Have my 2019 in for warranty clutch repair.

[scooter123]

In the past month I've had the pedal stick down on 3 separate occasions. On June 16 I stopped into the dealer where I purchase the car new. At that time they stated that they would have to schedule the car do come in for diagnosis. I asked about their inventory on hand and they had the Master cylinder in stock but the Slave cylinder was a warehouse item. I told them I wanted the slave cylinder on hand at the dealer before I brought in in for dianosis and when they argued about it I told them I would pay for the slave cylinder if necessary, I did not want my car sitting on a rack for 6 months waiting for parts. So they relented and ordered the slave cylinder. Exactly one week later the clutch stuck again when I was going home from work and I headed straight to the dealer with it stuck down. Getting it to fully disengage not possible but it wasn't dragging too much to prevent me from popping into first so I pulled the transmission into neutral when I had to stop for a light. Got to the dealer in that condition and that limited any questioning about spending a day and a half "diagnosing' the problem. They called me last Friday to advise me that if they found the problem was a worn out clutch disc I would be liable for the 1500+ dollar cost to service that wear item. My car has 33,000 miles on it and has always been driven rather gently. So that clutch is NOT worn out, from what I've read here it's barely broken in. Expect to hear tomorrow that it's ready to pick up.

About the only good news in this case is that after getting a bit hostile with the dealer about their being unwilling to provide me a rental they broke down and paid for a rental. BTW, I'm semi retired and a Ford Stockholder living in Metro Detroit and had they not comped me a rental I would have been at the next stockholders meeting. Ended up with a Nissan Kicks which does get excellent gas mileage but it is the most gutless vehicle I have ever driven, I would guess 0-60 times in the 12-14 second range.

One question that is going to bother me is will I have to replace that slave cylinder in another 30.000 miles?

 

[M-Sport fan]

My clutch pedal is sticking to the floor occasionally now, mostly when in the torrid temps, in 'parking lot' type traffic.
But I CAN pull it back to it's static/released position with my toes/instep currently.

IF it is not just the (factory original) fluid being totally worn out, which yes, I will try changing out first, what are the chances that this is due to a defective master cylinder vs. a defective slave cylinder??

I do not have enough to pay for a full transaxle drop right now to replace the latter, and even if I did, I would be replacing the (still perfectly good at under 40K miles) clutch assembly and flywheel as well, given the effing labor coin/time involved.

It is totally impossible for me to even think about doing this myself, given where I live, and the 'rules' there.

 

[scooter123]

I didn't check with the dealer because I'm under 36K miles but as I understand it the 5 year / 60,000 mile powertrain warranty will still provide coverage for the slave cylinder. So if you have a car purchased in after June 2017 you are covered. If so get your car to the dealer ASAP. I'll also state that if it's at all possible next time it sticks do not pull the clutch pedal up drive it to the dealer with it nearly to the floor and use a light throttle to minimize slippage. I'll also suggest that you pull into neutral if you need to stop for a light and if necessary remember the car will start if you are holding the clutch pedal to the floor. Note, with mine with a fast motion and some firmness on the gear lever I could get the car into first with the engine running but I did have to tippy toe the pedal to insure it was disengaged to the fullest extent possible.

As for replacing the clutch and all that hardware, doing that will insure that the full cost for the tech's time will be your responsibility. Before they started on this repair they called to tell me I would be liable for 1546 or something in that ballpark for the cost of removing the transaxle if they determined the clutch was the cause. If they try pulling that when I go to pick up my car they are going to have to give me the parts replaced which I will have measured and compared to the original part specifications. For Ford to cover 100% of the cost for a warranty replacement of the slave cylinder requires that ONLY the slave cylinder/throwout bearing assembly be replaced. Some dishonest dealers will suggest a new clutch at this time specifically because doing so will transfer the cost for R&R the transaxle to you.

Note, the only clutch related item that would drop the clutch pedal and a transmission with a cable system was if the diaphragm spring in the pressure plate broke. On the very rare occasion when that would happen it meant that there was ZERO spring pressure available to Engage the clutch. Based on my experience there is absolutely NO possibility of a clutch disk or diaphragm spring failure causing the clutch pedal to stick to the floor.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Thanks for the warranty tips, but mine is a '16, bought new in 10/16, so I'm S.O.L. as far as the warranty is concerned (even though I'm well under the mileage part).

Is there any actual additional damage which could be caused by pulling the pedal back up when it sticks to the floor, or are you just suggesting to not do that to prove/show the problem to the dealer only if seeking warranty coverage for it?

 

[Nitelife]

Thanks for the warranty tips, but mine is a '16, bought new in 10/16, so I'm S.O.L. as far as the warranty is concerned (even though I'm well under the mileage part).

Is there any actual additional damage which could be caused by pulling the pedal back up when it sticks to the floor, or are you just suggesting to not do that to prove/show the problem to the dealer only if seeking warranty coverage for it?

I think he is stating to drive when the problem arises so that it is present when handed to the dealership.

I have had clutch pedal issues in the past, and I have just dealt with it. It is intermittent and I am out of warranty so I am trying to get along for as long as I can.

I cannot think of any damage this would cause the clutch assembly. It has to be a defect in the master/slave cylinder system. I know Typhoon and others have documented a small gasket on one of the lines that can cause issues during replacement. I am wondering if somehow there is a defective seal that slowly allows air into the system that causes this. ??? I am not fully up to speed on hydraulic clutches but I believe pedal anomalies can be attributed to air bubbles in the system.

