I have read in the past that a Mondeo clutch (mines a '97 2.0 petrol estate) can be expected to last about 120k miles. Well, mine's on 119,600 at the moment and my palms are starting to sweat!
I'd be interested to know what sort of mileages are being achieved with Mondeo clutches - e.g. have all these 200plusk milers had a clutch change?
I've never experienced clutch failure on any of my past cars, but then I haven't had one for more than 60k. Is it a gradual thing (able to get home) - or a sudden catastrophic failure?
Thanks
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My Mondeo (97 reg) is on 127k and has not had a new clutch.......Yet!!
(face cringed, fingers crossed, touch wood, hope I havent jinxed it)
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Well, it depends.
Not very helpful, but it really does depend on what sort of life the clutch has had. I had a Fiesta where the clutch packed up at 100k. I could disengage gear, but it was increasingly difficult to engage gear. Drove 18 miles in 3rd on its final journey. My Alfa (125k miles) is still on its first clutch, mainly due to limited clutch use.
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If a clutch is nearing the end of its life, it will be 'biting near the top' rather than lower down and eventually it will start slipping, particularly when accellerating uphill. As soon as that happens the clutch has pretty much had its day. A mate of mine had a 1994 Mondeo 1.8lx and the clutch went on his at 115k. He was quoted around £500 for a new one, but decided not to bother due to the age, condition, mileage and hence the value of the car. For some reason, Mondeo clutches are expensive to replace.
Martin
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Because you need to drop a subframe and associated other components to get at the clutch.
My Modeo TD Estate has had a high biting point since i bought it 55K ago it has not changed,and the clutch operates fine. Perhaps if the biting point has changed then it's time to worry.
Cost to change it i do not know, but when the time comes then it'll be changed as opposed to scrapping the car.
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It's a bit of a piece of string length question... it's entirely possible to wreck a clutch in a 000 miles of normal driving if you're rough with it (and entirely possible to wreck it in a few minutes of severe abuse!). On the other hand it's possible it might last 200,000 miles, if used on motorway miles, and treated with respect. The mode of failure is not always the same. Rough usage will tend to wear out the friction plate, which causes the clutch to slip. Firstly under load, then all the time. Treated gently it might last quite a long time after it starts to slip. Clutches that have covered a lot of miles, but not worn the friction plate, tend to have problems with the diaphragm spring. This can manifest as a heavy clutch (common on the PSA inside out TD clutch). Some clutches just disintegrate - the release bearing breaks through the fingers - this is a dead stop event (happened on my sister's car). If you're thinking about keeping the car, and suspect the clutch is on its last legs (biting near the top / bottom of travel, feeling heavy, slipping under extreme load) then it might be worth getting it changed on a day that suits you, rather than a day that suits the car.
And yes, the Mondeo clutch is expensive to change because the subframe needs to be disturbed to get the box out. However, in a car that you have a history for, that is otherwise good, the cost is probably justified - shop around, and avoid the very cheap places, as they sometimes use 'refurbished' clutches, and their service can be variable. Best bet would be an independant that's done plenty.
--
RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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My Laguna had 180K on it and the clutch was fine. However, it used to do a lot of motorway journeys, so it is very difficult to predict how long a clutch will last.
Some people are just awful drivers, holding the car on a hill on the clutch is most dreadful. I am sure you don't do this.
I've heard of independents doing Mondeo clutches for £350. Shame Ford abandoned nice easy clutch changes with the Sierra being replaced.
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Thanks for the replies. The reason I'm interested in this is because various little things keep cropping up for attention. Some, such as the blowing back silencer box, have to be sorted out, whilst others such as the 'heated' door mirror, the dodgy speaker and the failed remote-lock control can be tolerated. I was aware that a clutch replacement was expensive (I'd heard about £600), so I was pondering on how much more repairing and how much more tolerating I'd have to do before I had to take a clutch job into consideration.
I haven't encountered any of the failing clutch symptoms described above - yet (he says, touching wood), so maybe there's a few more miles left in the old beast.
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Breakdown maintenance(sometimes known as fire-fighting maintenance) can often work out a lot cheaper than preventative maintenance.
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My clutch has just packed up after 173,000 miles, saying that it was the release bearing that gave up the ghost and
not the clutch plates. Costly repair though £500 but worth it in my eyes, I'd rather spend that on the car you know than buy a
replacement car for the same price and it let you down 1 mile down the road.
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Thanks for resurrecting the thread, Alifan. I can report that the old Mondeo is still going strong (ish) with its original clutch, now on 134,000 miles.
Meanwhile, the failures of small, relatively unimportant things continue to mount up - the latest being that the radio display has stopped working, although it will still deliver sound - well, through the one speaker that is still working!
I suspect that if/when the clutch goes, it will be time to call it a day - I only hope it isn't going to be the day after I've just replaced all the tyres!
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Meanwhile, the failures of small, relatively unimportant things continue to mount up - I suspect that if/when the clutch goes, it will be time to call it a day -
Pretty much sums up my Mondeo. 130k (nearly) and a high biting clutch with a very occasional and very intermittent noise from the release bearing which then shuts up for months at a time.
Mine was a lovely car up to about 120k and then the silly little faults hit thick and fast. At the moment it's still reliable transport, but I'm fast approaching the stage where I'll just move it on while its at least still half presentable and see what else is about.
I'd recommend the Mondeo, but it is probably the only car I've ever owned that I have absolutely no emotional attachment to (including countless other Fords) , and I think that sometimes makes me see it worse than it probably is. I hope that's true anyway when it comes to sell it.
