FiST will not go into reverse!!!

[CasparTheST]

So my car won’t go into reverse. I have a 2016 fiesta ST and it’s been nothing but reliable for me the last 4 months. I just took it on a 4 plus hour drive and as I was pulling into my house I tried to put the car into reverse, nothing really felt out of the ordinary but the shifter ground super bad and it was like the shifter wasn’t actually going far enough to engage reverse. I tried it a few more times but now it just won’t go in at all. It’s like the thro isn’t long enough or there’s something actually stopping it from going in.
I tried to do the trick where you unhook the cable put it in 4th and take it out but that didn’t help either.

any ideas for what to try or do would be greatly appreciated guys!

 

[Mcallister_98]

I have 2016 also got about 6 months ago with 60k. Been having the clutch stick to the floor but still engaging if I hold the clutch in too long especially when I park my car in reverse at work. I also get the rpm dipping after fill up, the other night after a long drive and fill up I couldn’t go into reverse trying to park at a friends house I kept trying and the car ended up just turning off I didn’t stall it never let off clutch and it was stuck to the floor again the lowest yet, I just flicked it up with my foot like usual and been fine since. It’s my first manual and only happened while driving once a while ago.

 

[SteveS]

If the clutch pedal is doing the sticking thing, whether from a worn slave cylinder or master, you will also find that even when the pedal isn't stuck, if you've been using the clutch pedal a lot, you may have trouble selecting reverse because the bad cylinder has bled pressure and you aren't fully releasing the clutch. You can still select forward gears, since you can shift without using the clutch at all for those. But reverse will be a no go.

For you, McAllister, I would strongly recommend getting a full fluid flush and fill for the brake and clutch system (shared reservoir requires doing both). This can resolve the problem for quite a while. On our car it's cleared the problem for a year and a half so far. It might help you too, Caspar, though if you haven't ever had the clutch pedal stick it might not be the same problem.

 

[Trekker427]

I second flushing the fluid. My car had a sticky pedal and before I panicked into replacing the clutch slave I gravity bled the clutch in the driveway (with a few pedal pumps for good measure). I used about 2/3 of a quart of new fluid and it's been fine since.

 

[Sam4]

So my car won’t go into reverse. I have a 2016 fiesta ST and it’s been nothing but reliable for me the last 4 months. I just took it on a 4 plus hour drive and as I was pulling into my house I tried to put the car into reverse, nothing really felt out of the ordinary but the shifter ground super bad and it was like the shifter wasn’t actually going far enough to engage reverse. I tried it a few more times but now it just won’t go in at all. It’s like the thro isn’t long enough or there’s something actually stopping it from going in.
I tried to do the trick where you unhook the cable put it in 4th and take it out but that didn’t help either.

any ideas for what to try or do would be greatly appreciated guys!

Can you start it in Reverse? I think my input shaft/trans failure @59k started with reverse issues...

 

[Grsemky]

So my car won’t go into reverse. I have a 2016 fiesta ST and it’s been nothing but reliable for me the last 4 months. I just took it on a 4 plus hour drive and as I was pulling into my house I tried to put the car into reverse, nothing really felt out of the ordinary but the shifter ground super bad and it was like the shifter wasn’t actually going far enough to engage reverse. I tried it a few more times but now it just won’t go in at all. It’s like the thro isn’t long enough or there’s something actually stopping it from going in.
I tried to do the trick where you unhook the cable put it in 4th and take it out but that didn’t help either.

any ideas for what to try or do would be greatly appreciated guys!

I would also look in the engine bay, something could have fallen into the cables that prevents the reverse position.... Stranger things have happened

 

[STHeart]

Late post... just saw this. In summer off 2025 my car also stopped going onto reverse.

Checked linkage. I changed the fluid. Still no reverse. For several months I was parking in pull through spots only, or making sure I parked front uphill so I could roll backwards to get out.

Ultimately it was a bad reverse syncro that had to be replaced.

My advice - don't go to a generic transmission shop. They will quote a replacement of the entire transmission. Look around and find a shop that actually has the knowledge, training and tools to do a transmission repair. Your local Ford dealer MIGHT know of one; a shop that does a lot of Ford performance work may also be a good bet. It's worth doing some legwork to find out who can actually work on this transmission.

Going this route will likely save you lots and lots of $$$.