to be 3rd gear) and often have a battle to get it into gear to the point it is actually causing me muscular strain. Then yesterday it completely jammed in reverse in a car park and i had to have a tug of war with the gear stick to get it back out of reverse. Other than this one fault the car is great. I'm looking for advice on whether this is a known issue and when the problem is the gearbox or clutch, and what could i realistically expect to pay to fix it (I live in West Sussex) because whether it's fixable and how much that might cost will determine whether I keep the car or trade in (i was really hoping to keep the car another couple of years before getting a new one as next car likely to be hybrid but not just quite ready to move over to that yet). If it would cost up to a couple of grand and i get 50-80k miles more out of the car I'd see that as worthwhile spending, but a lot more and then I start thinking its not worth it. I've read in older forums about a known problem with gears, so hoping someone has already experienced this and can advise me

 

[geezer101]

It sounds like there is a problem with the selector cables or the bracket that secures them at the gearbox end. The only reported issue with ix35 gearboxes are failed synchro rings (seems to be not uncommon and results in the gearbox requiring a rebuild) As your issue has gradually gotten worse, it indicates either a wear issue or mounting bolts have come loose or some kind of failure that is affecting input selection at the gearbox. You can manipulate the input selector from the engine bay by hand and shift through selector gates. I would try this and observe movement and feel through the cables and paying attention to the bracket that holds the cables to see if there is some sign of excessive play.

 

[geezer101]

If you identify the problem or if my advice has helped, please post the outcome as it will potentially help other members with a similar/same problem

 

[geezer101]

Hold up. I did a site search and found a user with gear selection issues in... their ix35! Problem - stretched gear selector cables. This would not be a visually obvious issue but it is kind of odd that a cable would stretch vs a failed bush or insert. My wife had an X3 Excel and it snapped a selector cable but it had full gear selection right up to the point where it failed. Go figure. User posted a DIY fix but I am not 100% sure of how to interpret their solution - manual gear box problem