Anyone had experience of premature failure on the new ST2 clutch . Lads phoned to say his 16 month old fiesta he has on Ford options since new has a slipping clutch and the main dealer want £1500 to fix as it is not covered. (car was not supplied by the main dealer that services it where he lives now) Going to ring ford in morning but 16k miles and 16 months seems pretty poor lifespan IMHO His previous focus 1.6 went well over 50k miles

It does say friction items not covered but even so I would have expected at least 50k My own company cars do well over 90 k on a clutch

thanks

 

What would normally happen is they would strip it down and get the full clutch assembly inspected. The pressure plate might have failed, or the slave clinder might be leaking all over the friction material. If it is failure, then they should cough up. If it's wear and tear then tough.

The only problem with that is they then have you by the bollocks, as your car is now sat in their workshop in bits.

Just sounds like that dealer doesn't want to know. Try a different dealer or ring Ford customer services.

 

Hi thanks yes going to get him to call customer services in the morning
Bit annoyed with him as I told him to bring it back for services to the garage he got it from here which is a long established family Ford franchise but he is 23 so you cant tell them

 

I've seen clutches fail in 2000 miles. Not on an ST but the point is it depends how you drive. If its spent the past 16 months getting its arse ragged 24/7 or hes been riding the clutch without realising then its hardly surprising its failed!

Personally I'd just buy a clutch and fit it yourself. If Ford strip it and put it down to wear and tear then hes fucked. Even if he says no to fitting a new clutch theres the ridiculous labour to strip, inspect and refit.

 

Just an update.
Spoke to the service manager at the dealer and he did sound a bit more amenable and is looking at the price but still says obviously that if the friction plate is worn, then it is not warranty. however found out yesterday that the clutch kit (they fit a new slave) is on a 2 week back order so they wont even open it to inspect for 2 weeks . Lads spoke to Ford customer services who will give him a loan car but only if warranty, which they wont know till its on the ramp in 2 weeks time!! Whole point of having a brand new car was to avoid all this crap. Anyhow well known motoring mag is now involved so we will see. I have to say that a 2 week lead time on a clutch on a 16 month old model (his one of the first registered in the UK) seems suspicious if there is no issue with them lasting as cant imagine many cars having over 20k miles at this point and needing a clutch. Now wondering if the clutch slips under the short factory programmed over boost leading to premature failure. The point is how the hell would you prove it is a design flaw I gather that others have been complaining so be interested if anyone else on here has the new ST2 and having issues

 

If he's going to mod it get an RS clutch fitted.

Ford will cover up any issues as best they can. They're honest like that

 

Thanks not sure what he is going to do yet but so glad he never had the mountune upgrade done if the standard tuning can take out the clutch so soon

 

It does seem odd for a clutch to only last a few thousand miles.

 

Update,
Parts finally came in and she had a new friction plate pressure plate on Friday and slave fitted by the main dealer all in came to around £680 still a rip off if you ask me. Friction plate had worn down but DMF ok although had a few high spots, which seems odd on a 16k mile car. Major mag involved as I said so will see what comes out of it all
p!! him off so much that he is going to hand it back to Ford credit at 2 yrs old next Easter and walk away, to the land of the Vorsprung and get an A4 or similar
Real shame as being a ford man throughout the 80s and 90s I had really hoped this would give him 3 years of decent trouble free motoring

That's said we dropped Ford from our fleet in 2000 due to all the warranty issues I had with my brand new shape Y reg Mondeo TDDI that Ford tried to get out of like ludicrously claiming carrying 50 kg of tool boxes in estate cars was not what it was designed for when the suspension design caused it to rip off a set of rear tyres in 3k miles, and we have been on VW Audi and BMW ever since