Something is slipping....badly. Clutch? HELP, PLEASE!!

[mullens]

I definitely considered that. But here's my question/concern: What will they put in? Will they put in the upgraded clutch? Or will they put in another shitty clutch that will shit the bed after another 10k miles? Do they even make the old shitty clutch anymore? I apologize, I haven't been keeping up with the clutch issues. The fourth revision of the TSB shows the clutch part number: AR3Z-7B546

I guess I better make sure that's the one they put in, eh?

I'd push hard for the TSB first. Don't pay if you don't have to. Let them call a zone rep or whatever they have to to do. All TSB's include the 2010+ clutch. The only problem is there's so many TSB's that the clutches are on back order. It's worth the wait IMO. I had an 08 and now the '10 and the clutch is like night and day. No chatter, no hiss and much easier actuation. There's nothing like OEM. If your vehicle is still in decent running condition I'd have them order the clutch then drop it off when they get it. Either that or use their rental, but it may be awhile.

If all else fails, $1200 is not bad for OTD price.

 

[thapr3dat0r]

I'd push hard for the TSB first. Don't pay if you don't have to. Let them call a zone rep or whatever they have to to do. All TSB's include the 2010+ clutch. The only problem is there's so many TSB's that the clutches are on back order. It's worth the wait IMO. I had an 08 and now the '10 and the clutch is like night and day. No chatter, no hiss and much easier actuation. There's nothing like OEM. If your vehicle is still in decent running condition I'd have them order the clutch then drop it off when they get it. Either that or use their rental, but it may be awhile.

If all else fails, $1200 is not bad for OTD price.

I am going there tomorrow morning. I would like the new clutch but I'm going to avoid all costs including the lame diagnostic fee. Yeah 1200 isnt bad, but it's pretty bad considering it's how the car should be without having to pay for it. Ford is really ditching responsibility on this one.

 

[Shaker1]

Ask them if they take it apart and find the flywheel is warped and heat checked, per the TSB conditions, why they would not believe that it had caused premature clutch wear? And if it does look like the warped clutch caused the clutch wear, why would it not be covered like all the others that Ford has covered?

 

[me32]

Ok, I just got back from the dealer. As soon as I mentioned the problem, she immediately said the clutch is a wear item and therefore is NOT covered under warranty under any circumstances. I don't know if she saw that I am young and immediately assumed I flog the shit out of the car and fried the clutch. But she was not being very receptive at all. She didn't seem to care or barely acknowledge the TSB. I had three versions with me. When she finally looked at them, she said it was only the flywheel that the problem was for. She also said TSBs are nothing more than something to help the technician diagnose and fix a problem. She said she has never dealt with clutch problems on this car. I find that very hard to believe considering it's a huge dealership in Northern Virginia (DC suburbs).

They want to charge me the diagnostic fee of $100+ (which I assume simply consists of the tech taking it for a test drive). I said NO and she handed me back my TSBs and said she can't help me. I was getting pretty upset and she agreed to let me go on a ride along with the tech tomorrow morning and see what he/she thinks then before I commit any cash. We all already know what he's gonna say, "Yup, that there is the clutch". And that means they gotta tear it apart to see exactly whats broken.

The good news is, I am still under my 3 year warranty for another couple months. I don't know if that was to bait me to have them open it up and stick me with a bill regardless of what is or isn't wrong. I think that because she said, if it's anything OTHER than the clutch, I'm covered under warranty and don't have to pay for anything. BUT, if it's the clutch, I gotta pay for the labor and parts. So, I'm making an "all-or-nothing" gamble? That doesn't seem right. I think I need to elevate this issue.

here is your 1st problem you talk to a Woman at car dealer. she wouldnt know shit about anything. 2nd dont tell them its the clutch tell them them your car is acting like the issues stated in the TSB. either go back an talk to a person who knows what there talking about or go to a different dealer. better yet Call ford direct make a full complaint that the Dealer refused to even look at your car under the 3/36 bumper to bumper

 

[thapr3dat0r]

Ask them if they take it apart and find the flywheel is warped and heat checked, per the TSB conditions, why they would not believe that it had caused premature clutch wear? And if it does look like the warped clutch caused the clutch wear, why would it not be covered like all the others that Ford has covered?

