2013 GT500 Failed Clutch Thread

[Snoopy49]

I don't know if it is that simple. Mine has almost 15K been to the strip and track and has the high engagement with no problems so far. Wasn't that careful on break in. Drove 800 miles from dealer to home at fairly constant 80 mph and from there nothing special. Some people seem to have them go out in almost no time and are babying them so very hard to say.

How many people remove there foot from the clutch pedal between shifts. It takes very little pedal travel to start clutch disengagement and under a load, clutch slippage. Even someone with years of manual transmission experience may have trouble with the engagement point of these clutches until they get use to it. By the time that happens, it may already be to late.

The clutch in my car doesn't fully engage until the pedal is almost on the stop. There is very little, if any free-play in the pedal. As far as I am concerned it is a bad design choice on Fords part. I have been told that if you install a 2010-12 master cylinder, the engagement point will be closer to the floor and should provide an adequate amount of free-play in the pedal assembly.

 

[Colleton]

During the PDI test drive in my new '14 yesterday the tech talked about the clutch for a bit. He was very dismissive of the failures people are having, stating that they were killing the clutches by trying to feather them like a normal clutch. He claims the GT500 clutch is a race clutch that is either on or off, with little free play. Whether the clutch is a race clutch or not I can't say, but it does seem to be either on or off with little free play.

I agree with what Snoopy49 had to say about the engagement point being at the top and people possibly riding the clutch between shifts without realizing it because of the location of the engagement point. Sounds plausible to me at least.

 

[Chris!]

During the PDI test drive in my new '14 yesterday the tech talked about the clutch for a bit. He was very dismissive of the failures people are having, stating that they were killing the clutches by trying to feather them like a normal clutch. He claims the GT500 clutch is a race clutch that is either on or off, with little free play. Whether the clutch is a race clutch or not I can't say, but it does seem to be either on or off with little free play.

I agree with what Snoopy49 had to say about the engagement point being at the top and people possibly riding the clutch between shifts without realizing it because of the location of the engagement point. Sounds plausible to me at least.

Tech is bs'ing

I feather mine often, 7500miles on this one. 6500miles on the last one. No clutch issues.

My only complaint is sometimes after a WOT pull, the clutch engagement seems to be lighter, and then after a few presses, is back to a heavy bitch

 

[Snoopy49]

Colleton,
My clutch felt the same way as yours, on or off and very grabby for about the first 500 miles. After that it acts just like a normal clutch. I move the car into and out of the garage without even touching the gas pedal, same thing backing out of parking spaces. I have removed the over center spring and my only regret was that I didn't do as soon as I got the car home from the dealership.

 

[Colleton]

OK, thanks for the info. Sounds good to me.

 

[Bigmfcpa]

Another clutch bites the dust

Started noticing something wrong about 2 weeks ago. Tried to catch a Vette up a long open stretch and RPM's just went screaming while I stood still.

Have 3,920 miles, driven manual tranny's for over 30 years. Dealer give me the song and dance that it's a wear & tear, blah, blah, blah. Charged me $115 to tell me the clutch was bad which is what we told them when Roadside dropped it off. They wouldn't event try to warranty anything without their teardown fee and would only put the stocker back in.

Service advisor had none of the SVT training and tried to double-talk his way like he knew what he was taliking about. Just went and bought a McCleod and the set-up from Lethal and took it to the local shop.

I have had owned more Fords than any other brand. I am going to go though the BBB mediation. I was succeslful about 20 years ago against Chevy when an engine blew up in a Blazer at 60K miles.

If enough of you out there start filing for mediation via the BBB program, it might get their attention.

Right now I have nothing good to say about Ford in this matter. I should've kept the AMG & Vette I sold to get the Shelby if this is what I get.

:fm:

 

[mullens]

Started noticing something wrong about 2 weeks ago. Tried to catch a Vette up a long open stretch and RPM's just went screaming while I stood still.

