I got almost 10K miles on my current clutch, and its still grabbing rough! It gets me so mad. Everyone I bring along with me thinks I don't know how to drive stick. Its so bad upon take off I have to push the pedal back in a lil bit so it dosn't buck. I get wheel hop/chatter almost everytime I take off, its never smooth. All the vehicles I've ever drove/owned never had this problem.

 

If the clutch is correct and fly wheel was not burnt or cracked the only thing I know of to make a clutch grab in a juddering grabby way is oil on the disc. Makes the vehicle lurch during engagement.

 

I don't know who installed it, but the previous previous owner had it install right before he sold it to the owner before me..You think it could be something with the hydrolic clutch system???

 

I haven't much time on a hydro clutch, this being my first. I'm still thinking oil on the clutch. Father-in-law had a volks that had a leaky rear seal. Thing would shudder and grab, sometimes almost kill if you did not have the r's. Embarassing to drive cause the car would shudder and jerk.

 

Wouldent oil cause it to slip? Its grabbing like its some kinda STAGE 4 Racing clutch or something, its real bad...not smooth at ALL

 

The oil acts just like when brake pads get damp and they are cold. Grab hard enough to lock up wheels sometimes until it burns off. Can't burn off the oil. At best you could try spraying some brake cleaner on the disc to see if that will cure it. Otherwise you need to pull it to see what is up.

 

I wonder if the installer forgot to clean the cosmoline off the pressure plate-

 

If the pedal feels good and the slave cylinder assembly lifts completely (repair manuals show haw to determine this with a concentric slave cylinder), there's a problem with the clutch itself. From there it's a crap shoot. Could be oil from a rear main leak, greasy disc or pressure plate, or if the p.o. let the clutch go too far it could be a rough flywheel. I've seen guys put clutches back together with flywheels that had taken metal to metal from a worn out disc before - said the clutch would eventually even it out. Good luck with it.

 

It seems like its getting worse instead of beter.

 

Just my .02 . I own a 95 std with the 6. I've driven nothing but standards for over 30 years, so I have a lot of experience with them. THis is the absolute worst clutch release system I've ever seen. It is a *VERY* difficult system to use. I don't mean to insult but you may need more time to learn the extremely delicate touch it takes to operate this clutch/truck. I like the truck, 10 years and 100,000 miles, but the clutch release system is horrible. I've known many people who bought these trucks with the std, loved the truck, but sold it in one year specifically because of the clutch. If somebody thinks you don't know how to drive a stick, just pull over and see if he can do any better. I cringe when I have to bring the truck in for maintenance (I do most myself) and watch the tech burn up my clutch trying to buck/creep it onto a lift. It seems that a tenth of inch on the pedal is all you need to go from initial grab to full engagement. I sometimes have trouble when wearing alternate shoes whose sole thickness is different. It's that sensitive.

Mike

 

my 91's clutch was really touchy, but it made me an excelent clutch driver in a matter of .. well.. teh 7 months i had it.

I'd hope there is a warenty on your clutch. Mine had a 1 year warenty parts and labor. I'd take it back.
If it was put on by the previous owner, and he didn't give you a recipt. i woudlnt' belive him> guy i baught mine from lied and said he did, but i knew a little better then that.

I'm giong to guess oils on it, I'd try burniing the clutch hardcore if you can.... Mine was really sticky like that for a bit, but it wore down when you newbie clutch it. I"d just hold the break and try and burn it in.

Otherwise something is leaking back there. The slave cylinder shoudlnt' get any oil on it. It wouldn't wokr to great if it was leaking anyways.

Will rear main get oil on clutch plates?
unless its blown. but then are you looseing any oil from the engine?

 

Moved to appropriate forum.

When I put a new clutch in my other truck, it was pretty much just like the original right off the bat, no break it or change in the way it grabbed over time.

I don't have the same complaints you guys do...my F-250 is very smooth, and it's different because you can't feel the clutch grab with your foot, it's as if you're pushing and releasing a lever with nothing attached...but the clutch works fine and I do like it. It's different than the other trucks I've driven or owned, but not in a bad way.