That is one of the questions I was going to ask. That a big IF and still a gamble as to what they will see when they crack open the tranny. If the flywheel is not warped, just the clutch is fried, I'm screwed and I have to pay.

here is your 1st problem you talk to a Woman at car dealer. she wouldnt know shit about anything. 2nd dont tell them its the clutch tell them them your car is acting like the issues stated in the TSB. either go back an talk to a person who knows what there talking about or go to a different dealer. better yet Call ford direct make a full complaint that the Dealer refused to even look at your car under the 3/36 bumper to bumper

:lol: I completely agree. She gave me some generic, pre-practiced rejection speech. Today when I do the ride along, I'm gonna talk to the tech first then the service manager. You're right, I shouldn't have mentioned the clutch and she knew shit about this car and probably cars in general. I just thought I'd give them the courtesy of going up the chain of command properly. I already submitted an email to Ford on their website. If shit doesn't get taken care of today I'm going to do start going further and further.

 

[jcthorne]

Determining if the TSB and its described failure apply is easy and does not require disassembly.

If the clutch will not disengage when pressing the pedal, the flywheel has heat warped and the TSB will cover the cost of the clutch along with the defective flywheel.

If the clutch disengages fine but slips under load, its just warn out and not covered under warranty. Its a driver issue.

If you let them replace the clutch, I would get that 1200 OTD price in writing as that is less than just the parts cost for a new 2010 OEM clutch/ flywheel and TOB kit. The older ceramic clutch is no loger available unfortunatly. I'd buy one in an instant if they were. The 2010 organic clutch is not as strong as the ceramic clutch used in 07 thru 09 models.

My job one 2007 now has over 30k miles of Houston traffic driving at far above factory HP levels and its fine for now.

 

[thapr3dat0r]

Determining if the TSB and its described failure apply is easy and does not require disassembly.

If the clutch will not disengage when pressing the pedal, the flywheel has heat warped and the TSB will cover the cost of the clutch along with the defective flywheel.

If the clutch disengages fine but slips under load, its just warn out and not covered under warranty. Its a driver issue.

If you let them replace the clutch, I would get that 1200 OTD price in writing as that is less than just the parts cost for a new 2010 OEM clutch/ flywheel and TOB kit. The older ceramic clutch is no loger available unfortunatly. I'd buy one in an instant if they were. The 2010 organic clutch is not as strong as the ceramic clutch used in 07 thru 09 models.

My job one 2007 now has over 30k miles of Houston traffic driving at far above factory HP levels and its fine for now.

From what I understand the newer ones are not as strong as the old ones. But it also seems like they don't have such a high failure rate as the old ones. That's just what I've seen in my research. You're lucky yours has been fine.

I'm kind of surprised to hear you think a fried clutch on these cars is a driver issue. Are you aware of all the people with GT500s with toasted clutches at ~10,000 miles or less? Aside from the TSB issues, these clutches seem to be a common and widespread issue with the 07-09 GT500s.

 

[03Bite]

I had an 08 With 1500 miles on it when I brought mine in to the local Ford dealer last year around this time and they tried to tell me that was normal for these cars. Now in my case mine was not slipping but chattering like hell on certain RPM take offs. I told them very nicely that I am a mechanical person and have never seen issues like this with a clutch chattering like this does. I also said very nicely...listen this is a 50,000 dollar car and an embarrassment that the clutch performs like this. I also stated that it is a safety issue in the fact that if I leave a stoplight or stop sign and this thing Chatters so hard it almost dies or the dash falls out in my lap and then some asshole that is 2" inch from my bumper rear ends me cause I slowed down on take off we are going to have a problem here. I also gave them a story on how my wife wants to drive the car but she was scared after she rode in it and it chattered so hard. The service manager and service advisor both rode in the car and came back and said if it was my car I would want it replaced also. Mine only had the chatter symptoms but The service manager said it also ground going into first and reverse with a little wink ;-) Needless to say 3 weeks later then installed the complete 2010 clutch and all problems were solved. This clutch was so smooth and different from the 08 ceramic I had it was like night and day. I would say if they don't want to help you take it to a different dealer and stop talking with women that are in the service dept. :-D

 

[thapr3dat0r]

Just got back from the dealer. Nobody there knows shit about the car or they are avoiding to recognize and address this issue. First, we go for a test drive and pulling out of the dealer parking lot, the tech scrapes the shit out of my front end!!! :cuss: I just cringe and let him know to be more careful on dips. He doesn't say a single word, he just keeps driving like it never happened. No apology or even an oops? WTF is wrong with people these days?

