Had car accident need some advice please

GalacticaActual

Bought it today.

Got it for 2350.

In pristine condition all round  

Minor niggle though.

She crunches a bit going into reverse gear.

Didn't do it at the dealers!!

Been told by a few people nothing to worry about  but my old focus never did it, so it's new to me  

Doesnt crunch all the time either.

Not a grinding like you get if you miss the clutch. All other gears very smooth .

Don't really want to take it back, but if it is something that is gonna get worse, perhaps I should.

What do you think ?

Everything else is fine...

Perhaps I am just stressing again

IronGiant

Maybe the clutch biting point is slightly different?

AMc

I don’t know about the focus but in our mini 1st and 3rd were intermittently crunchy. Turned out to be a seized gear cable. Not terribly expensive but check out if that could be your problem with a bit of googling.

GalacticaActual

Noticed the hand break has to be fully pulled up to engage as well when I was out in it tonight.

Only has about 3 clicks left in it.

I know these can be adjusted manually.
Is it worth having a look before I try and get the dealer involved?
If it's only a quick job doesn't seem worth the trip just to be told "it's normal for a car that's 11 years old" lol

This and the gear crunching in reverse seem to be the only niggles.

Not sure how it passed its mot with the ebreak being so high.....

AMc

Handbrake could just need adjustment, or be a stretched cable that needs replacing.
AFAIK if the handbrake is capable of holding the back wheels during the MOT then it passes.
Have you checked it's MOT history for advisories?
What is the vehicle's registration number - MOT History

As that garage are also an MOT station then they can within reason write their own ticket but there's no reason to assume there's anything dodgy going on.  It's reasonable to ask them to take a look at both issues.
Call in and speak to the person who took your money and ask politely if they can take a look.
If they're a decent garage and there's no indication they aren't they should be fine to adjust a cable and check the reverse issue.

GalacticaActual

I adjusted the hand break and its better now  
Took it to the dealer today  they said it was nothing ti worry about and was the norm for this car.....

Not sure what to do now.

I have a warranty, may give a few weeks then go back.

Apparently the warranty can be used at other garages....

outoftheknow

Does that model have an extra lift up type thing to engage reverse? If not (and as is the case for many cars) I suspect there is no synchro on reverse. Then the garage would be correct that the crunching is “normal”. Try engaging a forward gear (3rd maybe) and then back to reverse. Don’t let out the clutch. That may help align things. Otherwise a slight lift of the clutch and back may assist but then gears and shafts are moving so may do more harm than good. Sort of double declutch but one speed is stopped.......

Or put up with it.

If it has synchro on reverse then worry. Ask the garage if they aren’t worried because there is no synchro on reverse.

GalacticaActual

Not one with a lift up bit on the gear stick so it has no syncro on reverse

My mark one did hence it being a different experience for me.

Looks like i am yet again worrying about nothing , which does seem to be my default position these days!!!

gibbo52

How did you adjust the hand brake? Not by the cable I hope.
Crunching in reverse is usually the clutch dragging and can get worse, forward gears mask it as they have synchro, they will get harder to select if it gets any worse.

outoftheknow

The crunching might indeed be because the clutch hasn’t fully disengaged when pressed to the floor but more likely it is because there is no synchro. The clutch should be adjusted so it disengages anyway and if it isnt that affects all gears. Even with synchro there will be an indication you are trying to engage a gear with the clutch still engaged even to a small degree (unless you are matching speeds etc. because you are cool ) That symptom isn’t reported - might be there of course and then yes it would get worse on forward gears too.

If the clutch is adjusted properly and isn’t worn the crunching is almost certainly due to no synchro and isn’t a concern.

IMO of course.

Many Ford owners with models without synchro on reverse seem to report crunching to various degrees. Ford like to keep the discussion going by having synchro in one version of a model  and not on the next - even if that is the only mechanical part of the facelift. So Focus as far as I know (and mentioned by OP) has variously had and not had synchro on reverse.

Anyway the clutch will affect all gears as you say. The OP can ask the garage more specifically if there is a clutch issue or not. If not no worries (as long as that gearbox definitely has no synchro on reverse).