My F-150 had a fairly new clutch and it would come off the floor about 4" before it grabbed, you could feel it grab with your foot unlike the F-250, you'd get a few inches of grabbing in the throw of the pedal before it's fully engaged, and then the last 2 or 3 inches of pedal throw would be practically nothing cuz the clutch was already fully engaged. This is describing how my clutch used to be, before I took the motor and trans out.

My buddy's F-150 has a similar clutch feel to my F-150's, but a little more towards the "light switch" type. I don't think it's a characteristic of Ford's design, I think it's a characteristic of how the clutch is setup in relation to the design. The other F-150 I had previously as well as the F-150 and F-250 I have now, never had the "light switch" like clutch feel. I duno...but it sounds like you're clutch needs to be worked on again. I had the clutch system all re-done on my other F-150 and it wasn't akward at all after the new one was installed. I'm puttling a dual friction centerforce clutch in the F-150 soon when the 393 is put in, and the F-250 may get a new clutch as well.

 

It's the way the release cylinder operates in the newer F150's that causes the problem. The 250's and older 150's use an American transmission. The later models have a Japanese (Mitsu or Mazda) tranny. With the older ones, the release cylinder is outside the transmission bell housing and actuates the throwout bearing via a release fork. This gives some mechanical advantage and lowers the amount of movement you get on the throwout bearing for every inch the release cylinder moves. I.E. 1 inch on the release cylinder may only move the throwout bearing .25 inch or so. THis translates into a more gradual engagement for a given amount of pedal movement. The newer versions place the release cylinder just behind the throwout bearing, wheretofore one inch movement on the release cylinder is one inch on the throwout bearing, a huge amount for a throwout bearing to move.
One advantage of this "wonderful" system is that if the release cylinder goes bad, what used to be a 15 minute job now turns into a full blown clutch replacement exercise (Nice). The point being, if you have to remove the tranny to replace a simple clutch slave, you might as well replace everything else while you're in there. THe same goes for a clutch replacement, you may as well replace that slave while you're doing the clutch.

 

Um, I believe you're partly mistaken, some of the things you've said are true but some are not.

My F-250 has a ZF-S42 transmission, it uses the same slave cylinder and master cylinder that the M5OD (mazda 5 spd w/ overdrive, F-150 transmission) does, even though it's an 89'.

My buddy's F-150 is a 96 and my F-150 is a 95, it's the same transmission and the same setup (M5OD). However, the adjustment is different and he may have a slightly different clutch disc. Those trucks, have the same setup that's on my 89' in regards to the slave and master cylinders. In fact, I'm actually swapping the transmission in both of my trucks so that my F-150 gets the ZF and the F-250 gets the M5OD. It's practically a bolt in swap...and mazda is part-owned (in some way) by Ford (I don't know the details)....so it's not a foreign transmission, there's one in the 5 spd ranger too, the M5R1. The M5R2 is the same thing as the M5OD in the F-150, just a different description. Theres no "american" transmission...


You're mixed up here, the "older" ones you speak of, are the T-18s or 4 spds of the way past. The 5 spds with hydraulic clutches, are all the same...they have an internal slave cylinder and external master cylinder, regardless of if it's the ZF or M5OD. They started in the late 80s, my 89 is hydraulic just like the 96's.

Just because it's got an internal slave cylinder, doesn't make the clutch a "light switch" style....all of the trucks I described in my other post here were hydraulic internal slave cylindered transmissions....and only one of them was sorta like a "light switch"...but not that bad....just that my buddy's truck is more "light switch" like than the other 3 trucks I've had, even though they're all the same general design. In other words, it's not a characteristic of this design to have a "light switch" for a clutch...3 of my trucks were not this way, my buddy's 96 is a little bit like that but...not totally.

This guy's clutch was not a "light switch" before it was re-done...so someone did something wrong when putting it back together to make it a "light switch"

 

I think I'm just going to install a new clutch this summer, Since I put my Mustang back on the road I have a backup car to drive while the truck is being serviced. What clutch do you guys recommend, and where should I purchase it.

I'm not a big fan of CenterForce but if the majority have had good experiences with them. I'll order the set. I just havn't had luck with CF with Mustangs.