I recently had a new genuine Ford clutch fitted, flywheel skimmed & rear crank seal fitted to my stage 3 2 wheel drive Sapph.

Tonight is the first time I've driven the car since it's been fitted because I've been doing other jobs on it. I took it for a drive and got it up to temp in 2nd gear but the first time it came on boost in 3rd the clutch slipped At first I thought it was wheelspin so I backed off instantly but then I realised it was the clutch I drove the car home very slowly after that and not on boost.

How long should a clutch take to bed in and would you expect it to slip just coming on boost in 3rd so soon? I'm pretty hacked off if there is something wrong with the clutch just after it's been fitted.

 

why fit a genuine ford clutch in the first place? what are your reasons for doing this...me personally i would have fitted an alcon 6 paddle, well thats what im running anyway...

 

I didn't want to spoil the way the car drove and the standard clutch was up to the job before. The car doesn't get driven hard so a paddle wasn't needed.

 

genuine OE ford clutch's are find for stage 3 (350hp ish)

anyother symtoms? hard to engage gear? it sounds like the clutch is engaging properly and when you give it a boot it just slips

new release bearing? you sure the crank seal was fitted properly?

 

Clutch feels fine and drives and goes into gears perfectly, it just slipped on boost I've got no idea about the crank seal, I didn't do it a mate did and he knows what he's doing. It's only stage 3 at about 350bhp, maybe less.

New complete kit by the way.

 

I had exactly the same problem ... New ford clutch ,, flywheel skimmed etc .. Im on standard power ,, but when it came on boost it slipped ... Went back to ford to explain problem .. It seems like ford clutches now are supplied by a different supplier ... Looks like they are shit .... I have now bought ap ... . Hope this helps ........... Mark

 

That's not good Mark, mine has AP markings on it

 

Assure me ,,, i was pissed off too ... Its not a bad job to do but u never want to do a job twice .... U hear all these bad reports about other clutch manufacturers but you dont expect it from original equipment... I think borg and beck used to supply ford which i think is ap .. But i think sachs now supply ford ... I Know this dont solve your problem ... Maybe it might improve once its had a heat cycle through it

 

have you reset the clutch ratchet again after fitting the cable... might be worth a look..

 

I'm going to take the car for another drive to see how it feels. I've just spoken to the parts guy I bought it off and he said that if it's a faulty clutch I'll have to book the car in and get it diagnosed Because the car isn't standard Ford will tell me to fook off though

Ratchet was reset afterwards, clutch still feels quite high though

Really really pissed off now

 

If you still get trouble ... I know its extra cost .. But get a ap organic ... Clutch kit ... It still drives like a normal car ,, u dont get the judder problems you get with a paddle clutch ... The only problem you might get is the pedal is a bit heavier to push ,, as the clutch cover is heavy duty ... I got mine from burton ... About 270 pound i think......... JUST BEEN ON THERE WEB PAGE ... ITS 336 ,, THAT INC VAT

 

I think I'll break the car now to be honest, I was only getting it 100% sorted ready to sell but I've had enough and I know that Ford will fuck me over with the clutch and that will be dead money

Gutted

 

A mate of mine is having exactly the same problem with his saph at the mo. We put a brand new genuine Ford AP clutch in it on a freshly skimmed flywheel and had clutch slip on boost in 3rd gear and higher.

We then took the box back out and fitted another genuine Ford AP clutch but this time with an AP 6 paddle centre plate. We thought we would have had it sussed this time round but on boost just plenty of slippage!

I can't work out why this as the car is only 2wd and not running a huge amount of power (stage 3 on a T3). It should be fine with a bog standard clutch at this spec.

Next thing to try would be a new clutch ratchet and pawl I think.

 

It sounds like I'm not alone then It really makes me wonder why I keep buying genuine parts from Ford because they are shit

It winds me up because I can't get my money back from Ford because they want me to book the car in to inspect it but once they realise it's tuned they will tell me to fuck off and land me with another bill for taking it apart, I can't win with Ford and have to accept it

It's little wonder that I've been looking at selling the Cosworth and ST to buy an M3, I am totally fed up with Ford ripping me off.

 

I've found an AP group N plate and cover that was sold by GGR on ebay, has anyone had any experience of these and know whether that will do the job?

Thanks

 

**UPDATE**

I just took the car for a 10 mile drive to see if it was any better and it isn't In third gear I can slowly build the boost and revs but as soon as it gets to about .7 bar it starts slipping That is obviously on part throttle so it can't be making much power or torque

When the clutch was fitted the ratchet should have been reset as soon as it was reconnected and used but the pedal still feels high, could there be an issue with this and do they go wrong?

Your input is appreciated because I'm confused how it can be this bad.

