My wife has a 2005 ford fiesta. I believe that this is a Mk6. It has 1.4TDCI engine and has done about 90000 miles. At the moment I don't think that the clutch is slipping. However the clutch pedal is very near to being at the top of its travel, before it engages. I think that it probably does need replacing? This year my daughter used this car to learn to drive. In fact on one occasion we were on a hill and my daughter tried to start off in third gear. My daughter was sure that she had let the clutch pedal right up (and we did not stall) before I noticed that she was in third gear. So the clutch has had some abuse this year.

I got a quote from my local garage to do the clutch and the quote was going to be between £750 and a £1000 which seems a lot to me. I quite like having a go at these things and am seriously thinking of doing the clutch myself. I have done one before(many years ago).  The good news is that if I did this myself I would not be under any time pressure. My wife has access to another car.

 

My query:-

If I replace the clutch, should I look at replacing some other parts along the way? I don't want to do this only to find out that something else fails after I have completed the work.

 

I really appreciate any help I can get.

Thanks.

I wouldn’t replace it if it’s not slipping. It might last a lot longer. I’ve had cars do over 150k miles on original clutch.  It’s hydraulic so self adjusting, not like an old cable clutch so I don’t think high biting point means it’s badly worn. 

7 hours ago, philp1963 said:

I got a quote from my local garage to do the clutch and the quote was going to be between £750 and a £1000 which seems a lot to me. I quite like having

I just about choked when I read that price, go around garages and get more than one quote will you, also ask mates if they know any decent mechanics who can do the job but for buttons.

Son has a good friend who is a full time mechanic, son's girlfriend's car started to slip, his friend told him just the price of the clutch is needed and any things that break, mechanic even got the clutch at trade price, cost him £24, son gave his friend a large bottle of whisky and 12 cans of beer as a thank-you

What Ian Said. The Fiesta Drive shafts just clip on and off, the gearbox isn't heavy and to change the clutch in a mechanics' class I'd probably pick a Fiesta as the ideal simple car to teach on. That quote sound like they think it's a dual mass and would be changing the flywheel as well.

Thanks Isetta and Ian for your help.

Isetta: In around March/April next year, our daughter will be commuting on long journeys.  We don't trust her current car to do this, so we are thinking of giving her the fiesta. I am thinking of getting the clutch done, to prevent her having problems later.  However if it is possible that this clutch would last say another 30000 miles then I would like to delay it.  The question is, when a clutch goes will it give us enough warning before it became undrivable.  Would she notice it before it became a major issue.  The one clutch that I replaced (courtina mk4), I did notice before because I tried to pull a heavy boat with it and it simply slipped when trying to start off in first.  But I could still use the car daily for a few weeks before I fixed it.

If I do it myself, I would like to wait till the warmer weather next year, but not if it is too much of a risk.

Ian: I must admit I thought this price was kind of steep. Its much more then I expected.  Its a local garage we have always used. They have been very good in the past.  I wont be asking them to do this.  I will take your advice and get other quotes in the area.

Part of my problem is that I quite like the challenge of doing jobs like this, but I am always aware of my lack of experience and the headaches that it might give me.  But I do get a buzz in the end, if I do it. So I will get more quotes and think on it further.

 

Thanks again to both of you for taking the time to respond to my questions.

5 minutes ago, philp1963 said:

Part of my problem is that I quite like the challenge of doing jobs like this, but I am always aware of my lack of experience and the headaches that it might give me.  But I do get a buzz in the end, if I do it. So I will get more quotes and think on it further.

If you've got a hard standing to work from & tools to do the job, then go for it! Have a bash 💪 Biggest downfall this time of the year is the ***** cold, nothing worse than working on a car in the cold, I 'used' to do all my work on our past cars, but due to health problems other people do it and this where my sons friend comes into play here, he changed our rear springs & bushes for free, I just purchased the parts, a couple of years on the lower wishbones needed changing, again I got the parts, mechanic changed them for free.... It's not often you come across such people but they are out there.

I've found youtube one of the best places to find great videos showing how certain parts are replaced, in some cases better than a Haynes manual.

If I was changing the clutch I would change the release bearing as well.

In the old days it was always said you should replace all three parts of clutch when replacing it - a) the driven plate - the bit with the linings on , b) pressure plate - the bit with the big diaphragm spring in, c) release bearing. When the clutch slips it can mostly be fixed by replacing only part (a) but it can be a false economy due to the amount of work involved if the other bits fail later on.   The fiesta has a concentric slave cylinder which has the release bearing combined in it with the hydraulics. So it does make sense to replace all these parts when doing the clutch.  Some cars in the past were made so you could change part (a) on its own without separating gearbox from engine eg. Mk2 cavalier. I know that sounds strange but it’s true, I replaced one years ago.  If the clutch starts slipping due to wear on the linings then they can often last a while if you are gentle on acceleration. But I have had clutches fail in other ways which were not due to the linings.  Fiesta mk1 - diaphragm spring in pressure plate broke.  Opel kadette - fulcrum ring in the pressure plate broke.  Fiat - the diaphragm spring just lost its springiness and had no pressure- strange one that. But if it’s all working fine I don’t think I would touch it.  It’s Sod’s law that if you start on a job which isn’t vital something else bad happens eg bolt snaps of strips and you wish you’d never started 

Yes. I used to love cars that allowed the gearbox input shaft to come out the end and a section of lower bellhousing so you could remove the clutch with the gearbox in place. Very clever idea but requires a clever input shaft design which I suspect costs a lot more to implement. Not seen it in a while.

Thank You to everyone that responded to my question.  Sorry that I did not get back sooner.  I have decided to take your advice.  I have told my daughter to monitor the clutch situation and let me know if it ever starts to slip.  I totally agree that working on a car outside in the winter is not a lot of fun.  Because the cambelt was due I decided to change the cambelt and water pump just before Christmas and I cant say that I really enjoyed it (cold and wet).  In fact I misplaced a bolt and had some trouble obtaining a replacement.  But hey I am still very glad I did it.

Thanks everyone. Happy new year to all.