2011 5.0L Clutch Pedal Issue Fix

black03

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For those that have been following the progress of our car you know that we experienced a similar issue that others have seen where the clutch pedal sticks to the floor after high rpm shifts. We only experienced this once the stock rev limiter was raised and we started shifting the car at 7000+rpm's. What happened was during the 1-2 as well as the 2nd-3rd gear shift the clutch pedal seemed to want to stay at the floor preventing the clutch from re-engaging. Definitely not a good thing for drag racing. Shifting the car itself wasn't the issue as the transmission is smooth as can be and the shifter is really easy to use but again it was the issue of the clutch pedal sticking to the floor keeping the clutch from re-engaging.


After speaking to a few others that had experienced the same thing we finally started hearing what the issue was. Supposedly it was the clutch box pedal assembly. A TSB to this date has not been made for it but there was a control number issued. The word was that the clutch box pedal assembly needed to be replaced with one from a GT500. We obtained the part number from our friends at Lamotta Performance (Thanks Jake!!) and ordered one up.

As we waited for the assembly to show up we put a Mcleod RXT twin disc clutch kit in the car compliments of our good friends at Mcleod. After the install which went great the clutch pedal seemed even lighter than stock. However I believe that the installation of the clutch made it easier to feel the problem in the stock clutch pedal assembly. The best way to describe it was that the clutch pedal just felt lazy coming back off the floor. It was weird though as it seemed there was a point just a few inches off the floor that it was binding and then it would finally spring back. I knew this wasn't the clutch and it really became apparent that there was definitely an issue with the pedal assembly. At this point we had not received the replacement pedal assembly so I started thinking of another fix. If we were to use a pedal stop to prevent the pedal from passing the point to where it was binding when pressed in it would eliminate the bind in the pedal when the clutch was depressed. Just as we were speaking about this in the office guess what? The new clutch pedal assembly arrived.

So we had Derek go right to work on the car and pulled the stock pedal assembly out to compare to the one off of the GT500. Here's a few pictures with a few notes which should hopefully help others to see what's going on.

GT500 assembly is on the Left. Stock 2011 GT assembly is on the right.
photo2.jpg


Stock 2011 GT assembly- Take a look at the spring mechanism. It's a completely new design than the GT500 has. The rebound spring is separate from the main pivot shaft that the clutch and brake pedal work off of.
photo4.jpg


Stock GT500 assembly-Now take a close look at the way the spring is used on main shaft in this assembly where both the clutch and brake pedals pivot on. Even outside of the car when you press in the clutch pedal on the GT500 assembly the clutch is smooth all the way in and released smooth all the way out. What happens on the 2011 GT assembly is after it's pressed in and starts being released you can feel a bind in the pedal as it tries to pivot with the new spring setup. It seems to be the spring itself but also how it pivots in it's new location. After installing the new GT500 assembly in the car you can press the clutch in and let go of it and it springs right back. There's no binding at all and doesn't feel lazy to come back off of the floor. At this point we're pretty confident that the pedal issue is fixed. The clutch pedal now feels just as smooth as it did on our 2010 GT500 which felt awesome. We'll be taking the car to the track on Friday just to be sure but from what we can see it looks like the 2011 clutch box pedal assembly has some issues that definitely caused problems us shifting in the higher rpm's.

photo1.jpg




Hope that helps some of the guys out there that experienced the same thing we did.

Jared
 
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AmnDucky

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Good to know! I have been holding off taking my car to ford for an oil change and paint fix because I want this TSB to come out. If it doesnt come out soon though, I'll just take it in. I never drive my car that hard, so its not a huge issue. But I still want it fixed and its nice to know its an easy fix.
 

StrictlyPro

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Good info!

