It’s got my attention cos of the £££££

issues at the moment –

1) clutch pedal occasionally sticks down after changing into 3rd (needs a nudge up with a toe – probably happened 10 times in the last 500 miles.

2) clutch makes a low pitched squeaky “EURP! noise when clutch engages after changing gear.

3) Slight resonance/vibration when holding the engine at revs a little over idle at a standstill.

The garage who had did the service said “it’s alright for the moment”

Planning on driving to the Alps in April c. 1500 miles. The work is apparently c.£700 for DMF/clutch together.

If I just carry on driving, do really bad things happen suddenly? Or is it gradual decline? Since noticing the problems, I’ve probably driven 600 miles without noticing significant deterioration.

Any thoughts? (the car is probably worth £1500!)

I suspect common answers will “get the work done before you go” and “flog now and buy a better one”

But if anyone’s got anything different, I’d be very interested to hear!

Cheers,

Ed

what mileage has it done? a dmf should be good for at least 100k unless its been ragged.

you can get the parts online and do it yourself if you have access to a ramp and otherr expensive tools

168K, so enough! Don’t have access to a ramp, unfortunately.

not much to add on the replacement BUT

to drive to the alps on it would be fools folly !

1) Clutch pedal sticking down isn’t directly caused by clutch/dmf failure, it’s either caused by something sticking, or air getting into the hydraulics. Although it’s very strange it only happens in 3rd.

2) Where is the sound coming from? Quite normal for clutch pedals to get a bit squeaky on fords. Some suitable silicon or teflon spray aimed at the pedal busings usually cures it.

3) Pretty normal for something of that mileage. What’s a little above idle, and what age/engine is it? Once you get above a certain RPM, the ECU stops balancing the cylinders, meaning any imbalances between cylinders/injectors become apparent as vibration. DMF failure will start to be noticed at high RPM, and gradually noticeable at lower RPM as it worsens. It can also be noticeable as knocking when the engine starts.

A dmf would be a gentle decline, unlikely to fail terminally and is most notable at idle. What you’re describing sounds more like clutch/cylinder/release bearing however and if you’ve got the box off to fix any of that you might as well do it all in one go.

1) Clutch pedal sticking down isn’t directly caused by clutch/dmf failure, it’s either caused by something sticking, or air getting into the hydraulics. Although it’s very strange it only happens in 3rd.

Not really, you sue the middle of the box the most, and you have to shift into and out of the middle gears twice for each trip up and down the box, whereas the high gears you shift into then down from so they get used about half as much, and 1st is just used for setting off.

On the MG the clutch spiggot (50p little bush about the size of a shock bush on a MTB) wore and we were convinced it was a completely FUBAR gearbox as it only became apparent in 3rd, when in fact it was just that that gear was involved in shifting twice as often so whenever the problem was apparent it was most likely to appear in 3rd. Fitted a new clutch while we had it appart as I’d bought the kit before we started and it’s been fine ever since.

thisisnotaspoon, why do you think I questioned that it only happened in 3rd?
2nd and 3rd are typically the most used gears in any 5/6speed gearbox.

Plus, I can guarantee it won’t be the spigot bearing/bush causing the problem 😉

OK, thanks for the replies. Given that I was after a better answer tha “replace it or sell it”, I’m going to concentrate on the best case and go from there!

A dmf would be a gentle decline, unlikely to fail terminally

If I’m driving to the alps, a great deal of the miles will be motorway cruising, so I won’t be using the clutch very much, so based on the above, I could cross my fingers and go?

The sticking clutch pedal might be a bit of a red herring – it happened a handful of times a while ago, but hasn’t reoccurred for hundreds of miles.

The “eurp!” noise is not the pedal, it’s the other end. most common when changing down, as the wheels re-engage with the engine and you get the jerk of decelleration. Sounds like it’d be louder outside the car. It’s the same tone as squeaking a finger on a wet mirror. But louder and “bigger” more forceful. More of a honk than a squeak. Makes me think of artics. Don’t know how else to describe it!

Cheers again.