Have 3,920 miles, driven manual tranny's for over 30 years. Dealer give me the song and dance that it's a wear & tear, blah, blah, blah. Charged me $115 to tell me the clutch was bad which is what we told them when Roadside dropped it off. They wouldn't event try to warranty anything without their teardown fee and would only put the stocker back in.

Service advisor had none of the SVT training and tried to double-talk his way like he knew what he was taliking about. Just went and bought a McCleod and the set-up from Lethal and took it to the local shop.

I have had owned more Fords than any other brand. I am going to go though the BBB mediation. I was succeslful about 20 years ago against Chevy when an engine blew up in a Blazer at 60K miles.

If enough of you out there start filing for mediation via the BBB program, it might get their attention.

Right now I have nothing good to say about Ford in this matter. I should've kept the AMG & Vette I sold to get the Shelby if this is what I get.

:fm:

Sorry to hear about your failure. Ford fixing these under warranty is very arbitrary. Some fix them without question and some give the same BS you are dealing with. With your mileage, you have a shot at getting it warrantied. Get ahold of Ford customer service and open a claim. They will send a regional rep and evaluate your case. Good luck keep us posted.

 

[killjoy333]

SORRY IF I'M DOUBLE POSTING... I don't know how to link to other post in the other thread but I think this is the correct place for this...

Hi everyone... I had a clutch explode on me as I have seen on another post on here just this last Saturday 10/30/13. Not just failed, but EXPLODED.

I am going to describe what happened and then post specs and what else I found about what caused the problem.

Freeway speeds, casual drive. Shifting from 2nd-to-3rd gear approx. 70mph+, likely higher RPM. Rattling parts like nuts & bolts in a washer started, clutch on floor, no power. Pulled off the side of the road then towed to Ford. Diagnosis: clutch "exploded", ripping holes all over the bell housing, and damaging flywheel as well as starter. After inspection there was no "good" explanation as to why this happened but dealer said they would have checked for "Over-Rev" code however tech's had already cleared the codes by disconnecting the battery <-- not that I was concerned about Over-Rev but interesting this happened?

Ok so after they agreed they will warranty everything I asked about a better clutch offered from Ford Racing, etc. Although no option was given at the time the dealer took a step above and the Accessory Manager called me to offer a much better Centerforce twin-disc clutch made for much more horsepower and I only have to pay the difference in cost between the Ford Clutch ($1200) and Centerforce Clutch ($1600). So for $400 I got a higher performance clutch without paying extra labor etc. Great job on the dealership part that I will never forget!

After trying to look up the Centerforce clutch for the 2014 Shelby I came across this video on Youtube that describes the exact issues I had been having on this clutch since DAY 1 that I told the service writer about before. I seemingly had a "stuck" clutch issue, etc but that it was really just overlooked since it didn't happen ALL the time and it was hard to replicate. Now after seeing this video this is EXACTLY what I was experiencing and explains the reason for the mismatched speed due to the clutch likely NOT DISENGAGING based on this CLUTCH ASSIST SPRING. <-- this is my guess

After seeing this video and reading the comment, I am absolutely convinced that the clutch is NOT the failure and that the CLUTCH ASSIST SPRING is the culprit (in my clutch-exploding experience). I wanted to share what had happened as I was afraid for them to put another stock clutch in and risking shrapnel through the floorboard (into my legs) or into the tires. The metal shards punctured the bell housing nearly a dozen times... imagine if it had gone through!

YOUTUBE LINK: 2013 Mustang Shelby GT500 high rpm sticking clutch fix - Clutch Assist Spring Removal tutorial - YouTube
PICS:

Thanks for looking... hope it helps someone!

 

[CS SVT]

Has anyone had clutch failure after pedal assist spring was removed?

 

[railroad]

Has anyone had clutch failure after pedal assist spring was removed?

Just for clarification, removing the spring after you have fried it will not help.
You know someone is going to say, I am not going to remove it, smoke the clutch and then say, I might oughtta take the spring off, too late.

