04 Fiesta clutch

[omegod]

It seems wifeys clutch is knackered, won't select gear easily when the engine is running but is fine when switched off. Tried lubing up the cables but no better. It's juddering on pulling away and crunching into reverse so guess summats fooked. Not done a clutch before but will give the lot , bearing/slave etc a go at the weekend. Any guidance on these would be appreciated

[rodney]

if your doing it on the floor get it high as you can on stands with the stands plenty far enough back , remove the shafts totally to make life easier , support engine on a jack but allow to to hang as low as is safe to go to help with box clearance , get a mate to help lift it back in if you struggle and line it up , not a hard clutch to do,.

[taurus]

Sounds like the may be oil contamination on the clutch - causing it to stick when selecting gears. So check the crankshaft oil seal whilst you're doing the clutch.

[retrowrongun]

Crunching in reverse is the giveaway on these the clutch is fubarred
Easy enough to do mate and make sure you do replace the slave cylinder with it though

Took me about 4hrs taking my time so imagine if your fairly competent it can be done in a day mate

Good luck pal

[ejenner]

In theory the clutch should be able to disengage the gearbox from the engine at whatever level of wear. Even if you have a paper thin wafer of a clutch which does not actually work. You should still be able to press the clutch pedal down and move the pressure plate away from the friction disc.

On that basis, I'd give the clutch hydraulics some thought before going mad having the whole gearbox out. I've actually made that mistake before, luckily not for a customer, for a friend. So they got a new clutch for free and then afterwards I fixed the problem with the clutch hydraulics.

My experience with this was on a Ford Puma. In this case it wasn't the slave or the master. It turned out to be a pin-size hole in the clutch hydraulic pipe. It was leaking a tiny amount of fluid in a place not visible while the hose was installed. Naturally I was v.p1553d off when I found out.

[retrowrongun]

In answer to above its usually the clutch plate fingers on these that wear out ,usually can be seen once removed by the deep groove made by the release bearing that cause issues
Hence it not going into gear without crunching and reverse usually being the worst as its always harder to engage anyway even with a good working clutch

Obviously its worth checking the hydraulics first before doing clutch but with what you said about reverse etc etc i can garantee its the fingers on the clutch clamping plate that are knackered

Anyway just my two p worth as have done quite a few of these usually around 60-70k intervals

[ejenner]

Not seen grooves wearing into fingers before. Is that a Ford Fiesta problem?

[omegod]

Cheers all for the tips, I have the clutch kit including concentric cylinder/bearing. I have read of master cylinder problems but these usually equate to the pedal dropping completely but mine feels fine. Any way to test it? no leaks visible anywhere by the way!

[welshpug]

Apr 29, 2014 13:12:36 GMT ejenner said:

Not seen grooves wearing into fingers before. Is that a Ford Fiesta problem?

nope, seen it on many many pugs.

[retrowrongun]

No it's common on lots of cars especially when ppl have no foot rest to the side of clutch pedal lol

It just makes the clutch release bearing sit cockeyed when depressed and its this that causes the issues you mention by the sounds of it

Even have a good spare clutch slave from last one I did if you need one free mate

[retrowrongun]

Click me as image can be seen here
www.google.co.uk/search?q=worn+clutch+plate+fingers&client=safari&hl=en-gb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=lfFfU8zSE8T_PPHLgbAE&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=320&bih=356#facrc=_&imgrc=JMUjId0PdQ6u5M%253A%3BGAUs4QEqToN6TM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.landroverexpedition.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252Fweb2.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.landroverexpedition.com%252Ftechnical%252Freplacing-the-gearbox-clutch-and-transfer-box%3B800%3B600

[ChasR]

If I am a betting man, I would say that the slave cylinder is iffy. I have had them go iffy on me for quite some time (causing a little drag on the clutch when trying to engage first), and in some cases I have had them fail, sometimes where they leak brake fluid out very quickly but where the car can be limped home, in other cases where the cylinder completely fails.

[Paul Y]

Fortuitous that this is being discussed as, after 123K, the clutch on my 04 Fiesta is exhibiting the same symptoms.

In a previous life I would have left the half shafts in and swivelled the box round to gain access to the clutch (admittedly this was in the 80's). Does anyone know if this is possible still or is it a box out job?

As an aside I see Europarts have a deal on clutch kits at the moment at around £170 for a 3 piece.

P.

[retrowrongun]

You can leave the shaft in and jiggle it out the way just enough mate
But tbh it's a pain so best just dropping box mate really

And like I say they always seem to play up around the 70k intervals 70,140,210 etc etc

[retrowrongun]

And like I said earlier have a perfect hydraulic bearing from one of anyone want it foc to save some money

[omegod]

Well all going well so far, box is down and slave replaced! nearside shaft wouldn't ome out but managed to manouver it out with it fitted. Does anyone know the torque setting for bolting the pressure plate to flywheel ?

[Rich]

May 2, 2014 6:49:31 GMT omegod said:

Well all going well so far, box is down and slave replaced! nearside shaft wouldn't ome out but managed to manouver it out with it fitted. Does anyone know the torque setting for bolting the pressure plate to flywheel ?

Tight. Not too tight but loose.
Only about 10-15nm.

[retrowrongun]

Any loose springs or weak fingers on the old clamping plate then

[omegod]

Now this is getting fookin silly, all back together but started it up in neutral and the bloody driveshafts are turning like it's in first! guessing a mess about with the gear linkage will sort out the correct selection but any other ideas while I'm fiddling ? whhels stop turning when pushing the clutch in so guess thats a positive sign

[rodney]

is the car jacked up? coz the wheels will spin in neatreul if it is , put it on the floor,.