“I could cross my fingers and go?”

and take out some form of breakdown cover !

What age is this car, and what engine is it?

2003 2.0 TDCi 130PS

get decent breakdown cover.

a good ten years ago, I had an old banger of a 405 worth £500 tops. It started to get proper dodgy just before we were due to drive to the alps for a boarding trip.

Took out RAC european cover, nursed it to Poole and onto the ferry. It died completely 30 miles out of cherbourg. Got a nice hire car for the week and left the 405 where it belonged…

At the risk of someone with more knowledge coming on here and telling me the following is nonsense, I think you should read it.

My Mondeo DMF needed replacing. The main symptom for me was that it was disintegrating and the tiny metal flakes were getting into the starter motor. As such I couldn’t always start the car. At least that’s what the garage told me and after having the DMF replaced all worked again. My experience after that was that every other month I’d have it in the garage for something or other. I had 130k or so on the clock and it just got to the stage were it wasn’t cost-effective to keep it. I was happy to get £1k part ex for it

The noise is probably dust build up somewhere. Used to be a pretty common noise on older cars with cables/release levers when things had dried out a bit, but modern materials have more or less eliminated such sounds.

My biggest concern would be the pedal sticking down, but worst case scenario is you need breakdown, or just have to drive without a clutch.

thisisnotaspoon, why do you think I questioned that it only happened in 3rd?
2nd and 3rd are typically the most used gears in any 5/6speed gearbox.

Plus, I can guarantee it won’t be the spigot bearing/bush causing the problem

You questioned I answered 😛
I agree it’s unlikely to be anything but the clutch itself (i.e. its the pedal/cable not the plates), and the 3rd gear bit is the red herring.

I’d put money on it not being the spiggot, but then again the noise he described sounds horribly like the one mine made, it was the fraction of a mm of play in the imput shaft, the clutch then not alligning perfectly with the flywheeel and the whole thing making a nasty grinding noise as you tried to let the clutch out.

As someone up there suggested, PX it with a garrage (or flog it at an auction or to WEBUYANYADVERTISIGSPACEANDANNOYYOUCONSANTLY). I’d feel too guilty selling it privately, but thats just me.

If it starts ok (ie no debris in the starter) I reckon its the release bearing rather than a failing DMF.

But the work required to get it off means you might as well fit a new clutch anyway.

chappy in the garage says that if you’re replacing the clutch, you may as well replace the DMF, as they typically nedd doing together. Sounds like a £700 job for a bearing replacement!

No issues at all in starting. If the DMF does start to shed bits, How soon from trouble first occuring to not being able to start at all?

How soon from trouble first occuring to not being able to start at all?

It wasn’t all or nothing for me, it was intermittent. I wouldn’t want to be driving across Europe when it starts (or doesn’t) though. Note that the debris does fall off the starter with a bit of movement. If I was parked on a hill I could just roll the car a foot or two and then try starting again.

Took it in. Expected “That’ll be £750, please, sir”

Got: “Could be a number of things. Impossible to replicate on the rolling road, so it’s very difficult to tell. Probably not the clutch as it’s engaging well; probably not the DMF as you’d be able to feel it/hear it; Most likely the engine mount [when the block moves as engine braking forces act on it] but it’s not moving obviously when we put a bar to it. Other than the annoying noise, it drives as it should for it’s age.”

Me: “Hmmm. I’d be quite happy to drive around and hold my breath, but I’m off to the Alps in a few weeks, probably doing 1500 miles. What would you do if it was your car?”

Him: “I’d load my bikes in and head to Morzine!”

So Euro breakdown and crossed fingers it is.

Cheers Mark @ Dagenham Motors, Stamford Hill. I wonder if you’re on here?

For what its worth, my 02 focus tdci has been going on upwards of 20k miles with the DMF on the way out (150k total mileage now). It’s still fine except for it pulsing back through the pedal.

Check its not something really silly like a problem I had once before. I had a Rover and every so often clutch pedal would stay stuck down until you gave it a little kick. Drove it like this for a month until realising it was actually just the floor mat had slipped forward and was catching the pedal!!!