Hey guys. My girlfriends focus the clutch has stopped working. The clutch pedal goes up and down but it won't go into gear. The brake/clutch fluid is very low however the brakes are OK. I'm surprised there is no level warning sensor on this car. Anyway I topped up the reservoir but it has not made any difference. What seems to be the problem? 

A few months ago the clutch was replaced. I chose not to replace the slave cylinder. Does the clutch need bled? 

sounds like the slave cylinder given up the gost  🙁

try give it a bleed never know

for safety reasons the clutch takes the fluid from a higher point in reservoir so a leak from clutch cylinder/pipe does not leave the brakes to fail. so if the fluid went below the level of the take off for the clutch cylinder then it will have air in the clutch system which topping up can't cure. It would need bleeding. But what I wonder is where the fluid went. It could have gone down due to a leak in the clutch system OR the brake system. Maybe they did something wrong when doing the clutch . check the pipe joint where it goes on the slave cylinder and the the bleed screw on the slave cylinder to see if any leaks there.  Check if master cylinder leaking (up under dashboard). A friend had one leaking, I noticed it by the damp patch on the floor mat below clutch pedal. 

Always change the slave cylinder when changing the clutch, or you’ll end up paying to remove the box again later if it fails. Unfortunately it does sound like this is what you will be doing. Is the underside of the gearbox wet?

On 9/25/2019 at 9:22 AM, stef123 said:

Always change the slave cylinder when changing the clutch, or you’ll end up paying to remove the box again later if it fails. Unfortunately it does sound like this is what you will be doing. Is the underside of the gearbox wet?

Hi thanks for your reply i was trying to keep the job as cheap as possible, i will get it up on my home ramps and check the gearbox for leaks. I will report back 😉

On 9/24/2019 at 8:43 PM, isetta said:

for safety reasons the clutch takes the fluid from a higher point in reservoir so a leak from clutch cylinder/pipe does not leave the brakes to fail. so if the fluid went below the level of the take off for the clutch cylinder then it will have air in the clutch system which topping up can't cure. It would need bleeding. But what I wonder is where the fluid went. It could have gone down due to a leak in the clutch system OR the brake system. Maybe they did something wrong when doing the clutch . check the pipe joint where it goes on the slave cylinder and the the bleed screw on the slave cylinder to see if any leaks there.  Check if master cylinder leaking (up under dashboard). A friend had one leaking, I noticed it by the damp patch on the floor mat below clutch pedal. 

Many thanks for your informative reply. Ill get the car up on my home ramps and look at all the brake pipes and connections, also the slave cylinder pipework, check for leaks where possible. Ill report back

On 9/24/2019 at 3:17 PM, dezwez said:

sounds like the slave cylinder given up the gost  🙁

try give it a bleed never know

thanks for your reply it will hopefully help

On 9/25/2019 at 9:22 AM, stef123 said:

Always change the slave cylinder when changing the clutch, or you’ll end up paying to remove the box again later if it fails. Unfortunately it does sound like this is what you will be doing. Is the underside of the gearbox wet?

Totally agree with Stef, when my clutch went my slave cylinder was ok, but to avoid a £300 bill later down the line I changed it anyway. I think the difference was £70

Guys many thanks for your replies. I put the car off the road. I looked at the suggestions here and it does look like the slave cylinder is leaking fluid. I tried to bleed the clutch, when i pumped the pedal, nothing came out the bleed nipple, i could hear the fluid heavily dripping onto the floor. I have included a video on the fluid dripping from the bottom of the gearbox. Does it look like its definitely the slave cylinder.

 

Yes it is. Double Trouble is, you might have now ruined the clutch plate too, which could well be saturated in brake fluid now. Not rubbing it in (honest) but ALWAYS change csc along with clutch as its a big expensive job to take the gb out. 

Another tip: while it's out, check and consider changing the crankshaft oil seal too.

