Any body have this sort of thing, or know what it is?

From a standing start <clutch in>: when i take out the clutch and give it some gas, I get a shudder through the clutch pedal and it shakes the whole car. It does this when the car is hot, like driving in the city. You can feel it when you go 1-2 clutch release as well (much less).

Car (2005 GT) has about 30K mi, I drive it very sensibly, and this is just out of the blue (i.e. just me using the clutch like usual). Surely the clutch cannot have gone already???????

Any ideas? Thanks.

-Christian

 

Sounds like it's not worn out, but scored probably from excessive heat and use of city driving. I've seen clutches get scored and only act up in certain ambient temp situations. The ones on my Mazda 6s that had these problems would act up REALLLLLY bad when the car was cool, much worse when cold. Literally you could see the entire dash assembly jumping up and down it chattered so hard. You've got a 36,000 mile warranty on this. I would definitely get it in. They're going to try to pro rate charge you for a clutch replacement. I would fight it, but it will be tough since there were no problems till now.

 

Thanks very much, how do you mean pro-rate? Because I'm asking for a clutch replacement? How many hours? How difficult?

Anything you can suggest for convincing them? My local SVT dealer won't fix anything unless you show him or he can replicate it.

-CJ

 

I have this exact same problem and it has really upset me at times because you actually have to alter how you drive the car when this problem shows up, which in my case is after about 5-10 miles of sprited city driving.

It first showed up at aroun 11,000 miles, took it to the dealer and after some really intense convincing("that is normal sir", "give it more gas" "it doesn't chatter that bad" blah blah blah) they replaced my clutch. This got rid of the problem for about 1000 miles then it came back and I was again furious.

Then I wondered if the chatter was happening in the rear end and just transmitting the vibration up to the front through the clutch pedal, so I took it in for the rear-end Tsb...this got rid of the problem completely...for the next 2000 miles or so. It came back but is now a much less intense chatter than before the tsb, and only chatters after 5 miles or so whereas before it chattered all the time.

I'm at about 24k miles at the moment and I'm going to give the dealer one more crack at it, and if that doesn't work, I guess I'll do the replace-everything-till-the problem-is-gone routine. At least now I know there's at least one other person with this problem!

 

I got the sense that it could be further back too. Again, I could be wrong. My Mazda 626 which is all used up at 145K kms has the same problem, a chatter when declutching at a light/stop sign.

It does it when its hot, so maybe mine is not as bad as yours right now. My clutch was great and smooth before this week.

Well I'm gonna bump this thread once in awhile and see if anybody else comes up with it or has a solution. Any idea how much it would be, post warranty, to replace a clutch??

-CJ

 

I don't know exactly how they figure it out, perhaps someone on here that is a dealer mechanic can explain but basically as I understand it, because you had 30,000 trouble free miles, they will not pay for the entire clutch. They expect you to pay for some portion of the repair. I just don't know how they figure out the percentage. I'm sure it has to do with what Ford says should be allowable as far as clutch life vrs what you actually got out of it etc. Clutches have been around for 100 years. I can't believe there are this many problems with them. Quite frustrating.

 

And should probably last ~100K miles if not beat on.

 

I actually have the exact same problem under the exact same circumstances: 10–30 minutes of stop and go city driving, when the car is sufficiently warmed up.

I brought this to my dealer and got the same exact run-around: "normal driveability for a Mustang" and "could not duplicate the problem."

My shuddering also started happening around the 30K mile mark, and after being dissed by my dealership, the car is now at 36,200.

I have a friend who is a certified technician (not with Ford, however) who drove the car with me, experienced the problem, and said it's clutch-related.
Then he wrote up tech notes for me that I could submit to my dealership.

So now I am currently battling Ford about what the next steps are for me, and who is responsible for paying for the repairs, since, technically, I brought the car in for this problem while it was still under warranty.

At any rate, I'm really interested to know what develops with your situation, as it mirrors mine in so many ways.

 

my clutch petal vibrates every now and then, i dont know if its the same thing you are talking baout, but usually in the lower gears. Most often happen when im in first gear, then put my foot on the clutch...it starts to vibrate and angers my foot.

 

Oh, I'd also like to note that the shuddering not only happens in 1st gear, but also in reverse.

Question: is your shuddering upon clutch release also followed by sluggishness?

My GT gets EXTREMELY sluggish taking off in 1st sometimes, and I've even had the car back to the dealership to perform the fuel pump TSB, thinking that was the cause of the problem.