Thanks,

Paul

 

how heavy was the old clutch? the only thing i can think of if maybe the old clutch cable has stretched

new clutch cables are only about £15, maybe try that

its shouldnt be slipping that much IMO

 

The funny thing is it feels exactly the same as the one that came out. The old one wasn hardly worn at all, it just had a little oil on it. The biting point, feel, weight are all exactly the same Because the old clutch had a high biting point I expected to find the plate to be worn out but it wasn't and I also expected the new clutch to have a lower biting point.

If the cable was stretched wouldn't that mean it could drag or have I got it the wrong way around?

 

thinking about it, if the cable was strecthed i think you'd find it had to engage while driving

maybe the clutch is just utter crap; but i cant see how it can be that bad

 

Cant offer much help apart from to say that when i had my crystal blue 2wd stage 1 saff, i thought id be better off going for a genuine motacraft clutch from Fords Which i did... After i had used it gently for a 100 miles or so i started to drive it hard again only to find the clutch started slipping luckly for me though it only did it twice an after that i did about 3000 miles before the car was sold without it slipping to me it never felt quite wright though but that may have just been in my head......

 

That was how I was seeing it but I'm no expert with clutches which is why I didn't replace it

I can't honestly see how it can be that shite, standard Cossie boost is only .6 bar on a T3 so I can't be making that much more than standard and it's certainly not spiking like a standard car would on full throttle feathering the throttle at 3-4k in 4th and 5th makes it slip on demand

 

why are you using a standard clutch on a car that has 150 bhp more than standard!!!! You want the power, put a proper clutch in it. You dont need a paddle type, an Organic clutch from AP will do you fine

 

Alright Ross

You remember how the boost used to kick in on my car when it had the NMS gunship on it and that was with a standard clutch, I'm now on a T34 so it doesn't come in with such a kick but the clutch is crap, it certainly wouldn't stand a hope in hell of handling the gunship spike let alone anything else

Did you get rid of the Golf?

 

Because it worked fine before and I don't drive the car hard. In hindsight I should have gone for something better but I can't even see that this thing would be any use on a standard car

 

Yer i do m8 was definatley nice an punchy b4 & the clutch seemed fine, an as you say you cant even get it to cope with 3/4 throttle on the new one very strange id expect more from a genuine clutch although at stage 3 i would expect it to shorten its life quite considerably....Hope you get it sorted m8 without resorting to braking the car.....

Yer sold the golf , was made redundant at work an i couldnt afford to have it sat there as it was only a toy sorta thing so paniced abit an advertised it ... The rather annoying thing is my company 2 weeks later re-employed me .....
Still back in2 mx again now which im really enjoying an couldnt have done both so not all bad....

 

thats shit news fella. not only is it the fact you went to ford, but the replaced will need to happen again.

i went to ford and was only running a small amount of power in the RST, and it never sliped, but blown it to bits, i went and got myselg a 6paddle race clutch and its not sliped since, only trouble i have now, is the gearbox lasting.

 

Different car but i fitted a new clutch (AP markings) to a 306 TD a couple of weeks ago and it slipped on the first outing , took it apart and couldnt see anything wrong so fitted the old pressure plate with the new clutch plate and it was fine. Seems that some of the pressure plates are very lazy.

 

that would be MY call with this issue! so would need to be replaced again!

 

Sadly Ford do it as an exchange unit so they have my old clutch Think it's time to break the car now

 

Gutted to here this.Have you go it sorted yet.

 

a proper gen standard clutch will cope with 24 psi stage 3 in 4x4 form so even more so in 2wd

its defo got to be a cheap part mate

i run a full elcon 6 paddle inc heavy cover and theres no judder and pedal is lighter than standard

 

do ap have a technical department?

 

This was from the main dealer with AP markings on the friction and pressure plate so I don't get it

I can't be bothered doing it all over again, I either leave the car where it is or break it

 

Put the car away an forget about it for a little while, When your in a better frame of mind get it out an sort it ... Youve said b4 how much you enjoy using it when you actually do get it out in it Would be a shame to break it ova something annoying but fairly minor.....

 

So long as the clutch isn't biting off the pedal, the cover seems the only reasonable answer to your problem.

 

no doubt ford just box them as their own and add £50 on from dingbro mate

how much would you want for car complete?

 

At risk of sounding like a stuck record:

FORD CHANGED THE SPEC OF THE CLUTCH. THE NEW ONES ARE NOT UP TO THE JOB.

BUY AN AP ORGANIC IF YOU DON'T WANT A PADDLE.

 

Don't know what it's worth now with a slipping clutch I was going to put it up for £4500 with the clutch sorted

 

I think I've found the problem. When the gearbox was off I cleaned it and I cleaned inside the bellhousing, I've just been working on the car fixing something else and I noticed engine oil dripping out of the bellhousing We are taking the gearbox out on Tuesday but I have no idea where it could be coming from as it had a new crank oil seal

Anyone else had this?

 

Did you fit a new spigot bearing? I had a spigot bearing spew it's lube overmy new clutch once (was a cheap bearing)