 

[biminiLX]

Pretty sure he just means 'has anyone removed the spring (like for feel) and THEN had clutch failure'?
Agreed it would mean nothing as the spring removal after won't do squat, also, you may have some guys remove it trying to help symptoms of a bad clutch and then the clutch goes.
I think the question 'is the spring contributing to the failures'?
-J

 

[Devious_Snake]

Never seen one explode like that. Interesting.

 

[CS SVT]

That is correct, if your clutch failed was your spring installed or removed? Thanks

 

[killjoy333]

That is correct, if your clutch failed was your spring installed or removed? Thanks

To be clear about what I was trying to say:

My Shelby was completely stock (with the Spring installed). After it failed (terribly) I was able to correlate this directly with the symptoms mentioned in the video about the Assist Spring issue. Mine failed approx at 6900 miles.

Therefore, I realize removing the spring AFTER clutch starts to fail would not save the clutch but now I understand better why it was having a hard time on 1st gear engagement (almost like a double engagement) and later a complete failure.

I hope that helps with anyone who feels the same "half pedal" or "pedal on floor" problem after high rpm shifts as I did. I'm sure if I had realized this earlier on I could have avoided this issue.

 

[mullens]

To be clear about what I was trying to say:

My Shelby was completely stock (with the Spring installed). After it failed (terribly) I was able to correlate this directly with the symptoms mentioned in the video about the Assist Spring issue. Mine failed approx at 6900 miles.

Therefore, I realize removing the spring AFTER clutch starts to fail would not save the clutch but now I understand better why it was having a hard time on 1st gear engagement (almost like a double engagement) and later a complete failure.

I hope that helps with anyone who feels the same "half pedal" or "pedal on floor" problem after high rpm shifts as I did. I'm sure if I had realized this earlier on I could have avoided this issue.

If there truly is a connection, you would think Ford would jump on this with a TSB by now. I'm sure they're tired of paying for new clutches.

 

[ShiftyThePirate]

As far as I know, and I even asked the Ford Rep I spoke to, it's fully organic but he said he would check with SVT on that.

Otherwise my sisters 2012 GT500 with SVTPP feels much nicer for clutch engagement. Hers engages at about half travel. The 2013 engages at almost full disengagement of the clutch pedal. When your foot is almost all the way up off the floor the clutch will start grabbing. It's very awkward coming from other manuals.

What? '12's engage @ 75 to 85% of the way up, literally off the pedal before engagement, at least with the stock clutch in the SVT GT-500. Pretty much how all GT-500's are, and always have been, according to Ford.

 

[Hoffa]

Originally Posted by Tob
This is the list from the 4th revision TSB...

CLUTCH ASSY
Part #: CR3Z7B546A
Pack Qty: 1

FLYWHEEL ASSY
Part #: AR3Z6375A
Pack Qty: 1

SLEEVE (pilot bearing)
Part #: F6ZZ7600A
Pack Qty: 1

CYLINDER ASSY - CLUTCH SLAVE
Part #: DR3Z-7A508-A (was part# AR3Z7A508A)
Pack Qty: 1

BOLT
Part #: N808969S100
Pack Qty: 6 bolts needed

LUBRICANT – TEFLON
Part #: XG8
Pack Qty: 1

TUBE (hydrolic clutch line)
Part #: AR3Z7A512A
Pack Qty: 1

FLUID – BRAKE
Part #: PM1C
Pack Qty: 1

BOLT - HEX.HEAD
Part #: F6ZZ6379AA
Pack Qty: 8 bolts needed

I'd just like to see what parts are still in use on the '13...
This is exactly what the service agreement to me said.

GENERAL DRIVELINE REPAIR
CONCERN IS CLUTCH IS SLIPPING IN ALL GEARS
C: CHECK CLUTCH OPERATION, CLUTCH PEDAL IS VERY STIFF, SLIPS IN ANY GEAR. VISUAL INSPECTION, OK. CHECK OASIS NO TSB'S OR SSM'S. SHOP FOREMAN CONTACTED HOTLINE FOR CLUTCH ISSUES, ADVISED TO REMOVE AND INSPECT COMPONENTS. REMOVED TRANSMISSION AS OUTLINED IN WSM SEC 308-03B-6, REMOVED CLUTCH ASSEMBLY, CLUTCH SLIPPING, NEEDS PRESSURE PLATE, DISC, FLYWHEEL. REPLACED CLUTCH ASSEMBLY AND FLYWHEEL AS OUTLINED IN WSM SEC 308-01. INSTALLED TRANS, BLEED CLUTCH AS OUTLINED. PERFORMED MISFIRE MONITOR PROFILE CORRECTION PROCEDURE. ROAD TEST, GOOD CLUTCH OPERATION.

