Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Transaxle How can you "Test" Your Clutch?

My car is a 2000 SVT with 46k on it.
I am still having this intermittent shifting problem. It occurs mostly when the car heats up. It is hard to get it into gear. There is no grinding, but it's as if the clutch is partially engaged (i can feel a bit of a lunge), and its like pushing the shifter through gravel. I took it to Ford, and of course they could not reproduce it so i had to pay 40 bucks for nothing. The tech there said he had no idea what could be causing it (checked the slave cyl, but did not bleed the clutch) but suggested maybe the clutch was going. Now i have floored it in 5th up a hill and got no slippage at all, but how else can i test the clutch? I get some chatter between 1000-2000 rpm, but thats the only other symptom of anything.

what I was told is. come to a complete stop, engage the parking brake, put the car in 4th gear and try to go. If it slips, well its bad, if the car dies. your good.

well mine must be ok then, cuz it dies if i try to go in 3rd

One of the beat ways to test to see if a clutch is worn out and slipping is to shift into top gear (5th on our cars) at a fairly low speed (about 25 to 30 MPH) and after the clutch pedal is full up, floor the throttle. A weak clutch will slip under this kind of strain. A really bad clutch will allow you to rev the engine at will at this speed.

I don't think this is what you are after though.

I sounds like you have already diagnosed your problem but don't realize it. You said that at times, especially when really hot, that it feels like the clutch is not fully disengaging when the pedal is on the floor. You are probably correct.

This can happen if you have air in the hydraulic clutch linkage. It can also happen if the fluid is really old. It can also happen if the clutch master or slave is getting weak. Before doing anything else, try bleeding the clutch.

To bleed the clutch, locate the bleed port on the top of the bell housing. It looks like a brake bleeder, but smaller. It helps to remove the air filter box and air intake tube if you have not done it before, but once you know where it is you can do it without. Just like bleeding the brakes, have someone pump the pedal (clutch pedal though) several times and while they are holding the pedal down, open the bleed port and allow some fluid to spurt out. Close the port and repeat several times (about 6 or 8 is usually enough) to clear any air in the system.

You really should change the clutch fluid from time to time as well. It is the same fluid as brake fluid. In fact, it shares the same resivoir as the brakes.

I change my brake fluid once a year and I do the clutch at the same time at least every other year. The clutch doesn't get as much heat so it is not quite as critical but it still should be changed to help the hydraulic parts last longer.

So see if bleeding the clutch or changing the clutch fluid helps with your problem. I'm betting that it will.

Big Jim.

Your advice is always Good-to-Go!

Nice write-ups and you are almost always patient with people, great job!


warmonger

Anyone have pics on where the bleeder is for the clutch.

I dont have a pic, but i can tell you how to find it, as i found mine. Take out the cone filter and disconnect the MAF and remove that piece. Then look down at the transmission case. On the top, towards the engine you should see a black section. In the middle of that is the bleed valve. It was a rubber cap on it. As an aside, who in the hell designed the stock airbox setup, i mean it barely goes back together without some real shoving. My car used to make all these howling noises and i found that when the tech at the dealer replaced the air filter he just kinda threw the thing back together and that little rubber piece that the cone goes into got all bunched up and half the cone was exposed. Its a real tight squeeze to get that thing back in the right way.

Big Jim's got it, he helped with mine.

Only thing I'd add is, you need to pump the clutch plenty between openings of the valve. You'll notice that it takes quite a few pumps before it starts getting its stock stiffness back. So pump a lot between valve openings, then pump, hold, bleed. And enjoy.

Brian Dors
99 SVT