So basically, same story. He said nothing but clutch clutch clutch. He didn't even want to look at the TSB until I basically pushed it on him and put it up to his face. I asked if he was aware of any clutch issues with these cars and he says hes only been at that dealer for a few months. Is there ANYBODY I can speak intelligently with about this? He goes on to tell me that the issue is definitely the clutch and therefore is not covered. I ask him how he knows its DEFINITELY the clutch without taking it apart? He says no other part will cause the car to do what it's doing. I then ask him, "what about the throw out bearing?" Then he starts to stutter and fumble and ATTEMPT to explain to me what a throw out bearing does, unsuccessfully. When I finally got tired of hearing him mumbling and stuttering I told him I know what the throw out bearing does. So I asked him rhetorically, "So if the throw out bearing is bad, the clutch can slip, right? Other things can cause the clutch to slip, right?" Then he reverts back to the "If we take it apart and it's the clutch you're gonna have to pay for the time" And I explained to him, that's a $600 gamble I don't want to do. He said he can't do anything even thought I'm under warranty because it's clutch related and SOMEONE SAID THE WORD CLUTCH !! I then asked him to just read the freakin' TSB and pointed out that it's in fact the flywheel that causes the issue. Then he agreed to look into it.

In the end, I gave him the TSBs and he will do further research. I explained to him that I have been in the Air Force for 10 years and I have a really important job at the Pentagon. I'm not some punk who roasted his clutch and is trying to get Ford to foot the bill. He will call me back later....hopefully. In the meantime, I called a different dealership and they said they can have their tranny guy take a look. I think that's what I need. An expert in something related to this car.

 

[thapr3dat0r]

I had an 08 With 1500 miles on it when I brought mine in to the local Ford dealer last year around this time and they tried to tell me that was normal for these cars. Now in my case mine was not slipping but chattering like hell on certain RPM take offs. I told them very nicely that I am a mechanical person and have never seen issues like this with a clutch chattering like this does. I also said very nicely...listen this is a 50,000 dollar car and an embarrassment that the clutch performs like this. I also stated that it is a safety issue in the fact that if I leave a stoplight or stop sign and this thing Chatters so hard it almost dies or the dash falls out in my lap and then some asshole that is 2" inch from my bumper rear ends me cause I slowed down on take off we are going to have a problem here. I also gave them a story on how my wife wants to drive the car but she was scared after she rode in it and it chattered so hard. The service manager and service advisor both rode in the car and came back and said if it was my car I would want it replaced also. Mine only had the chatter symptoms but The service manager said it also ground going into first and reverse with a little wink ;-) Needless to say 3 weeks later then installed the complete 2010 clutch and all problems were solved. This clutch was so smooth and different from the 08 ceramic I had it was like night and day. I would say if they don't want to help you take it to a different dealer and stop talking with women that are in the service dept. :-D

It's just incredible that it even took that for them to repair it on a new car with 1500 miles on it. The tech did notice the chatter, rough engagement and difficulty getting into first. But of course he blamed it all on the clutch.

 

[03Bite]

Well I hope they help you out on your issues. Its crazy how they will try to put off warranty issues without even reading further into the TSB about these cars. Just pisses you off to no end. I would have freaked out also if the tech would have scraped the lower valance on the payment. I told them at the dealer I was at they were welcome to drive the car but I wanted to meet the person and its turns out it was the service advisor and service manager. When the work was going to start they told me no one else would drive the car nor would it sit outside at all. They day I picked it up they had it all shined up sitting in the service garage pull in area away from all the other cars. Later that night we put it up on a rack and looked around under the car and no dents or other issues when pulling the tranny and replacing the clutch. I have to say they did an A1 job. I wish all the dealers service techs and employees could be as excellent as these people were to me. Best of Luck what ever route you go. :beer:

 

[sbrooks]

Yeah, that's the weird thing about this damn high income area. The dealerships are usually cheaper! They have a standard amount for parts, labor, etc. But the private businesses will charge you out the freakin' roof unless you talk them down or call them out on their price gouging. But people around here with more money than brains will pay it, no questions asked, no haggling. Same thing with my last car to mount and balance wheels/tires. I ended up going to the dealer for way cheaper. It's like the twilight zone here in Northern VA.

