2014 GT Clutch replacement (Boosted Car)

[crjackson]

Jumped in the car last week, and car wouldn’t go into gear with engine running. Clutch pedal stayed on the floorboard after depressed. I pumped the clutch a few times, and all was working again.

EXCEPT! Pedal only returns to half-height at times, and has to be pulled back up.

Dropped the car off at Ford, they kept it a few days and called to tell me it had a bad clutch master cylinder, and they fixed it. $859 come and get it …

Car left the dealer, clutch felt strange, but no engagement/disengagement issues. After a few days of driving, clutch pedal hanging at half return height again.

Icing on the cake? Now I also have a “Service Advancetrac soon light” coming on randomly. Even when car is just idling in the driveway.

I’m guessing I wasted $800+ on that repair, and still need a new clutch kit.

I’m leaning towards a Exedy organic w/grooved pressure plate.

For those of you running this kit, do I need to ditch the slave/TOB and buy a new OEM TOB? Same question about the Pilot bearing. Exedy or FRPp?

Do I really need to replace the Flywheel? I can’t seem to find anyone local who will resurface my old one.

 

[JC SSP]

I would take it back to Ford.

On the TB and pilot bearing, not bushing & slave, yes always replace with stock or better.

On the flywheel, resurface (machine shop) or purchase new one (SFI rated).

On clutch & pressure plate, several will have different options… I personally use a center force but I have a little 5.0L fox not Coyote so the set up is different.

 

[crjackson]

I would take it back to Ford.

Yes, it's going back Tuesday, as they clearly have some things to address there as well. I already have an appointment. However, I believe ultimately I'll need a new clutch kit, so I'm clearing the path so to speak. I want to get the parts, and have them on-hand, ahead of time. I'm just trying to make sure I get the right parts. Also, I'm hoping that Exedy is one of those kits that doesn't need a shim between the transmission case and the TOB. If it does, I'll have to find someone who knows how to set that up. I doubt Ford would be familiar with that.

On the TB and pilot bearing, not bushing & slave, yes always replace with stock or better.

The clutch kit comes with a TOB, and with a Pilot bearing from Exedy. What I'm trying to determine is, should I use the parts from the Exedy kit, or buy a new OEM TOB, and a new FRPP pilot bearing.

What do you recommend?

 

[JC SSP]

I will default to others that have used the Exedy kit but I personally would have no issue using it.

 

[crjackson]

Finally coming down to the wire. Clutch is sticking to the floor again, and at half-height most mornings. I have to pump it a few times before risking a drive.

I made a few calls, and several shops told me that the single disk organic Xedy won’t hold long at my power level. Even the stage 4 I ordered is rated for less power than she’s making, but the Exedy Rep said it’s built beefier than the rating and should be fine since I don’t track this car on a regular basis.

I wanted organic materials and a similar feel to stock, so I got the Stage 4 listed below. I sure hope I won’t be disappointed.

One thing just occurred to me.
Should I also replace the input-shaft seal, and/or the engine rear seal while I’m at it?

 

[crjackson]

So as you can see from the post above, I’m preparing to do a clutch job on my 2014 GT.

I’m questioning if I should’ve bought the FPRP steel clutch line instead of the McLeod SS line above. I’ve read a couple of posts here that suggest I may have trouble with the McLeod line.

Any advice on this?

 

[crjackson]

Finally got the clutch, and supporting ancillaries installed today.

Everyone recommended the Mach 500 clutch by Exedy but the torque/power rating was just too far away from my setup to grab that one. As noted above, I went with the Exedy Hyper Twin Series Organic Clutch Kit which matched more closely, but even this one is rated less than my rwhp/rwtq output.

After contacting Exedy, the rep questioned me thoroughly about my intended use case. He said this clutch model can easily handle my needs since I don’t track the car as a matter of routine. Apparently it’s over built, and under-rated. Tracking the car regularly will work fine, but they don’t recommend fully organic lining for racing, and sell the same kit but with other materials for racing durability.

After the install, I was in shock on my first drive! This clutch is way smoother, and lighter than expected.

Changing gears is butter smooth. It feels like a different transmission altogether. As said, I'm in shock! It has NO hint of notchiness, high RPM lockout, or anything to complain about with regards to transmission operation.

The twin-disc setup does not produce the expected chatter noise while idling in neutral with no foot on the pedal.

This is my 3rd clutch on this car. The other 2 were OEM units that were replaced under warranty. The OEM clutch sucks balls compared to the Exedy with regards to driver friendliness, and shift quality. I can’t speak to the durability yet, but to say I’m impressed would be a big understatement.

Now, I need to replace my broken pedal assembly that was discovered during the install. Apparently it got broken when Ford replaced my clutch-master-cylinder. It has been a royal pain since the day they installed it. I’ve taken it back 3 times for them to investigate my complaint, and the tech said there’s nothing wrong with it. They charged me $800 for that piece of work, and denied any issues.