18 minutes ago, nicam49 said:

Yes it is. Double Trouble is, you might have now ruined the clutch plate too, which could well be saturated in brake fluid now. Not rubbing it in (honest) but ALWAYS change csc along with clutch as its a big expensive job to take the gb out. 

Another tip: while it's out, check and consider changing the crankshaft oil seal too.

Many thanks for the information. How likely is it that the clutch will be gone too? Any other car i have had has usually had an external slave. I took a chance and trying to save money. Now i have messed up big time. 

Well, on mine, the previous owner had, to save money, not replaced the csc when he had the clutch changed. The csc literally exploded with a bang and covered the clutch in fluid. With you, it might just be the seals in the csc have gone and it's just oozing fluid out. So there's a good chance you'll be ok, fingers 🤞

22 hours ago, nicam49 said:

Well, on mine, the previous owner had, to save money, not replaced the csc when he had the clutch changed. The csc literally exploded with a bang and covered the clutch in fluid. With you, it might just be the seals in the csc have gone and it's just oozing fluid out. So there's a good chance you'll be ok, fingers 🤞

Ok many thanks for the info. I hope the clutch is not soaked with brake fluid. I will pick up a CSC tomorrow and im try to arrange for a mobile mechanic to carry out the job at my home.  cheers,

this might be wrong and i might be shot down in flames. I am sure someone told me years ago that if your brakes shoes have got oil on them they are ruined (I agree) but if they have brake fluid on you can clean them eg. in hot water with washing powder. Because brake fluid is not like oil and brake fluid mixes with water. Not if that is true then you could clean a clutch plate the same way.

However as I say, I don't know if it's right - and if the clutch plate was unevenly soaked in fluid perhaps there is a chance you'd end up with clutch judder and for the sake of the price of clutch plate you might not want to risk it.

Reactions from anyone welcome about cleaning brake fluid off linings

Just an update to let you guys know i got the slave cylinder replaced, fortunately there was no oil on the clutch plate. It cost 210 pound on labour for a mobile mechanic to do the job. Many thanks again for everyone's help.

hi can anyone help, i have a 55 plate focus 2005 (with the same problem). The peddle hits the the floor and will only come back up with the pressure of the spring. The bottom of the gearbox is all wet with fluid so i suspect the slave has packed in and is filling the box with fluid. I was just looking for some advice before i pay for someone to take the gearbox out to replace the slave, cheers in advance. 

I assume fluid level has gone down and there is no other sign of leak eg from master cylinder or pipe. 

No the fluid level in the reservoir has not dropped. When i was trying to bleed it, it was as if it wasnt even trying to draw fluid from the top reservoir bottle atall. But the bottom of the car is really wet. I have had a quick look and all the pipes look ok and inside the car is dry.

The car has had a different engine put in it. It was a 2005 focus titanium. I'm totally new to Ford's so I'm lost the last boy wasn't even sure what engine was in it. If i was to upload a picture could someone try identify it for me please? 

On 1/5/2020 at 12:27 AM, Jack0912 said:

The car has had a different engine put in it. It was a 2005 focus titanium. I'm totally new to Ford's so I'm lost the last boy wasn't even sure what engine was in it. If i was to upload a picture could someone try identify it for me please? 

Your V5C document should also tell you the engine size and power output, we should be able to work it out from there.  In fact it will also give you the engine code which would make things even easier, it's a 4 digit letter code such as KKDA.  The engine code doesn't just denote the engine size but it also identifies which version of an engine it is (some engines have different variants).

It was an engine out a breakers mate so the v5c dose not correspond to the engine in the car. Il try get the vin off the block but cant get in because of the turbo setup on it  

7 minutes ago, Jack0912 said:

It was an engine out a breakers mate so the v5c dose not correspond to the engine in the car. Il try get the vin off the block but cant get in because of the turbo setup on it  

Ah, that's a pain.  I'd probably suggest just uploading a clear image of the full engine bay and go from there.