Seat Ibiza Reverse Gear Very Stiff

[Newforddriver]

Hello all!

I have a Seat Ibiza Mk4 2009 1.6 TDI. The reverse gear is very stiff when you try to take it out of reverse. You have to pull it quite hard. My friend has the same car and that is not like this. What could be the problem?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

Many thanks in advance.

[GreenV8S]

Perhaps you have a stiff joint in the gear linkage. If you can locate it, a drop of oil may be all it needs to free it up.

[Newforddriver]

So when the car is standing still it goes in and out of reverse smoothly. The problem happens when I put it in reverse and actually move the car backwards. When I try to take it out then it becomes stiff and seems like the gears are grinding. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the reply

[Little Pete]

When you say not moving do you mean not driving or the engine isn't running.
Disconnect the linkage from the gearbox and make sure everything moves freely. If the gears are ok with the engine not running you could be looking at a clutch issue. If the gears are stiff after the gearbox has been under load, ie driven, you could be looking at a gearbox fault.

[Newforddriver]

When I say not moving I mean not driving; the engine is still running.

I've not disconnected the linkages from the gearbox however the gears and more importantly the resverse gear is ok with the engine not running.

When the engine has been under load i.e. driven then the reverse gear is requires a strong tug to disengage however as mentioned above if the engine is off this gear works just fine. The other gears work fine.

What sort of problem could I be looking at? Could this be an expensive repair?

I only bought the car a week ago from a dealership and at the time I just throught the reverse gear was stiff due to the fact the car had not been driven for a little while.

What would you guys recommend I do?

Again any advice would be greatly appreciated and many thanks for the replies!

[E-bmw]

Newforddriver said:

When I say not moving I mean not driving; the engine is still running.

the resverse gear is ok with the engine not running.

if the engine is off this gear works just fine.

Perhaps you should take your time & describe accurately what you are doing/seeing/trying as, as has been intimated by others above & is highlighted by my cut/paste job above, you do keep contradicting yourself.

[Newforddriver]

Just to be clear:

When the engine is off all the gears work just fine.

When the engine has been under load i.e. driving then the reverse gear requires a strong tug to disengage but the other gears work just fine.

Sorry for any confusion

[Newforddriver]

And just to be clear when I say 'mk4' I mean the 'Typ 6J' Ibiza.