Pro-Dyno identified the issue inside of 5 minutes, and documented the damage precisely on my repair estimate. It appears to have been broken during the clutch MC replacement. There are many fresh pry/gouge marks on the assembly that shouldn’t have been there.

I went back to Ford with this information, and the tech who did the work approached me before anyone else to ask how the car was doing since his repair. I was polite but honest and he lost his shit. Started yelling and told me I’m full of bullshit. I finally talked to the service writer who apologized for this guys behavior, and said he’d take the matter up with the service director to see if they will replace the pedal assembly on their dime.

I’m at their mercy now, and I doubt they’ll make it right. The service writer remembered and documented my multiple returns and my unresolved issues. He said there was clearly a problem with the completed work (I returned within 60 minutes of picking up the car) as witnessed by him as well, and he’ll encourage the service director to order the work to be done on their dime.

My luck with such issues isn’t usually that good, so I doubt they’ll honor the warranty on the repair.

 

[Turbo99]

Jumped in the car last week, and car wouldn’t go into gear with engine running. Clutch pedal stayed on the floorboard after depressed. I pumped the clutch a few times, and all was working again.

EXCEPT! Pedal only returns to half-height at times, and has to be pulled back up.

Dropped the car off at Ford, they kept it a few days and called to tell me it had a bad clutch master cylinder, and they fixed it. $859 come and get it …

Car left the dealer, clutch felt strange, but no engagement/disengagement issues. After a few days of driving, clutch pedal hanging at half return height again.

Icing on the cake? Now I also have a “Service Advancetrac soon light” coming on randomly. Even when car is just idling in the driveway.

I’m guessing I wasted $800+ on that repair, and still need a new clutch kit.

I’m leaning towards a Exedy organic w/grooved pressure plate.

For those of you running this kit, do I need to ditch the slave/TOB and buy a new OEM TOB? Same question about the Pilot bearing. Exedy or FRPp?

Do I really need to replace the Flywheel? I can’t seem to find anyone local who will resurface my old one.

If the clutch pedal is still sticking, you might have air trapped in the lines, or the slave cylinder could be on its way out. Before throwing more money at it, I'd try re-bleeding the system—Ford's hydraulic clutches can be tricky to get all the air out of.

 

[2008_ScarlettGT]

Finally got the clutch, and supporting ancillaries installed today.

Everyone recommended the Mach 500 clutch by Exedy but the torque/power rating was just too far away from my setup to grab that one. As noted above, I went with the Exedy Hyper Twin Series Organic Clutch Kit which matched more closely, but even this one is rated less than my rwhp/rwtq output.

After contacting Exedy, the rep questioned me thoroughly about my intended use case. He said this clutch model can easily handle my needs since I don’t track the car as a matter of routine. Apparently it’s over built, and under-rated. Tracking the car regularly will work fine, but they don’t recommend fully organic lining for racing, and sell the same kit but with other materials for racing durability.

After the install, I was in shock on my first drive! This clutch is way smoother, and lighter than expected.

Changing gears is butter smooth. It feels like a different transmission altogether. As said, I'm in shock! It has NO hint of notchiness, high RPM lockout, or anything to complain about with regards to transmission operation.

The twin-disc setup does not produce the expected chatter noise while idling in neutral with no foot on the pedal.

This is my 3rd clutch on this car. The other 2 were OEM units that were replaced under warranty. The OEM clutch sucks balls compared to the Exedy with regards to driver friendliness, and shift quality. I can’t speak to the durability yet, but to say I’m impressed would be a big understatement.

Now, I need to replace my broken pedal assembly that was discovered during the install. Apparently it got broken when Ford replaced my clutch-master-cylinder. It has been a royal pain since the day they installed it. I’ve taken it back 3 times for them to investigate my complaint, and the tech said there’s nothing wrong with it. They charged me $800 for that piece of work, and denied any issues.

Pro-Dyno identified the issue inside of 5 minutes, and documented the damage precisely on my repair estimate. It appears to have been broken during the clutch MC replacement. There are many fresh pry/gouge marks on the assembly that shouldn’t have been there.

I went back to Ford with this information, and the tech who did the work approached me before anyone else to ask how the car was doing since his repair. I was polite but honest and he lost his shit. Started yelling and told me I’m full of bullshit. I finally talked to the service writer who apologized for this guys behavior, and said he’d take the matter up with the service director to see if they will replace the pedal assembly on their dime.

I’m at their mercy now, and I doubt they’ll make it right. The service writer remembered and documented my multiple returns and my unresolved issues. He said there was clearly a problem with the completed work (I returned within 60 minutes of picking up the car) as witnessed by him as well, and he’ll encourage the service director to order the work to be done on their dime.

My luck with such issues isn’t usually that good, so I doubt they’ll honor the warranty on the repair.

Did you use the McLeod braided line? Any issues?

 

[crjackson]

Did you use the McLeod braided line? Any issues?

I did, no issues at all!

 

[crjackson]

If the clutch pedal is still sticking

Nope!