Hi all,

Okay so this is driving me crazy. I have a 2001 Ford Escape 2.0L manual. After I have driven it for 20-30 minutes, the problems begin. The clutch seems to only need to be pushed down ever so slightly for it to change gear. When starting the car from cold the clutch is nice and low and responsive. After it has started to be used and when I put my foot on the accelerator the revs go through the roof and it doesnt seem to 'catch' the gear. It's like I am driving an automatic and waiting for the gears to engage. I have to 'feather' the accelerator to allow the car to increase speed.
Here's the real kicker though - I have just had a brand new clutch fitted in order to fix this problem. Nope. No joy. It still does it.
I drove it over 300km's last weekend in one trip and it didn't rev once, however this was all highway so I didnt really change gear. It seems to be the gear changes that cause it to happen. Switching between 2wd to 4wd is still the same. When pulling off at the lights it feels as if I have no clutch at all but it has just been replaced.
Stupid question but is the pressure plate part of the clutch? I saw in the ford manual that it could be a pressure plate but I assumed that was part of the replaced clutch.

Could someone PLEEEASSSSEEEEE help me. Have any of you experienced this before? Does this sound like a transmission problem or the PCM module? It is funny that the clutch seems to get higher to respond the more I drive it.

Any serious ideas / suggestions would be really helpful.

Happy Holidays to all

 

The clutch assembly usually consists of a pressure plate, clutch disc and release bearing. If your vehicle has a hydraulic clutch system, it sounds like there is air in the system. When the air and fluid get warm and expand it places pressure on the release bearing and in effect is like you are depressing the clutch pedal. Bleeding the air out of the system is the simple cure. Suggest you ask whoever replaced the clutch assy to bleed the air out of the system or at least check its operation.

 

Just to let you know that I took the Car back to the garage and asked them to bleed the clutch fluid. The slave cylinder doesn't have the typical bleed nipple which makes it a bit more awkward, instead it has a 'hex' nut. It was easier to drop the slave cylinder away from the block to make access easier. We bled the clutch, saw air coming out and 100KM down the road all still seems to be working fine! Many thanks for all your help!

 

Glad everything is well !