Replacing the fuel pump made a world of difference...for 1K miles, or so.
After that, the poor driveability and sluggishness returned, along with other assorted rattles and annoyances.

For example, there is a very distinct rattle coming from the front underside of the car at 2500 RPM.

Also, there is a very audible whine/hum coming from the front axle when making a complete turn right or left.

Coincidentally, both of these noises were also blown off by my dealership as either "can't duplicate the problem" or "normal driveability for a Mustang."

Seriously, F U, Ford.

 

No, this vibration is felt throughout the whole car, not just in the pedal.
It's enough to make you re-engage the clutch to stop the vibration, and then try again.

 

this is what happens when you buy a ford

 

Talked to my dealer today, going to take in soon, sometime in the morning when it's quiet, so all the %%$# noises assiociated with all the problems i have will be easily heard. on that note, a little vent....I seriously can't believe how many problems I have with my car...I'm taking my car in for a terrible A/C compressor whine that goes up with engine RPM, i have that rattle at start up when the car is cold(tsb for that one), the clutch chatter, my leaking power steering and coolant reservoir caps, seat cushions not attached, rattle in center stack dash, omg the terrible clunking sounds from passenger front side suspension, they just did the rear-end-turning tsb and now i have gear whine...shall I go on, ok I will, then I have some weird weatherstripping easing its way out of position, and my shaker1000 buttons are peeling woohoo!! But you know what, even with these hordes of problems...I still smile every single time I look at my stang. I still love my car, for now.

Come to think of it, atomicvibe, I have noticed the sluggishness when just starting off in first, but I just attribute that to the super laggy throttle. I drove a friend's stang which is tuned, and there's a huge difference in throttle response, so because of this, I haven't considered the sluggishness a problem. Maybe I should.

 

Or you can abuse the hell out of it like I did and it will only last 8k miles.

 

has anyone replaced their clutch, if so, who are the top manufacturers and can a better clutch improve your get up and go from a dead stop?

 

Well, you're not alone.
Many people have had—and continue to have—problems with this car.
I have had numerous problems: sluggishness, jerky shifting, clutch chatter, whining noise when turning, noisy suspension, clunky transmission, fuel gauge misreading actual fuel level, rattling console and dash, squeaky seats, squeaky undercarriage, fuel pump TSB, frozen brake line TSB, blah, blah, blah.

And almost everyone I talk to about these issues gives me the same response:

"Well, it's a Ford."

Honestly, at $30K+, this is not and acceptible answer.
I am really apalled at the lack of craftsmanship in this car.
Sure it looks pretty, and it sounds tough, and when it wants to be, it is nice and peppy.
But these traits aren't enough.
Where's the craftsmanship? The quality? The durability?
The materials are cheap and the vehicle is shoddily manufactured.
All the owner complaints—many of which are the same over and over and over—are a testament to this.
Cutting corners to make a car affordable shouldn't be the bottom line, America.
Making a car that isn't a P.O.S. should be.

Ugh.
When I bought this car, I was also looking at the Infiniti G35 Coupe.
I went with the Mustang because it was about $5K cheaper, and seemed like more bang for the buck.
Now, after all the problems I've had—and continue to have—I'm wishing I had just spent the $5K extra and bought the G35.

 

LOL. I've had a few problems with this car, and most have been fixed with TSBs and no probs now. But seriously dude, G35? They are seriously junk, but they have better customer service.

-CJ

 

"could not verify problem" is what I got from them for the 5454236234562th time so I'm just gonna replace the clutch with centerforce DF whenever I decide that I can't take the chatter anymore and see if that cures it. good luck to you guys I'm giving up on this one.

 

I have something similar, to what is being described, that has been there since the day I picked it up at the dealership....the salesman even noticed it. It hasn't given any problem yet, but is more of something that I notice and is a bit of an annoyance. It is worse at cold start up....meaning when the car has set for awhile and the trans. is at ambient temp. I get a little chatter through the clutch pedal as I let the clutch out at low/idle rpm's. Increasing the rpm's seems to reduce/eliminate the chatter. It can also be felt in the car. It seems to get better as the trans. gets up to normal operating temp. At this point, I feel that it is just the throw out bearing chattering a bit, as the clutch is let out. I haven't experienced any problems with the trans. or clutch, though I admit the car is only a month old and it is not a daily driver, so I'm still at very low mileage. I guess time will tell.