WTF is causing my clutch to "shudder"

[Cobra-Master]

#$@#!$%*

OK, here's my story... My TOB went out on me Monday (for the 2nd time) and I take it into the dealer. The clutch has always had a "jumpiness" or "shudder" to it. Not really bad, but just enough to be annoying. When I say shudder, I mean when I'm letting out the clutch, the whole car jumps and shakes... I've never had a car do this before.

I left it with them a few months ago for the shudder and they said it was the rear end, so they replaced the rear end... and it didn't fix it.

I leave it on Monday and don't get it back until Friday. The dealer replaces the clutch, pressure plate, TOB, and flywheel. I tell them that I want the shudder fixed and they claim that this will fix it.

I pick it up this evening and the shudder is 3 times worse than it was before. It used to never do it when shifting from 2nd to 3rd, or 3rd to 4th, but now it's doing that too.

Could the problem be in the transmission? It's always done it predominetely in 1st gear, tonight was the first time it has done it between other gears...

Has anyone else battled this problem, and if so.. what was the fix? Maybe I can refer the dealer to someone else's experience to try and get this fixed once and for all.

:mj:

Thanks.

 

[UltimateSVT]

I noticed something like what your talking about when I'm letting out the clutch in first gear from a stop. It seems to do this when I'm almost lugging it, but if I let it out "normally"(I use that term losely when talking about cars because what is normal for you might not be normal for me.);-)
If this were happening at high RPM launches then I would suspect my diff going out, but that isn't the case. I think it's just alittle chatter from the clutch and there really isn't anything you can do about it, I think.:shrug:

 

[mmars]

Do you know if they replaced the input shaft sleve?

 

[Cobra-Master]

Originally posted by mmars
Do you know if they replaced the input shaft sleve?

No, they didn't replace the input shaft sleeve.

 

[Cobra-Master]

Originally posted by UltimateSVT
I noticed something like what your talking about when I'm letting out the clutch in first gear from a stop. It seems to do this when I'm almost lugging it, but if I let it out "normally"(I use that term losely when talking about cars because what is normal for you might not be normal for me.);-)
If this were happening at high RPM launches then I would suspect my diff going out, but that isn't the case. I think it's just alittle chatter from the clutch and there really isn't anything you can do about it, I think.:shrug:

I know what you are describing... but, what I'm experiencing is very bad chatter / shudder. Almost violent when trying to inch along in traffic.

 

[UltimateSVT]

Originally posted by mmars
Do you know if they replaced the input shaft sleve?

It's a possibility if it's warped in some way.

 

[UltimateSVT]

Originally posted by Cobra-Master
I know what you are describing... but, what I'm experiencing is very bad chatter / shudder. Almost violent when trying to inch along in traffic.

Ok, I can see why they would want to try the diff first. Does it get worse with more RPMs when you start from a stop?

 

[03ShadowCobra]

They probably put the wrong clutch in it. The dealer did that to mine twice. It was grabbing about a 1mm off the floor and it was extreamly hard to get into reverse. On the forth time they got it right though.

 

[Cobra-Master]

Originally posted by UltimateSVT
Ok, I can see why they would want to try the diff first. Does it get worse with more RPMs when you start from a stop?

I have to raise the RPM's to around 3K to take off where it won't do it badly, but it still does it. So, it gets better with higher RPM's. The diff. is only about 2 months old.

 

[oldnfast]

Might want to check your motor & tranny mounts.

 

[kaboom]

I made a post yesterday about the same exact problem. Who knows it just gives me a chance to upgrade.

 

[UltimateSVT]

Originally posted by oldnfast
Might want to check your motor & tranny mounts.

Motor mount maybe, trans mount would cause the tailshaft to smack the underbody of the vehicle and that would be loud thud. Since this happens less at higher RPMs, I'm going to have to give the big :shrug: which I hate to do, but I don't know what's happening without driving it myself. Maybe something is loose. I read on ModularFords.com of someone finding the flywheel coming apart when he was changing the clutch and flywheel in his Cobra. I'm not trying to scare you, but you might not want to drive the car anymore and take it to another dealer, because it sounds like the place that you were taking it to were just stabbing parts at the car 'cause it sounds like it's getting worse and eventually somethings going to break and if it's rotating when it happens, it could be deadly.

 

[oldnfast]

Originally posted by UltimateSVT
Motor mount maybe, trans mount would cause the tailshaft to smack the underbody of the vehicle and that would be loud thud.

