ring3r

Right, I've had the car 6 days now. In the last two days, the clutch pedal has failed to come all the way back up on two occassions, and a couple times shifting from high RPM in a lower gear up into 6th gear the pedal has been hesitant to come all the way back up.

I can't really duplicate the issue....the first time it happened was at low speed, going from 3rd into 2nd to slow down for the turn into my driveway. The pedal came up about 50% and then just stayed there. I didn't fry the clutch or anything, I noticed it right away and I wasn't on the throttle at all (I was engine braking).

The other time it happened, it came back up about 75% of the way and then stopped. It was going from 3rd to 6th. Also did not have anything smelly with the clutch after that either.

When it happened both times, I just popped my toe under the pedal and nudged it up. The spring caught and pulled it back up and it worked without issue right away. I've been driving manual cars for over a decade and have never had anything go wrong, and I certainly haven't been abusing the car this early in the ownership of it....no hard starts, nothing like that.

So.....I've searched the forum and found the threads about the whole 'replace with GT500 clutch pedal' and the stuff about the TSB on the 2011's and all that, and how people were having issues with the clutch not re-engaging, and the pedal not coming all the way back up.

My question is....is that the issue I'm running into? Or is this just a heavy duty clutch that's breaking in?

My problem is that I'm in Germany and it's a pretty long drive to get to any Ford dealership that can work on the car....and I can't really duplicate the issue....so I don't want to drive all the way out there and then have them tell me it's working fine, especially if this is just the clutch breaking in.

ring3r

Well, I've now figured out how to duplicate it. Approach redline in 3rd gear....doesn't matter what I shift to after that....I even tried depressing the clutch near redline, then shifting into neutral and releasing the clutch....it still stayed at least 50% down.

How completely disheartening......Guess I'll have to take it in. Never had anything go wrong with a brand new car before.....really takes the fun out of it huh? Here's hoping the process of getting it fixed isn't a complete nightmare.

I hope it hasn't been quietly destroying my clutch at random times for the last 600 miles....

Ditty

It's a common issue on the '11s. Take it to the dealer and have 'em fix it.

ring3r

This is a '12. I just hope no real damage has been done...

ring3r

*UPDATE* (also...help....)

Well I took it to the Ford Dealership in Bamberg. I described the problem....how it only occurs if you shift at high RPM, how the clutch pedal sticks part-way down, and how it was a known issue with some of the Mustang GTs.

They've had the car for 2 days...just called me, said my car was ready, and that the mechanics were unable to find any kind of issue.

My warranty let me rent a car for free....if the repairs are not warranty repairs, I'll have to pay hundreds of dollars for the rental.

I told them...no...there's definitely something wrong with the car, it's a known issue back in the states, and they still say no, there's nothing, and that they couldn't find any TSB or anything about the issue. They said they'll drive it again and try to get the issue to happen, and that they'd call the Warranty people in the states.

Before I took the car in, I verified that I could get the issue to happen on-demand. I can make it do it any time I want. This dealership is an hour away from where I live, and I'm a staff officer...I can't just drop everything and go driving all over the place to show them exactly what I mean. I described it and how to make it happen very clearly (and the lead mechanic speaks perfect english).

Any suggestions? Is there anybody in the US that I could call to talk to, a person with Ford perhaps? I absolutely refuse to take the car back until it is fixed. I paid 35k for this car and it's completely worthless to me if I can't even shift past 5000rpm.

MoshpitMad

There are Ford reps here on the boards. Why didn't you take the tech out for a drive and replicate the issue for them?

ring3r

It doesn't work like that here....with the language barrier and the different culture, it just doesn't. I thoroughly explained how to cause the issue to happen (it's very easy to duplicate) and then I had to get picked up and driven back to work. They called back and said they couldn't find anything wrong or any kind of service memos from Ford about the issue. I suspect it's because they just don't have access to them here because they don't sell Mustangs.

I can't take time off work to deal with this - I'm an officer...recently re-deployed due to injury. I just got off medical leave when I bought the car, and I'm in charge of handling all the physical security for my battalion as they fly back in from Afghanistan....all of this is happening right during the main-body arrival of the rest of the troops (I was hurt right near the end of the deployment). Things are insane right now. It was almost impossible to drop the car off in Bamberg in the first place, because I had to have a ride BACK, and we can't spare two officers for the whole morning just to go drop a car off. It's a very difficult situation. That's why I made sure I could duplicate the issue before I took the car in....and I can. Any time you shift at high RPM the clutch pedal is not only heavier when you depress it, but it fails to come all the way back up.

Bamburg is an hour away from where I live, I can't just leave. The dealership and service rep here are being very polite, I have no complaints about that (they're a lot nicer than in the States actually) but they just aren't getting it. Language barrier and an unfamiliar car.....




Anyways, you said there ARE Ford reps around here? It's the weekend so they're obviously probably not around to contact or contact me....yet another issue. I have to wait until the service department in Germany is closed before the call-lines to Ford in the states open, so every single thing I want to get done takes at least 2 days just to contact the people.

It's such a simple fix and I know exactly what it is and I'm going to end up not having the car for at least 2 weeks over it, waiting for them to figure out if it actually has a problem and then finally ordering whatever parts are needed to fix it. Kind of ridiculous.

MoshpitMad

I'm enlisted AF prior stationed in Germany, so I know what you mean. But...you gotta have someone around there fluent in German. Especially with all the Officers around there. Most of those guys take the time to learn the language(AF anyway). Hopefully someone will see this thread that is a rep...I'm not sure how to locate them here, but I've seen posts. The time zone is a big factor too. Good luck.

ring3r

The lead technician's english is practically better than mine, so that's not it. He's the one I talked to and explained everything to.

I got his email from the dealership about an hour ago and wrote him an email and linked to a thread on these forums that was about the issue with the clutch pedal assembly...with pictures and what the "fix" is and everything. Obviously he'd have to talk to ford to get approval to do the GT500 fix, but at least this way there's no possible way he could misunderstand what the issue is. But he's not at work till Monday.

ring3r

Well, it's time for another update.

As of today, I have been without my car for one full month. The dealership has a new clutch cylinder on order, the replacement having finally been approved by Ford.

However, from the research I've done, it seems that the issue is the clutch pedal, not the clutch cylinder.

The part has not arrived here yet, so not a single thing has been done to my car in the last month, other than the dealership confirming that they can duplicate the problem and being told by Ford to bleed air out of the system to try and fix it, which of course did not work. And I am unconvinced that the part that has been ordered will even address the issue.

6 days with my new car, and now it's been a month and I don't have it back, I don't have any reassurance that the correct issue has even been identified.

I contacted Ford, and they told me to contact Ford Germany; I did, and they never responded. The dealership is dealing with Ford in the States though, so I fail to understand why Ford would send me back to their German branch when the issue is with an american car and american parts.

I'm beyond fed up and if this clutch cylinder doesn't fix the issue, I'll be looking into my legal options. If the part doesn't do the trick, then it will be AT LEAST another 3 weeks just to get another part and try again. Totally unacceptable.