Eventually as the platform ages this will become more prevalent and we will finally get a cause.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

My clutch pedal is sticking to the floor occasionally now, mostly when in the torrid temps, in 'parking lot' type traffic.
But I CAN pull it back to it's static/released position with my toes/instep currently.

IF it is not just the (factory original) fluid being totally worn out, which yes, I will try changing out first, what are the chances that this is due to a defective master cylinder vs. a defective slave cylinder??

I do not have enough to pay for a full transaxle drop right now to replace the latter, and even if I did, I would be replacing the (still perfectly good at under 40K miles) clutch assembly and flywheel as well, given the effing labor coin/time involved.

It is totally impossible for me to even think about doing this myself, given where I live, and the 'rules' there.

The Clutch Master is easy as Pie* I'd be hitting that up first. I had an issue with my Pedal after clutch install....New Slave went in during clutch and Trans so I was like ...All fingers point at Master clutch Cyl....I WAS CORRECT! No more pedal not returning issue. There is also a great video of how to do it on Screwtube that I followed.

 

[M-Sport fan]

I do wish that someone developed a remote clutch speed bleeder which could be accessed from under the hood, without getting under the car, like Tick Performance did for the 4th gen f body T56 platform.



But then that car had a totally separate, dedicated reservoir for the clutch master, if that would make any difference in this being possible for us.

 

[scooter123]

The Service Writer at my dealer today called and their only transmission tech decided to show up. He had the transmission out of the car and the clutch checked out in nearly new condition with zero clutch debris present to cause issues with engagement. They will be replacing the slave cylinder even though it appears to be in excellent condition. I suspect that while it looks good it's the seals inside the cylinder that can cause problems and it's probably a sealed unit. BTW in talking to the dealer the 4 cylinder Mustangs are having the same issues. While they didn't state that both use the same part number for the slave cylinder I have the impression that the same unit is used on both cars and probably the 2.3 Turbo in the new Bronco with the 7 speed transmission. Hopefully between Covid shutdowns, supply chain issues and customers not happy with cars taking so long for a repair that Ford will rethink the wisdom of purchasing parts from across the Pacific. With luck the transmission tech will show up tomorrow and finish my car so I can pick it up tomorrow. While that Nissan Kicks rental I'm driving is ok for running errands it doesn't have enough power to pass anything except a gas station and I need my Speed fix.

Those dealing with issues like mine who are out of warranty should plan on keeping every single reciept for the repair work you have had to pay for out of pocket, including any rental costs. Because from what I have heard their is a chance that NHTSA may issue a demand for a recall or an extended warranty on these components. Back in the 70's my brother had to purchase a new 350 SBC short block due to warped blocks causing causing camshafts to snap. About 12 years later GM finally was forced to send him a check for that failure.

 

[XR650R]

The Service Writer at my dealer today called and their only transmission tech decided to show up. He had the transmission out of the car and the clutch checked out in nearly new condition with zero clutch debris present to cause issues with engagement. They will be replacing the slave cylinder even though it appears to be in excellent condition. I suspect that while it looks good it's the seals inside the cylinder that can cause problems and it's probably a sealed unit. BTW in talking to the dealer the 4 cylinder Mustangs are having the same issues. While they didn't state that both use the same part number for the slave cylinder I have the impression that the same unit is used on both cars and probably the 2.3 Turbo in the new Bronco with the 7 speed transmission. Hopefully between Covid shutdowns, supply chain issues and customers not happy with cars taking so long for a repair that Ford will rethink the wisdom of purchasing parts from across the Pacific. With luck the transmission tech will show up tomorrow and finish my car so I can pick it up tomorrow. While that Nissan Kicks rental I'm driving is ok for running errands it doesn't have enough power to pass anything except a gas station and I need my Speed fix.

Those dealing with issues like mine who are out of warranty should plan on keeping every single reciept for the repair work you have had to pay for out of pocket, including any rental costs. Because from what I have heard their is a chance that NHTSA may issue a demand for a recall or an extended warranty on these components. Back in the 70's my brother had to purchase a new 350 SBC short block due to warped blocks causing causing camshafts to snap. About 12 years later GM finally was forced to send him a check for that failure.

You are right. Some Ford manual trannies are having trouble with that part. Not all, but some.

 

[scooter123]

Finally got my FiST back today. Dropped the car off on June 26 and it took until July 15 to get it repaired. The dealer kept calling and asking if I wanted to replace items related to the clutch but not needed to actually fix the issue, that was all the Slave Cylinder. Yesterday I had to tell them I didn't want a new Master cylinder or a new pressure plate. End result of all my No answers is that todays bill was 100% covered by warranty. Note, the service writer kept saying the slave cylinder was visually perfect but in today's paperwork the trans tech noted that the stroke of the slave cylinder when bench tested was stiffer than normal and "scratchy".

As for function, it's 100% perfect. I also noticed that the effort to depress the clutch was distinctly less that it was when this all started. So add another symptom to a failing Slave Cylinder, that is an increase in effort to depress the clutch pedal. Not that anyone would notice that gradual increase but perhaps some type of small scale could be used to check the force required.