72MachOne99GT

Are there any signs that would lead me to believe my clutch could be going out?

It's a '99 with 86K miles.

Is there a smell? A difference in the stiffness? Does the engagement point change?

SVTeeshirt

If theres a smell of your clutch burning thats usually you not knowing how to drive it i.e riding the clutch way to much, and that would cause your clutch to go bad quicker.

The clutch will start slipping, you may find you have to push the clutch solid to the floor to get it to go in a gear(could just need adjusted) and that the gear won't actually catch untill the clutch is pretty far off the floor, further than it used to.

BlackMage

put your car into 5th gear and put the gas to the floor, if the revs climb and you dont move, your clutch is slipping and its time to get a new one.

0949er

are you talking about from a stand still? That sounds horrible for even a new clutch lol

FlamingoGT

That's the standard way of checking. If the clutch is good, it will just stall out the engine. If the clutch is going/gone, it will slip allowing the engine to keep running.

contentsunderpressur

Burning clutch has a certain strong smell to it that you wouldn't miss if it was slipping. If it was slipping you would know it. Just run it until the clutch is toast IMO. The stock clutch is a lot stronger than you think.

5.0 85 GT

86k seems like alot of miles for a stock clutch though? especially in a stang.....but try the 5th gear thing, that always works....ahah