Hi was wondering how you can tell when your clutch is gone/ or on the way out as my focus has 70350 on it and ive owned it since 66500 and ive only been driving about 2 years ( to begin with first year was borrowing my dads new car as i didnt have part time work yet) which was a diesel and only 20k on the clock and driving instrutors two 1.3 diesels which one had 45k and the second was brand new. So when i got mine as it petrol and older tje clutxh felt really different( first time in a petrol) thanks in advance

I always thought if your biteing point on the clutch pedel was high that's when I is on it's way out.
I have drove a lot of different cars in my time and to be honest all clutches feel different.

As suggested all cars will ‘feel’ different especially when changing between petrol and diesel. Clutch wear can generally be gauged by the pedal travel, if the pedal is over half way up before the biting point is found then there is a good chance it’s starting to wear out.

But unfortunately on some older cars it may simply be a badly adjusted clutch

[quote name='HeadShoT2009' date='31 July 2010 - 12:32 AM' timestamp='1280532178' post='90596']
Hi was wondering how you can tell when your clutch is gone/ or on the way out as my focus has 70350 on it and ive owned it since 66500
[/quote]

right what makes you think the clutch is on the way out? Pretend your at the car doctors, what if any are the symptoms your suffering?

Where is the "biting point" of the clutch? ie: in relationship to the travel of the clutch pedal, from fully depressed [to the floor] to fully extended? If it's at the top or near top of the travel, that usually indicates it is "near" the end of it's working life. Don't get me wrong it can still go on for thousands of miles yet if at the near stage. Considering I have had clutches go in a Mondeo and a Focus circa 79/80k, you usually get for warning of imminent failure of the clutch.

Example:- you increase the revs especially in higher gears, yet the car does not speed up as it normally did [clutch slipping]

Test:- find a level bit of road or your drive. In park, hand brake on, in neutral, switch engine on, select third gear. Now balancing the clutch and gas, attempt to pull away in third gear. It is does, you have a good clutch, try it again but in fourth gear, if pulls away you have an excellent clutch. If on doing these tests your revs increase but the car does not pull away, the clutch is on the way out.

In effect what you are doing by doing those tests is this. You, by selecting higher gears are asking the clutch to prove how much it can lift [as if it was a weight lifter in a competition] Climbing gradients, overtaking these are both times when clutch failings are exposed. Doing it as I suggest, just means your doing it in an environment that does not expose you or other road users to the consequences of a failing clutch in traffic.

At 70350 you could well be near the time to needing the clutch replaced, all depends how it has been driven. There is no hard and fast rule, in that it goes at X amount of miles.

Edit: A Mk1 Focus like you have, Ford Dealer will be looking for £500+ to do the job. Well they did on a 1.8 Mk1 Focus I had back in December 2008. I got it done at an independent for £300, so add 17 months inflation onto those costs, for a ball park figure.

What catch says, plus:

Drive along at about 20mph or so and put it into top (5th or 6th) and floor the accelerator.
If the car slowly builds up speed, then your clutch is ok. If it builds up speed but revs shoot up erratically, then this is a sign that your clutch is starting to slip.