I called a local Mustang performance shop and they quoted me $2000, out the door, parts and labor for an upgraded clutch. And the dealer quoted me roughly $600 for the clutch and $600 for the labor. They even said I can bring in my OWN CLUTCH for them to install. I just pay labor, $600. It gets better....I asked about warranty on any other tranny related parts, in case I something else broke and they tried to blame it on the aftermarket clutch, and they said they wouldn't do that, they would cover the other warrantied parts. WTF is going on here?

Take it to another dealer and demand that they fix the problem if the flywheel is warped.

 

[thapr3dat0r]

Take it to another dealer and demand that they fix the problem if the flywheel is warped.

I will definitely go to another dealer if the current one isn't willing to help. I already know which one I'll go to next. The problem is (with the current dealer) they won't be able to determine whether it's the flywheel or not until they tear it apart. At that point, if it's not the flywheel and it's the clutch I have to pay the labor costs for dis-assembly and assembly which can be anywhere from $200-$600.

 

[thapr3dat0r]

Good news!!!! The service manager just called me back and told me the repair was approved under the TSB. He said after doing research he saw that it was a common problem overall but they just haven't seen it at their dealership except for a couple of times. He said that it is coded for repairing the flywheel and therefore is covered under warranty.

I knew this whole time they were just focused on the clutch and not the entire problem. All the parts are going to be overnighted except for the clutch kit which has an unknown ETA until it is ordered. Hopefully it isn't back-ordered for too long. I think my clutch is getting worse but it could just be in my head. I guess I'm gonna have to ride the motorcycle till the car gets fixed :burnout:

 

[stkjock]

glad that worked out for you!

 

[03Bite]

Good news!!!! The service manager just called me back and told me the repair was approved under the TSB. He said after doing research he saw that it was a common problem overall but they just haven't seen it at their dealership except for a couple of times. He said that it is coded for repairing the flywheel and therefore is covered under warranty.

I knew this whole time they were just focused on the clutch and not the entire problem. All the parts are going to be overnighted except for the clutch kit which has an unknown ETA until it is ordered. Hopefully it isn't back-ordered for too long. I think my clutch is getting worse but it could just be in my head. I guess I'm gonna have to ride the motorcycle till the car gets fixed :burnout:

That is awesome news!! Glad they are going to take care of you!!

 

[thapr3dat0r]

Yeah, I'm stoked. It definitely pays to be persistent and not take no for an answer. In this case, I truly think the service adviser a) was ignorant and b) had a preconception about me. The service manager on the other hand had some mechanical knowledge and was actually willing to listen to me and consider the possibility that I could be correct.

Thanks all for the help and advice. I'll update as things progress.

 

[mullens]

Good news!!!! The service manager just called me back and told me the repair was approved under the TSB. He said after doing research he saw that it was a common problem overall but they just haven't seen it at their dealership except for a couple of times. He said that it is coded for repairing the flywheel and therefore is covered under warranty.

I knew this whole time they were just focused on the clutch and not the entire problem. All the parts are going to be overnighted except for the clutch kit which has an unknown ETA until it is ordered. Hopefully it isn't back-ordered for too long. I think my clutch is getting worse but it could just be in my head. I guess I'm gonna have to ride the motorcycle till the car gets fixed :burnout:

Good for you. Like I said keep the car with you until the clutch comes in if at all possible. Who knows how they will store it at the dealer...it won't get the same TLC you can give it.

 

[me32]

That is one of the questions I was going to ask. That a big IF and still a gamble as to what they will see when they crack open the tranny. If the flywheel is not warped, just the clutch is fried, I'm screwed and I have to pay.



:lol: I completely agree. She gave me some generic, pre-practiced rejection speech. Today when I do the ride along, I'm gonna talk to the tech first then the service manager. You're right, I shouldn't have mentioned the clutch and she knew shit about this car and probably cars in general. I just thought I'd give them the courtesy of going up the chain of command properly. I already submitted an email to Ford on their website. If shit doesn't get taken care of today I'm going to do start going further and further.

Good luck bud. It's sad to see crappy dealers not take care of there customers.

 

[03 KB Sonic Blue]

Just put a SPEC or McLoud clutch in. The new updated clutch feels great and easy to drive but cant handle the power. I'm learning this the hard way.
I would buy aftermarket clutch have dealership install it and then sell the TSB clutch to recoup funds. I wish I would have done this from the start. You would only be out the new clutch until you sold the TSB one.
If you are never going to mod car or take it to the track then just use the TSB clutch.

Just my .02. Glad they finally came to senses and are helping you out.