RyanT600

I had a crazy experience at the Ford dealership yesterday. My car wouldn't shift into first or reverse, and the other gears were tough. So I brought it in maroone by pushing it out of it's spot and starting the car in 2nd the whole way, and they told me the clutch was messed up and it'd cost $1300. Needless to say I was upset and thinkin about cheaper ways it could be done. So I asked them to give me the car and I'll deal with it later. Then when they gave it to me the first thing I noticed was the clutch felt different, not worse, but actually better than it ever had before. Then I attempted to put it into first and it glided in perfect. Confused, I then tried reverse and it went perfectly. Then I drove the car the whole home with my jaw wide open and it was flawless.. I think what happened is that in diagnosing it they might have bleed out a bubble from the clutch's hydraulic fluid and actually fixed the problem accidently while trying to get me for $1300 with a clutch.
But since the clutch feels completely different now that would mean the air bubble was there for the 3 years I've had the car, so I'm wondering why did it just start messing things up now?
And do you think the dealership was actually truthful in that I needed a new clutch? Because it only took them half an hour to check it and tell me, I would have thought it'd take longer?
It's a 2008 V-6 Mustang.

flash gordon

These dealers are all the same does not matter the make of the car. They never cease to amaze me. Took my E500 for service at Ray Catena in Edison, NJ a month ago They called me that my front bushings were bad and the repacement cost $1200 (must be gold plated ones) which caused a front tire to wear excessively. I told them to hold it. I drove the car out and had a good look at the bad tire. It had the most unsual look that I have never seen, the belts had fallen lower than the tread around the edge. I finally concluded that tire was defective. Took it to a local tire dealer and they also said it was a defective tire. No $1200 bushings for me!

In your case, it's the same. You have to pull the clutch out to see whether is was bad. The first thing they want to do is to change parts that you don't need. Your clutch is fine, just drive and don't worry about it. Besides, a new clutch does not cost $1300!

Blacksmoke

See if the clutch is slipping any.
When you are driving up a hill and press the gas pretty hard do the RPMS go up alot and the speed not? If so this is a sign of clutch slippage.

But be CAREFUL while doing this. You are not sure what the problem could be if there is a problem so safety first as always but especially now.
I bet for the new clutch they were including a flywheel and instal price.

The exedy mach 500 for the 5.0 costs about 480 bucks. Comes with everything but the flywheel. The flywheel is another 350 or so. So tack that along with the install and 1300 bucks would not be out of the question at all.
(Exedy makes a GREAT flywheel with a great rep unlike SPEC and some others)

Ford may be quoting you for JUST their clutch though.
With their sky high prices I would not be surprised my friend.

FordService

Hi Ryan,

I'm sure that must have been an overwhelming diagnosis! I am glad that whatever they touched seems to have resolved your clutch issue, though. Our dealers are Blue Oval Certified based on customer satisfaction scores, and are fully trained. 30 minutes or so to diagnose a clutch is not unusual. If you have any other concerns, please don't hesitate to contact them again, as we expect that all dealers strive to provide a best-in-class automotive service experience to our customers.

~Natasha

Locke_03

The water in MI must be amazing I'll take two cases.

$1300 dollars is in the realm of possibility for a new clutch but I'm willing to bet Ford was trying to give you their clutch and frankly if you’re replacing it get a good one.

I would personally recommend McLeod a bit pricey but they are the best (imo), a close second is Exedy.

I’d go to a performance shop in your area buy the clutch through them and have them throw in the installation in their quote, I see no reason you couldn’t come in at under $1000.

It sounds like to me that your clutch is working fine so if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. This is just my 2 cents.

Hoose84

Yeah, my dealer charged me $120 to tell me that it would cost $450 to determine if I had a bad clutch or not and how much it would cost to fix it.

Took it to a local mechanic, who replaced the clutch and slave cylinder, resurfaced the flywheel, etc for $998 total. Still a little high, but the clutch and CSC was $450 of that and this guy is reliable.

Seems that after 102k miles the clutch was only 50% worn, but the slave cylinder was kaput. Had him change out the clutch since it was all apart already.

So $1300 for the dealer is not surprising or "unreasonably high". Depending on your definition of unreasonable.

I think you're on the right track though, I would bet it's something in your slave cylinder or master cylinder causing your problems (as a guess).

Hoose