Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Clutch Slipping at 17,000 miles

Here's the story. I bought my '99 SVT Contour -- used -- with 14,600 miles. Prior to my ownership, the car was used as a "test" vehicle by Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn.

After roughly 2,400 miles of driving the car, the clutch began to "let go", most noticeably in 5th. If I didn't need to drive the car every day I would have left it in the driveway until it could be dealt with, but that's not the case here...

I continued to drive the car and now the problem is so severe that the car cannot be driven and I'm forced to borrow a friend's piece-of-junk-car. My poor SVT barely moves from a standstill now and must be coaxed beyond 25 mph to accelerate. It's like driving a bicycle with an electric motor that occasionally kicks in. :p

Anyways... a friend of ours says "maybe it's the slave clutch," and since I know nothing about manual transmissions (nothing extensive anyway) I was wondering if this was something worth checking out. I assume he means what is usually referred to as the slave cylinder and from what I gather from a search I did a moment ago, this should have nothing to do with the problem I'm having.

I think Ford wore out the clutch (you should see the front tires -- my God!) and decided to sell the car as-is. The dealership, of course, promised that the car was never abused (not that they'd know).

That's it for now... any advice anyone can provide me with that might help me come to a decision on how to deal witht this problem would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again, CEG.
.RMk..

Just a shot here, but after only 2,400 miles, I would think the dealership might be persuaded to cover a good part, if not all of the cost of repairs. Isn't there usually at least a three-month, 3,000 mile warranty on used cars? especially from a dealer?

That's the part of this that's really irritating. The dealer I purchased the car from offered only a 1,000 mile, 1 month warranty. While this DID occur within the first month, we had already vacationed to Massachussets (512 miles from here). I didn't want to drive MY car, but everyone insisted and nothing was wrong at the time. :rolleyes:

As an addition to this post, I should also note that I am currently planning to replace my clutch altogether. While I don't want to go too expensive with the parts, I WILL be needing a clutch that will stand up to a 3L + numerous bolt-ons.. possibly a future turbocharger (though that's still a pipe dream).

.RMk..

You need a new clutch assy...simple as that!