Cheers
DP
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As with any car, the life of the clutch depends on what type of use the car gets and of course how the car is driven. If a car is used for mainly motorway miles then the clutch is likely to last considerably longer than a car which has mainly been used for short stop-start journeys. I remember borrowing a friend's Escort estate a year or so ago, it only had 50k on it and the clutch was biting right near the top. On the other hand, my old Peugeot 309 1.9D was still on it's original clutch when I sold it at 150k and my current 306 1.9TD lasted until 170k before the clutch gave up. The 309 and the 306 both had over 120k on when bought at 9 years old, so I can only assume they were mainly used as motorway mile munchers for much of their lives, whereas the Escort was probably used for stop-start journeys.
Martin
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As with any car, the life of the clutch depends on what type of use the car gets and of course how
the car is driven. >>
I find it slightly amazing that the family's rusting N reg 1.1 Fiesta - now with 2nd son is still on its first clutch at 113,000 miles. We didn't discover until we'd bought it that it had spent its first 43,000 miles as a driving school car.
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MY car Audi 80 2.0 is on original clutch on 127000 miles, I sometimes wonder just to change it because i get a noise from the relase bearing. But I think i will just let the clutch fail than get it changed, had one go before on a 89 Audi 80 guess wot mileage that went on 235000! and it was the original
That was only slipping though no drive,
would a "stop dead" failure cause any engine damage?
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Meanwhile, the failures of small, relatively unimportant things continue to mount up - I suspect that if/when the clutch goes, it will be time to call it a day -
I consider myself very lucky then!!!!
I bought my 1997 2.0 ghia estate Mondy with 165,000 miles on it and a blown head gasket for £255.
I had the head skimmed, valves reground and pressure tested and it runs beautifully AND all the electrics (being a ghia there are plenty) work perfectly. I will certainly do the clutch on mine if it goes providing things keep performing as well as they do now.
(If thats not the kiss of death what is???!!!)
I'll join the other posters on here and keep a lump of wood nearby to keep touching..............
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I've a 2000 (Mk2) 1.8 TD LX Mondeo and have just had the clutch changed at 109388 miles. I was worried with all the horror stories about the cost of the job, but managed to find a reputable local businiess, who have worked on my cars before, who did the job for just over £200 (£184 + VAT to be exact).
This wasn't a special deal price, but the normal price they'd charge for this job.
If you stay in the West of Scotland and are looking for a clutch for a Mondeo, then let me know and I'll give you the details. Similarly, they're also very reasonable for ALL makes of cars.
Sometimes it DOES pay to stay local :-)
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hi there iain? just bought an r reg mondeo 1.8 verona, and other than the slipping clutch its in good nick, after several days chewing the curtains (have just heard about the whole dropping the subframe saga) and 20 sites later i came across your blog, (just in time i was about to start on the carpet) i stay in north glasgow and it would be great if you could give me the details of the garage u mentioned
cheers
del25
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hi iainag
ive a 1999 mondeo 2.0L and have just been informed i need a new clutch at a cost of £500+. found your post and would love to have details of garage you mentioned.
i live in glasgow city centre.
thanks a lot
iain47
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Good evening Iain,
Dont know if you still read these pages but my mondeo zetec 1.8 1999 is needing the clutch replaced. Would you mind giving me the details of this garage please? I live in Hillington.
Thanks again,
Gary
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Good evening Iain
He hasn't visited the forum since Wed 9 Jul 2008
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I bought an 05 reg. 2.0TDCI Mondeo (115bhp) seventeen months ago with 16K on the clock. The main criteria when buying it was that it would tow a caravan, (net weight 683Kgs), and various caravan mags recommended this vehicle as one of the best for the job. The car is now on 26K including about 1200 miles of actual towing, the clutch is about to pack in and will cost me £600 to replace if I use the main dealers. The clutch is unfortunately not covered by the warranty since such deterioration is looked upon as fair wear and tear by Ford, (only 6 months guarantee apparently), for it to disintegrate after 26 K is looked upon as fairly normal, especially if used for towing. A check of the web shows that I am not alone, others have encountered clutch and flywheel problems with the Mondeo especially but not exclusively when towing - a taxi driver reportedly on his third Mondeo clutch stated he would never buy one again and would replace it with a Skoda Octavia which was a much more reliable car, ironic or what after the spate of old Skoda jokes, have Ford now taken their place as a butt for humour? Suffice it to say that as soon as the clutch is sorted out, my Mondeo will be history and a nice Japanese or Eastern European hatchback will take its place.
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I bet there are a lot more mondeo owners who have done 100k plus without the slightest bother than there are octavia owners,Its how you drive that matters.The reason why taxi drivers bought a lot of Octavias is because they were cheap.
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>>The reason why taxi drivers bought a lot of Octavias is because they were cheap.
True and the VAG diesel (1.9) is by general consensus more economical than anything else of comparable size and price. 5mpg difference between say 45mpg and 50mpg over 250,000 miles is around £2,500.
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i had a clutch go on a nissan sunny , how i longed to live in the netherlands (no hills) for 2 weeks whilst i raised the cash for a replacement, i also had a "running in" notice in the back window to disguise the reason i was going so slowly (35max)
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You don't need a running in notice, just a hat. Only people over 80 can remember running in engines.
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Lol @ Cliff!
Old people also have one of those 'vehicle watch' stickers in the rear screen that invites the police to pull over the car if it is seen on the roads after about 930pm as it is likely to be driven by a non geriatric hoodlum who has stolen it but on the positive side does drive over 40mph on a motorway AND occasionally gets the car into top gear
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