Fiesta Stiff Auto Gear Selector

[the_scotsman]

I have a 2010 Fiesta Zetec as a second small runabout car to my Mustang. It has something like 150000km on it.

It runs and drives absolutely fine. But just recently the auto gear selector is VERY stiff. You need to put a lot of effort in getting it to move.

I pulled the knob off and manually push down the rod, to make sure it's not this, but it has no effect.

Anyone have any suggestions on what to look for? I'm good with my hands and do all repairs/servicing myself, so I'm not scared to get stuck in there. But just need an idea of what to look for. Could it be the linkage in some way?

I found a lot of results in Google, but it's all for the manual box.

Thanks