____________________________________________________


:nonono:

In theory, right on. Real world, not so. Mechanic told me the same thing on my 5.0 (when still new & in warranty). They changed out the motor mounts, then the driveshaft, then the flywheel, clutch, & TOB. Bottom line... loose tran mount.

While you're checking, check it all. :beer:

 

[UltimateSVT]

Originally posted by oldnfast
____________________________________________________


:nonono:

In theory, right on. Real world, not so. Mechanic told me the same thing on my 5.0 (when still new & in warranty). They changed out the motor mounts, then the driveshaft, then the flywheel, clutch, & TOB. Bottom line... loose tran mount.

While you're checking, check it all. :beer:

Yes, for a loose trans mount causing a vibration because the assembly is being able to move, but only alittle, but one that is completely ripped will cause the tailshaft to move up and smack the body along with a completely ripped motor mount. And it is real world, not theory.
That's funny that when they did all that work to your car that they overlooked that, especially when the tech was right there and would have seen that if he would have simply looked at it and played with it. He was probably a flat rate tech in a flat rate shop. I get paid by the hour at my shop, so I take the time to play with the parts before putting the car back together. Warranty times do suck on the other hand, but once you've been playing the dealership game for awhile you learn how to make decent time on a job and do a good job repairing the car. It's easier to do that in an hourly shop because I still make 40 hours in my paycheck and get a bonus if I'm more than 100%, but the flat rate guys have to cut corners and sometimes do some shady things to be faster than the warranty time so they can make 40 hours a week or more. The only reason that there are not more hourly shops is because flat rate makes the dealership more money than paying the techs hourly.

 

[DSG03Snake]

My clutch 'shudders' very slightly (but enough to be noticable) when im letting it out, it doesnt always do it. Certainly doesn't shake the entire car around, but it does concern me.

 

[UltimateSVT]

Originally posted by DSG03Snake
My clutch 'shudders' very slightly (but enough to be noticable) when im letting it out, it doesnt always do it. Certainly doesn't shake the entire car around, but it does concern me.

That's the same as my car, I can make mine do it if I want to. It feels like the rear tires are breaking loose and I'm getting tiny bit of wheel hop when it happens. To duplicate it I keep the RPMs around 800-1000 RPMs and let the clutch out at a moderate speed, not too fast and not too slow, kinda of like if you wanted to take off from the line with as little RPM as possble and being as fast as possible while still being smooth with the clutch. It's strange, but that's when it only happens, I'd be more concerned with it if it was more like the situation that Cobra-Master has.

 

[oldnfast]

Originally posted by UltimateSVT
Yes, for a loose trans mount causing a vibration because the assembly is being able to move, but only alittle, but one that is completely ripped will cause the tailshaft to move up and smack the body along with a completely ripped motor mount. And it is real world, not theory.

___________________________________________________

No argument. You were talking about a trashed mount. I was talking about an assembly-line screw-up. ;-)
I know they're rare :lol: , but they happen.

 

[oldnfast]

By the way CobraMaster, how many miles on the car? 6 other Teminator owners & I get together every so often. All of us had a mild "shudder" when the cars were new. It went away on all 7 cars (mileage was different on all). Mine took about 500 miles, but I babied it for quite a while. We decided it must have been the clutch-plate not being seated in. But, what do we know? Everyone who posts will have a different explanation. :shrug:

 

[UltimateSVT]

Originally posted by oldnfast
___________________________________________________

No argument. You were talking about a trashed mount. I was talking about an assembly-line screw-up. ;-)

So, did your 5.0 have a similar problem? I'm new to this platform, it's the first Mustang or Ford for that matter that I have ever owned, so I'm not fully aware of what bad or loose parts cause what problems on these cars. Since the chassis has been the same since '79, I'm going to assume a loose trans mount could be causing his problems. I first noticed the slight shudder on my car about 1000 miles ago and if it starts shuddering I give it alittle more gas and it's gone. But my shudder is not even remotely as bad as Cobra-Master describes his.

 

[oldnfast]

Originally posted by UltimateSVT
So, did your 5.0 have a similar problem? I'm new to this platform, it's the first Mustang or Ford for that matter that I have ever owned, so I'm not fully aware of what bad or loose parts cause what problems on these cars. Since the chassis has been the same since '79, I'm going to assume a loose trans mount could be causing his problems. I first noticed the slight shudder on my car about 1000 miles ago and if it starts shuddering I give it alittle more gas and it's gone. But my shudder is not even remotely as bad as Cobra-Master describes his.

Yeah. Drove me crazy for a while. I'd never experienced anything like that before. The Service Manager got tired of looking at the car & took a look himself. He found it.