My left toe still hurts from this issue. Going into fifth at the track the clutch had stayed on the floor. Jamed the crap out of my toe thought it wes broken limped for a damn week.
Said screw this, I know how to fix this issue..
 

black03

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[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg1h7Y__Vcc"]YouTube- Clutch Pedal Spring Issue[/nomedia]
 

swlacobra

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why would they change this part when they already have one that works? seems like over engineering to me
 

Carbd86GT

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why would they change this part when they already have one that works? seems like over engineering to me

I think they did it to assist in pushing down the clutch pedal for people that only "drive" the car normal. Which, for that, it works, but when guys want to start having fun with them they'll probably run into this issue.
 

black03

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99.9stock said somehting about removing thatspring, has anyone else done this? if so pics?

On our stock pedal assembly that's the only return spring there. The problem is that the spring it supposed to help to pull the clutch pedal back off the floor. If you remove it you'll probably make it even worse.

Jared
 

HotRodHarry

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Mine has both springs......no problems. So Ford must have added the side spring like is in the brake pedal and still kept the return one also on the clutch arm
 

black03

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Mine has both springs......no problems. So Ford must have added the side spring like is in the brake pedal and still kept the return one also on the clutch arm

Harry,

Have you tried power shifting or shifting the car hard above 7000rpm's yet? That's typically where people have been experiencing the issue as it seems below that rpm range the fingers of the pressure plate are still able to push the pedal back up from the floor. You would have to have a tune on the car with the limiter raised in order to be shifting at that rpm range as well as the stock limiter is at 6750 I believe.

Jared
 

HotRodHarry

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Was hoping since mine had both springs it wouldn't be a prob. I have power shifted with no probs. But as you say....no tune...might not have the prob anyway.

Looks like I may have to take out the coil spring anyway.
 
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Tucker

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They all have both springs, but it doesn't work when shifted above 7000rpm.

Actually blew my slave cly/throw our bearing yesterday trying to shift this thing.
No GT500 parts in the country, so we have to find another fix
 

HotRodHarry

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Tucker.....in that pic above they show their stock unit only had the lower coil spring and not the sideways spring as the brake has. That's why I thought later made GT's had both.

So even taking out the lower clutch spring isn't the answer now?
 
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sb03cobra

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They all have both springs, but it doesn't work when shifted above 7000rpm.

Actually blew my slave cly/throw our bearing yesterday trying to shift this thing.
No GT500 parts in the country, so we have to find another fix


They all don't have both springs, mine only has the one and I am looking for a GT500 pedal assembly.
 

Tucker

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Tucker.....in that pic above they show their stock unit only had the lower coil spring and not the sideways spring as the brake has. That's why I thought later made GT's had both.

So even taking out the lower clutch spring isn't the answer now?
Your right Harry. I didn't notice that.
Mine also has both and is nothing but problems:fm:
 

HotRodHarry

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Yep..the dreaded clutch stays to the floor is here.
Well guys....my first tries with my BBR tune last night..no clutch probs at like 7k to 7100....powershifting that is. Tonight....went to hit second gear at like 7200...bang second no prob (and of course leaving a friends house it does this) rpms still revving after its in second? WTF? Oh....look at that....clutch pedal is stuck to the floor!! Let off the gas....pedal comes back up. So after my embarrassment of people thinking I missed 2nd...I drove her abit more and tried not power shifting at 7200...just fast shifting lifting on the gas quick and then back on....no problems...pedal comes back up every time. So then I think...ok...so what if I powershift just at 6500 again.....bam...no problems. When the pedal stuck to the floor..I also just hit the clutch pedal down maybe 1/2 way to keep it from the floor...thinking maybe this was why it wasnt going down and not coming up. But that didnt work...stayed down. So yes, My June built GTU6 computer code and clutch with 2 springs will stay to the floor too. So I guess its either I Powershift at 6500 or a shift fast at 7200.

Anyone else having this issue when not powershifting at the higher rpms?

So there are lots of threads on this on other boards..the prob was thought to be the larger coiled spring..take it off and it will rebound back better and not bind at a certain point...That was not the fix. Another thought is the hydralics..thats not the prob either. It seems its the Pressure plate...not strong enough to handle the 7k and above power shifts. So I will just have my fun at around 6500 and enjoy her as I have and wait and see what Ford does down the road.
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