Dan you sound like ya know what you're talkin about. This box that I had put into this mondeo-I've got nearly exactly the same symptoms as the old box.Im gettin a tad frustrated lol. When engines cold,I have a bit of a problem changing down from 3rd to 2nd.It gets better after about 5mins of driving. Ive replaced box,DMF,cables(ford),clutch & slave. Unless Im the unluckiest mk3 owner for a while,I'm maybe missing something else. I'm beginning to think along lines of (i know its maybe waay out,but) air somewhere else in system(not at slave).
Surely both boxes cant be as bad as each other. I know it DOES happen but......