Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

So to try and make a long story short......i'm driving up rt 53 in joliet tonight, screwin around with a kid in a focus wound it up to about 100 and then put the clutch in and popped it out of 5th into neutral to coast for a while until i had to make a right turn. When my turn came, i still had the clutch in, i went to put in in 2nd and no luck...it wouldn't go, tried to put alittle pressure on it and it just grinded alittle so i stopped. Pulled the car over and realized that the clutch was still deptressed to the floor and the whole car was shaking and a slight clicking sound was coming from underneath. I lifted the clutch back up with my toe and tried to depress it again and it was very dificult to press and the car still wouldn't go into gear. So i shut it down and called the tow truck. 3 hours later the truck shows up and drops me and the car off at the mechanic........Anyone have any ideas what this might be? I tried searching but nothing seemed to be quite what i'm experiencing. Its a 2004 Limited with 65000 miles on it, 6 speed and i tend to drive in a spirited fashion...... Thanks for the help.

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

It appears you have had a catastrophic component failure. Taking a closer look at the clutch assembly will reveal the damage.

para = parabolic, the shape of the chute?

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

Anybody else have any useful ideas of what coulda went wrong? I coulda told you that there was a component failure :rolleyes:

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

Any chance of a hydralic slave cyc .failure or a hose leak??

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

I hate to say it, but I have a feeling this will be MANY hundreds of dollars to fix.

PLEASE get back to us when you have it fixed and let us know!

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

after you reached 100 mph, you pushed in on the clutch to shift to neutral...to coast awhile...

did you let the clutch back out while coasting?

Either way, it isn't good to just let everything free wheel at those speeds

Could be a lot of things...pressure plate, linkage, bearing....I have never seen a clutch apart on one of these babies...keep the clutch engauged while playing...

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

So heres the story......basically the clutch exploded, my mechanic said there was shrapnel everywhere, it also damaged the flywheel so that had to b replaced too.....so anyway just shy of 2700 dollars later my baby is back on the road. dfinately a difference in the clutch i guess it was more worn than i thought

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

Wow; considering that many people wait months for a little plastic part for repair, I am impressed you had such swift results with such a "catastrophic" situation. (and most amazing , you didn't ***** about the price)

Good luck, and maybe be a little less spirited, your car is up in dog/car years.

PP

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

Wow; considering that many people wait months for a little plastic part for repair, I am impressed you had such swift results with such a "catastrophic" situation. (and most amazing , you didn't ***** about the price)

Good luck, and maybe be a little less spirited, you car is up in dog/car years.

PP

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

$2700 for a clutch and flywheel is rediculous. :( Should'nt cost more than $700 incl. clutch, release bearing and flywheel plus install of $500-$700.

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

True, but you don't how much damage was done inside the bellhousing. If they had more hours in cleaning up the mess of a 100 mph shrapnel explosion, plus, a flywheel which usually isn't needed, it would cost more. Even so, they got you for a cool grand kid...no more coasting....as the clutch probably already had a problem, broken spring, whatever, and with it freewheeling, it probably came apart, rattling around in there, and once you reingaged the clutch all hell broke loose...who knows, but keep the clutch engaged while coasting, just kick it out of gear....now go make us proud...

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

You obviously have not one clue about what you just said about freewheeling at 100 miles and hr.

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

I always thought keeping the clutch pedal depressed while coasting prematurely wears out the "throw-out bearing".
Heck, I even put my car into neautral and take my foot off the clutch when I'm sitting at a traffic light.

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

I'm going to have to disagree. A clutch kit alone will cost around $700, most flywheels are $1,200. Then factor in the install time, sounds about right to me.

Unless of course you can find a clutch kit and flywheel for $700. I'd buy one now and keep in for later.

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

Some cars you can replace the flex plate and modular clutch with an aftermarket kit where the flywheel is the rear pressure plate as well. It saves a bit of weight and resists warping from heat soak better. ACT makes a few models of such, but I don't know if they have any compatible part numbers for our drivelines.

OP, consider yourself lucky that the clutch didn't grenade the entire bell housing. I'd imagine it would have been much more painful having to replace a transmission case as well :)

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

I would request to see the Flywheel, it could possibly just need resurfacing or something like that. But you must be pretty hard on your car I'm at 96K on the original clutch and I take mine out to the drag strip about once a month.

Re: Help!! Clutch won't engage, can't shift gears
 

Notice the dates.... 2 years ago.....