• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Whats going on with my clutch pedal?

S

snarf24

CEG'er
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Messages
112
Location
Howell, MI
We have been having some serious cold weather here in MI and I thought that it had to do with somewhat of my problem but now I am really confused. One day I went and started my car to let it get warm, I come out and start driving. Everything is fine until I get off the highway. The clutch pedal pretty much lost all pressure and I had to shove my foot all the way to the floor to shift. It was really hard to shift into all gears, 1st and Reverse the most. It was also popping out of 2nd gear when I shifted into gear. So go forward a week to tonight. I'm driving home from work and come to a stop light. While the car was in neutral I pulled the clutch pedal all the way back towards my body with my foot and bam!!! My clutch pedal went back to normal and shifting is fine. I really don't have to push my foot to far down on the pedal for it to go into gear and that's what it felt like when it was new 20,000 miles ago. I'm really confused on whats going on with it. Anyone have this problem or know anything?
 
Why would that make my pedal go all the way to the floor, but then when I pulled it all the way back up with my foot it went back to normal?
 
sounds like your slave cyl is crapping out :/ my buddys was doing the same thing ... pull rubber part at the top of the trans I bet you will see fluid
 
snarf24 said:
Why would that make my pedal go all the way to the floor, but then when I pulled it all the way back up with my foot it went back to normal?
Click to expand...

There is a plunger in the master cylinder to push & pull the hydraulic fluid in and out of the slave. You pushed, and then it stuck. When you pulled the pedal back up, it pulled the plunger back out where it needed to be, and it started working again.

Sounds to me like the slave cylinder is probably fine.
 
I would agree with B3NN3TT - the MC has a plunger/piston that uses a spring in order to return to a specific position, upon release of the clutch pedal. I would start with pressure bleeding your MC and if problem remains, then replace MC. Could be moisture in the fluid that is freezing in your ultra cold temps. Bleeding will get rid of the old fluid and restore, hopefully, the MC to normal functioning. Bleed the brakes while you are at it as well. Pressure bleeder is the "cat's meow" when performing this activity. Keep us posted.
 
Mechanic said nothings seems wrong. He said that the break fluid looked dirty but that was it. Said it drives like a new clutch. We shall see in the weeks to come if it does it again and when it does I will just replace the master.
 
snarf24 said:
Mechanic said nothings seems wrong. He said that the break fluid looked dirty but that was it. Said it drives like a new clutch. We shall see in the weeks to come if it does it again and when it does I will just replace the master.
Click to expand...

Dirty fluid = greater tendency to hold moisture in suspension = freezing and your symptom as you reported.
 
Ditto, brake fluid is hygroscopic, it absorbs water, and the primary path is moisture permeation through the polyethylene plastic reservoir on the brake master cylinder. Brake fluid should be amber/clear, not dark or black. If it's black, it's contaminated, probably with water, and at extremely low temperatures, the water can freeze and inhibit fluid movement in the system. Bleed the clutch and brakes with fresh fluid. The water in the system also carries Oxygen with it, and water and Oxygen rusts the Iron parts in the system, which is another good reason for a periodic flush with fresh fluid.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top