Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Clutch problem

I'm driving home, almost in the driveway. Clutch is pressed as im coasting. I turn in and almost at 0, so I go to shift into first, but the car screams at me. I realize it is acting as if the clutch isn't pressed at all, so I leave it in nuetral, set the brake and let out the clutch. It comes out very slowly. Finally its out, so I push it and it has no resistance. I had to push it the rest of the way. I checked the brake/clutch fluid, which i'm assuming means I have a hydralic system going here. It's almost at max. What's wrong?

On a less important note, my car has a problem when shifting to first. The stick gives resistance like a stiff bump you have to get over. You have to put a lot of force into it. What's up?

Oh yeah, sorry if something similiar is posted somewhere. The search function wasn't working when I posted this.

-Thanks, Steve

Welcome to CEG!

Year? Model? Engine? Mileage?

Sounds like internal leakage in the master clutch cylinder.

Difficulty in entering a gear often means a bad synchro. This is inside the transmission $$$

We need more info to help you. Things such as year, model ,milage, etc. It could be a number of things from the minor to the very, very bad.

haha, yeah sorry about the lack of info. I meant to put it but forgot cause I was in a hurry. Its a 95 V6(2.5) manual(obvoiusly) se. Mileage just shy of 110K. Wierd thing about this is that one of the reasons i bought the car was a nice clutch feel.

I have to agree with Roger. Sounds like you have a leaky master cylinder and a bad synchro. You might check the hydraulic system for air, but I don't think that's the problem here, as it sounds a little more drastic. Just something a little less costly to rule out before you go spend the money on a new master cylinder. Good luck!

Steve -
I'm really sorry to tell you this, but...
I have a '97 Mystique, 2.5L V6, 5sp, and had
the same problem a couple of years ago, at about
35K miles (!) The clutch didn't seem to fully
disengage with the pedal down. It was intermittent,
but as the incidences piled up, each one got worse.
It got to where I had to kill the engine while in
traffic just to get it into first. Hard shifting
all around, etc, etc.
I was finally able to reproduce it for a mechanic,
then bent over and turned the car over to the shop.
$1600 for a new clutch. I was ready to set the car
on fire. Problems were: 1. Ford stopped making the
clutch, and Borg Warner gouged on the price for a
remanuf. part, and 2. Those little shock-absorbing
springs in the center hub of the clutch disc were
shredded. They were gumming up the mechanism, hence
the appearance of "non-disengaging clutch" symptom.

I blame hard driving and weak design, in my case.
I hope, in your case, that it's a hydraulic problem,
rather than a "shredded internals" problem. Ouch.

From my experiences it sounds like it is your slave cylinder. Sorry man! Well if u have the money go ahead and get one of those spec clutches but if not go ahead and put in a new clutch and slave cylinder to save yourself trouble in the future.

Well the results are in: $1200 for a whole new clutch kit. Ouch.... Well I do really like the car and what can I say [censored] happens :-( Also thanks guys for replying

I had a similar problem. Took it to the dealer a couple times. They were lazy and changed the master first. It turned out to be the slave. The reason they did not want to do that first is because it is in the transmission.