davelev213

Hey guys, need some help or advice. Im looking at buying an low miles, well maintained 07 GT. Car looks great, runs strong, adult driven, one owner, my only concern is the clutch. I havent drove a lot of manuals in these years so maybe yall can help me out. To me clutch feels pretty stiff, hard to press and it catches late. Also when easing around say in a parking lot I hear a little bit of a rattle like a can of marbles being shaken when I have clutch pressed in. Is this normal? Car has been serviced by Ford every 3-4k miles and all maintenance is up to date but no mention of a clutch problem. Also about how much am I looking at for clutch replacement from a local shop if it needs one? My local Ford dealer quoted me 2 grand!!! Which that aint happening. Thanks guys.

houtex

Well... not to toot my own horn...

Questions:
How many is 'low miles'? I mean, these days, 90K isn't all that much necessarily...

How late is 'catching late'? Like pedal most of the way up, but about 1/3 to 1/4 before fully up? That's sort of normal all while I've had mine...

Hard to press how? Like resisting and really having to push like heck? Probably an upgraded (for no real reason except do it) clutch, probably a stage 2. Just having driven an '08 with one myself, it acted *exactly* like you're describing. Really annoying, actually, dang thing was almost up to the top and then catches, and man... I'd get *real* tired driving that daily... (I was driving it to diagnose some suspension issues and a power steering pump goin' out. He was gonna *sell the thing* because he thought it was all a goner... Just stuff, he's been talked back from the ledge and got it all fixed. Whew. )

The rattle can of marbles is not normal when clutch is in. It should shut up. You can hear gear noise in neutral when the clutch is out, but that whirring should go away when clutch goes in. Definitely shouldn't sound like rattling. Does it do it when the clutch is out, but in neutral? Or only when the clutch is in? If rattlin' in neutral while out, there could be a transmission issue. If it's only when clutch is in, gear not mattering, then that's the throwout or clutch itself. Maybe the pilot. Maybe the input shaft bearings.

After having done it myself, the 2 grand, parts and labor, is not exactly unwarranted at a dealer... for a dealer. It's a fairly big job. Of course, there's cheaper than the dealer, it's 'just' a clutch, and overall they're pretty 'easy' in this car, just a lot of work and time consuming, even for a pro. You can see the video in that link from 2CarPros which is pretty much exactly what you're lookin' at having done if it needs it. I doubt you're getting out for under 1200 at any shop. It's pretty much at least 1/2 a day, if not a full day, depending.

As to the dealer cost: 4 hours at $125 is $500. Half day. But I'm bettin' it's more like 6-8 hours, so 750-1000 in labor at their rates. Then there's this:
https://parts.ford.com/shop/en/us/cl...pair-6357987-1
$800 for a clutch kit. And does not include resurfacing or replacing flywheel.
Yep. Right at $2000 at a dealer.

Now, for comparison, I got the clutch kit shown above for $220 at RockAuto, and went ahead and got a new flywheel too, 'cause it was $82 versus $60 or such to get it resurfaced... and I can still get my old one resurfaced for next time. Figured 'why not'.
If you did that then found a buddy who'll do it, it'll be a lot less than 2 grand. Probably could overall drive outta there for 1 grand. Or maybe even better.

But in any event, I think it needs a clutch kit. Sounds like something in the bell housing is not happy, and there's only one way to figure it out... and I'm betting it's the entire clutch, or at least the clutch disc. Whatever it is, that transmission is exiting the vehicle to fix the issue.

---

So with that in mind, even though I can totally fix it, I'm probably walkin' from this car. Oh, I could fix the clutch issues myself, obviously, and as long as that's all there was goin' on, that's an easy enough fix. But there's this issue of 'is it the transmission... maybe the input shaft is messed up...?' that makes me hesitate. Although I can probably source a workable transmission too... so maybe I get it. But then, I'd be getting it as a second car in my case, not primary, so there's that. Also, if I was, there's going to be negotiations regarding that nastiness goin' on in the bellhousing...

But if you're not gonna do the work yourself, and really can't afford to be without the car or pay the pricing for it... yeah, you might probably wanna pass. Plenty of fish in the sea, Mustangs on the prairies...

Hope all that diatribin' helps in some way. Good luck, I believe in you and such!

davelev213

Thanks man, thats some great insight. Yeah just test driving car that clutch wore me out. I thought it was just me but I drove two more stangs and clutch felt a lot better on those. I think Im going to keep looking. Thanks again.