And the parts that are referenced on it:

DR3Z7A508A - CYLINDER ASY
DR3Z7B546A - CLUTCH ASY
AR3Z6375A - FLYWHEEL ASY
F6ZZ7600A - SLEEVE

Hope that this helps!

From quick glance the FLYWHEEL ASY and SLEEVE are the same as recent years.

I had the exact same problem on my 2014. Clutch extremely stiff and always slipping until it finally let go at 3500miles. Could smell it burn every drive. Car never abused. After they replaced the same parts you listed above I got the car back and couldn't believe the difference. I noticed the difference before I even started the car. I knew there was a problem since day one and am very happy now that it is the way it should be. Ford should note that there is a problem with these as many seem to have the exact same problem.

 

[rwboring]

Mine made it further then most, just under 22,000 miles. unlike most i think mine was more of a wear issue even though i think a clutch should last longer then 22k.

I have had NT05 (NOT R) tires for 4k miles (stock tires made it over 17k so that tells you how much i beat on it)
I have had tune, tb, intake and X pipe for 1500 miles, 1000 was a road trip (all interstate)
I took it to the strip twice in 2012

What is the definition of broke?
• Smoke or smell? Smoked
• Dead in the water, clutch won't engage? Drove it home, just couldn't go more then 1/8th throttle or so
• Slipping, high rpm low speed for selected gear? Slipped in all gears, first held PRETTY well
• Noisy? NO
• Clutch won't disengage? NO
• Clutch drags, difficult to get into gear/gear grinding? NO
• Hard pedal? NO
• Soft pedal? Softer but mainly release is all the way out
• Pedal won't return all the way? returns fine
• Chunks of metal missing from bell housing? not that im aware of but we will see
• A detailed description of the failure would be very informative. slipped in 2nd gear enough to smoke and that was it
• Was the car up to temperature? yes
• What were you doing at the time of the failure? Try to word it like it happened on the road and you weren't actually at the track kicking butt on a ZL1. driving on a 4 lane road
• How did it feel and sound at the time of failure? wasnt on the pedal so no feeling
• Were there any previous signs of possible failure? Smoke, odor, slipping, difficulty getting into gear, grinding or anything else.nope
• If you have pictures of the broken parts, please post them. i will see what they look like
• The build date of the car would be helpful if this turns out to be a bad batch problem. early 13
• Any other pertinent information that would clarify the situation would also be very helpful.

 

[BITDIFFERENTSVT]

Add me to the list.. 2800 miles...
Maybe 900 or so miles with not stock power... (AR 2" primary into 3.5" merge longtubes into 3.5" O/R H into SW catback, TR6 plugs, 65mm TB, JLT CF intake, 15% lower and of course tune) STOCK GEARS 750 RWHP, 780 RWTQ

Everything was fine until threw on some slicks...
Make it though 2 burnouts on the street, 8 test launches (1 at 5400 RPM) and 4 roll races then it was toast.

Spec going in Sunday... and then more mods

 

[rwboring]

Add me to the list.. 2800 miles...
Maybe 900 or so miles with not stock power... (AR 2" primary into 3.5" merge longtubes into 3.5" O/R H into SW catback, TR6 plugs, 65mm TB, JLT CF intake, 15% lower and of course tune) STOCK GEARS 750 RWHP, 780 RWTQ

Everything was fine until threw on some slicks...
Make it though 2 burnouts on the street, 8 test launches (1 at 5400 RPM) and 4 roll races then it was toast.

Spec going in Sunday... and then more mods

are axles next? they might be on my shopping list