My escort does not like going into reverse when the car is hot you can force it in but grinds the gear really bad. I have changed the clutch cable and the clutch isnt slipping so dont think the clutch is on its way out. The clutch pedal doesnt give much resistant compared to other escorts i have driven. Any Ideas

 

sounds like classic ford syncro tbh. Ive yet to own a ford that doesnt crunch into reverse.

 

It could still be the clutch , as no synchro on reverse , there are some things to try

1. let the engine idle , push clutch to floor wait 5 seconds to allow spinner ( friction ) plate to stop rotating and select reverse . I still crunching try

2. let engine idle , push clutch to floor and select first gear (this stops the gearbox) , then pull out of first and straight into reverse ( without lifting clutch pedal ) .

If it still crunches into reverse it shows the clutch is either not fully disengaging or is slightly siezed on the input shaft splines or has contamination on its friction surfaces and is therefore held in contact with either the flywheel or cover . Even late fiestas have this issue , two last things you can try as a last resort before stripping box out , give the clutch a spin( as in a slipping ) , sometimes a bit of heat breaks down the contamination and stops the disc sticking , and also you said the clutch feels light , this could be caused by the incorrect ratchet and pawl fitted , check to see it is correct one for car or even has it been converted to manual adjust , or this could be caused by the clutch fingers going soft with age and this would also cause a loss of clutch cover movement that would give your symptoms also .



hope this helps