Mondeo TD gears difficult

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Thu 24 Mar 2005 10:56
Mondeo TD gears difficult - Demon
Another week another problem. 1994 Mondeo 1.8 TD, on Tuesday I started experiencing difficulty in gear selection, particularly 1st and reverse. I drive forty odd miles to work and back and on that morning, after about 10 miles I heard a kind of clicking/snapping noise from around the clutch pedal area as I was switching into 5th. It was only the one snap and although it was a bit disconcerting I thought nothing of it as it didn't seem to affect the car in any way. However when I got to where I work, which always gives me a good twenty minutes of heavy slow moving traffic where you're lucky to get into third, getting into first gear from neutral seemed to get more and more difficult, to the point where I was really having to force the stick. And switching up from there wasn't as easy as it should be either. When I got to the car park and needed to reverse, it was as equally difficult. When I got back to the car at the end of the day, it was back to normal, until I'd been sat in traffic for a while, but then the cruise home once I was out of the jam was fine. Exactly the same Wednesday and this morning, so I guess it must be a heat related issue. Although difficult to select, the gears aren't making any crunching or grating noises unless my foot isn't far enough down on the clutch, but I seem to have to put my foot right to the floor to change. Does the snapping sound suggest the cable is on it's way out or needs adjusting (apparently it's not a self-adjusting type) and that as it gets hotter, standing in traffic without the wind blowing through, it's expanding making the problem worse, or is it something bigger and the snapping is just a coincidence..? Haven't had the chance to check yet but can tomorrow. Any ideas...? Thanks (again!)
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Thu 24 Mar 2005 18:37
Mondeo TD gears difficult - mjm
Ford used to fit a plastic adjusting cam to the pedal end of the clutch mechanism to allow for clutch wear. The teeth on it used to wear and the pawl would sometimes slip over them, and give exactly the problem you have. Basically, you run out of pedal travel. As you have found, the pawl will sometimes catch properly and return the pedal action to normal.
I do not know for certain that this is the problem, but it sounds familiar. The good news is that it is a good bit cheaper than a new clutch.
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