2015 GT - Clutch gone at 18,9xx miles?

[SD_GT]

Hey guys, long story short I've been having intermittent issues with my clutch for months now. The car shudders bad from a stop and then is perfectly smooth once rolling or when shifting. I've noticed no delay when flooring it on the highway, it only seems to act up and shudder from a stop in reverse or first gear. Oh, it'll lock me out of gear more and more frequently now as well.

How would I know if this issue stems from the clutch or the flywheel? And do I stand a chance at getting this covered under warranty since I've been making trips to my dealer many times for the same issue since I got the car?

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[VinnAY]

CLuth is a wear item, it won't be a warranty coverage.

 

[SD_GT]

CLuth is a wear item, it won't be a warranty coverage.

How would I differentiate between a bad clutch and a bad flywheel? The car's not slipping at all once it's moving. Just shuddering from a stop.

 

[SD_GT]

The car has completely locked me out of gear and left me stranded again.

 

[DivineStrike]

Doesn't sound like a wear issue. You could put it in whatever gear your heart desires if it were just a worn clutch, you just couldn't put the power to the wheels. Maybe a throw out bearing issue or a transmission issue. It should be covered, just take it in and let us know what they say.

It's not gonna be your flywheel either. You would have issues starting your car as well if anything with it was jacked. Not a lot that can go wrong with a flywheel except busted teeth and it glazing over which would feel like a slipping clutch, and mounting bolts being loose or missing. Perhaps a flywheel could get warped but I doubt it. Just not likely anything is wrong with your flywheel

 

[NightmareMoon]

We saw a modified S550 at the last autox loose it's clutch operation at the tech inspection and go home on a trailer.

Brake fluid was low, so maybe a leak in the clutch hydraulics somewhere are stopping it from disengaging?

I agree if the clutch was just worn, it would still go into gear you would just slip RPM when trying to put power down. If its worn beyond that and breaking apart, then yes you can get locked up.

 

[wildcatgoal]

I have no idea if this works.

EDIT: Apparently I can't link to another forum. So pasted:

(copied from another car forum)
My clutch was lightly glazed. It would slip and then grip hard when I would put it in gear. It happened because I was messing around doing a nitrous burnout to impress a friend. All week long it had been slipping and was kind of rough to drive.

I did some reading on the internet and came up with a way to deglaze the flywheel and pressure plate. It works! The idea is to get friction across the clutch without building up heat. Basically, turn the clutch disk into a grinder.

Reverse grinding the clutch:
1. Get speed up to 35 miles per hour
2. Put transmission into 2nd gear
3. lightly engauge clutch until RPMs start to rise.
4. hold rpms steady at about 1200-1300RPM for 10 secconds

Standard grinding the clutch:
1. place parking brake on
2. put transmission into 1st gear
3. rev engine to 4,000 rpm
4. engauge clutch to point where RPMs start to drop
5. hold for 10 seconds.

Allow time to cool off, repeat as necessary.

Last time I changed my clutch was because I had glazed it pretty badly after I installed nitrous. It took 14 hours, $80 in parts, and about $50 in shop time. If you go to a dealership, they charge $600+ to change your clutch. This will save someone money.

 

[SD_GT]

I wanted to update this thread with some random bits I forgot to add yesterday.

1) The car will go into gear while the engine is off. However if you try starting the vehicle it will simply turn over, idle for a split second and then die.

2) When driving (just before the car finally called it quits) it was a real bear to pull the car out of gear. I'm a decent sized dude and it took both of my hands to pull the shifter out of 1st.

3) I was able to start the car in neutral, but not in gear.

4) If I attempted to put the car in gear after starting in neutral, it would block me out completely and make a whirring/grinding type of noise.

 

[SD_GT]

Update: Car has been towed to the dealership and they called me to let me know they'll take a look at it when they get a chance. What's the best method of approaching this on my end?

 

[wildcatgoal]

Oy...

Be prepared to wait FOREVER. I swear every Ford dealership on earth is understaffed to handle diagnostics and transmission issues. Combine those...

Let's just say I waited almost 3 months on a previous car. Ridiculous...

 

[cop on my back]

The clutch is history, don't put the same thing back in.

 

[SD_GT]

Oy...

Be prepared to wait FOREVER. I swear every Ford dealership on earth is understaffed to handle diagnostics and transmission issues. Combine those...

Let's just say I waited almost 3 months on a previous car. Ridiculous...

That's not what I was hoping to hear but it is what I was expecting to hear. So, how do I get the dealership to actually tear into the transmission to see what the issue is without having to pay an arm and a leg since they'll likely blame my tune for everything.

 

[SD_GT]

The clutch is history, don't put the same thing back in.

I'd love to upgrade, genuinely, but it's nowhere in the budget at the moment. I didn't expect the clutch on my new car to fail so early. :shrug:

Edit - Also, I'm not 100% sure it's the clutch. I'm now worried about the synchros and the transmission as a whole.

 

[DivineStrike]

If for some reason you get the car back and they didn't do anything try driving in first gear and instead of using the clutch to take it out of gear, just tap the throttle and pull it out of gear. The slight tap will relieve pressure enough off the gear to disengage it.

I destroyed a clutch in my focus and I never had any issues putting it in gear. Unless like the above poster said your clutch is mangled but then you'd be having issues everywhere and not just first gear. I'm inclined to think you have an issue with first gear or the throw out bearing. My money is on first gear.

Does it lock you out of more than just first gear? And good luck hopefully the dealer is friendly. You should have an easier time getting transmission work done under warranty with a tune than if ya needed engine work. It is a manual after all.

 

[VinnAY]

Update: Car has been towed to the dealership and they called me to let me know they'll take a look at it when they get a chance. What's the best method of approaching this on my end?

I wouldn't say a thing beyond what the specific problems are, and just let them do their thing. But I just don't think you're going to get anywhere if its the clutch; warranty.

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