Clutch check?

[Fordwerke]

Hi,

I am in a bit of a Contique crisis, I need a car quite quick, since I am gonna move next week, and still don’t have a car, and was too busy to look for one so far.
I found a ‘99 Mystique in my price-range, but it is a manual. I don’t mind that too much, since I learned how to drive it in Germany. Yet, my experience is that folks over here don’t quite know how to drive them, cause I hear them all the time burning the clutches. So I don’t wanna end up with clutch issues (how much would it be on a Contique?).

Is there a way to check the clutch prior to purchase that even a layman like me could do? I was told to pull the handbrake, and than slowly release the clutch in the highest gear, and wait for something funny to happen. Is this advisable?

I really wanna show the car to a mechanic prior to getting it. Since I don’t know any mechanic in Miami, do you now any nationwide ‘chain’ (dunno, Midas or Meineke?) to which I could trust for a check?

Thnx very much folks,

[Matt R]

Just take it for a test drive, you should be able to tell if it's slipping or has any problems.

[BrApple]

set the parking brake and use 4th gear. realease the clutch and if it stalls the clutch is good if it doesn't stall or drop the rpms the clutch is slipping ....

other then that just drive it and see what happens.


and about burning clutches out .... I have 200k on my stock zetec clutch and I put 100k on it .... my fathers 95 has 150k on the original clutch ... another member here put over 200k on his clutch also ....

chances are if it was driven right a spring in the clutch or pp will let go before the clutch material burns up ...

[striker2]

yup, i had 241K miles on my stock zetec clutch before one of the dampening springs blew up. when i pulled it the clutch still had plenty of material left on it as well.

[xtascox]

164,000 on stock clutch on my mystique and it grabs just as good as ever

[AliasJerk]

on the zetec, wearing out a clutch is a hard thing to do, my pre98 had 140K on the stock clutch, my 99 had 170K on the stock clutch.

[dyaballikl]

on the zetec, wearing out a clutch is a hard thing to do

cuz there's not that much power? lol

[striker2]

IMO its cause ford over engineered the pre98 contour. that or they underengineered the 98+ ones.

[LauraSVT]

Hi,

I am in a bit of a Contique crisis, I need a car quite quick, since I am gonna move next week, and still don’t have a car, and was too busy to look for one so far.
I found a ‘99 Mystique in my price-range, but it is a manual. I don’t mind that too much, since I learned how to drive it in Germany. Yet, my experience is that folks over here don’t quite know how to drive them, cause I hear them all the time burning the clutches. So I don’t wanna end up with clutch issues (how much would it be on a Contique?).

Is there a way to check the clutch prior to purchase that even a layman like me could do? I was told to pull the handbrake, and than slowly release the clutch in the highest gear, and wait for something funny to happen. Is this advisable?

I really wanna show the car to a mechanic prior to getting it. Since I don’t know any mechanic in Miami, do you now any nationwide ‘chain’ (dunno, Midas or Meineke?) to which I could trust for a check?

Thnx very much folks,

If the clutch feels smooth and grabs predictably and crisply, you know it'll hold up to whatever you throw at it. Clutches in these cars last a long time if they're not beaten on, as others have attested. Don't waste time and money having a shop give you an opinion on a part they can't even see without significant and costly disassembly. The pedal should engage and disengage smoothly, and you should feel the clutch start to catch roughly half way up the length of the travel.

If you really want to torture test it, take it a few blocks in afternoon rush hour traffic on the Tamiami Trail or the Palmetto (gasp!).

[elraido]

I also thought Ray had a "how to" sort of thing to tell. It went something like this

In 1st gear get it up to around 15 mph.....shift to 5th and hammer the gas. If the RPMs climb faster than the speed, than you have a slipping clutch.