lease company refusing to pay for clutch

Jonesya

kmb500 wrote: »

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Don't see the reason you are all being rude about my driving, my driving is not an issue

No one is being rude about your driving, we're trying to help you by pointing out that your situation is unusual, a clutch would normally last much longer than this and that you might be doing something which is wearing it out quicker than necessary.

But carry on as you are changing your clutch every year or two. Your local garage will love you!

casseus

loskie wrote: »

"Damage" you will see overheating in the form of blueing

Absolutely this, you can tell an ill fitted clutch just by looking at the pressure plate mating surface usually blueing are parallel ends of each other on the clutch meaning the plate has been bent slightly from say criss crossing the bolts unevenly when bolting it down wrong to the flywheel, A single blueing patch on the plate means the plate has a high spot on it that's making contact when the plate isn't depressed by the CSC, and ive even seen complete blueing form the friction plate being fitted the wrong way round. Prolonged periods of riding the clutch also presents the pressure plate surface to weaken through heat and crack in or completely fail and or sections of the friction material to shred and bind with the pressure plate CSC forks or have completely uneven wear on it.

Op need to have the Original clutch inspected.

casseus

Jonesya wrote: »

No one is being rude about your driving, we're trying to help you by pointing out that your situation is unusual, a clutch would normally last much longer than this and that you might be doing something which is wearing it out quicker than necessary.

But carry on as you are changing your clutch every year or two. Your local garage will love you!

Don't come to the conclusion it is the OP's driving that is at fault, How would you feel if you believe you've done nothing of the sort and kept insulting you by telling you that you are with no evidence of the sort as of yet!

OP may just be unlucky to have a friction plate that's not upto par from factory. Yes maybe a claim against ford there, but then again if ford says it wear and tear OP has warranty to cover it.


Lets look at the warranty OP and see what the wording is. AND! can you get hold of your garage and ask them for the complete clutch please.

kmb500

casseus wrote: »

Don't come to the conclusion it is the OP's driving that is at fault, How would you feel if you believe you've done nothing of the sort and kept insulting you by telling you that you are with no evidence of the sort as of yet!

OP may just be unlucky to have a friction plate that's not upto par from factory. Yes maybe a claim against ford there, but then again if ford says it wear and tear OP has warranty to cover it.


Lets look at the warranty OP and see what the wording is. AND! can you get hold of your garage and ask them for the complete clutch please.

Good thinking to get hold of the clutch before they throw it on the scrap heap

sevenhills

kmb500 wrote: »

The manager at the garage said it is not uncommon and he's seen clutches wear out sooner than that.
He said if you don't use the clutch correctly, the clutch will get damaged, and there is no damage on my clutch its just worn out quickly.

Don't see the reason you are all being rude about my driving, my driving is not an issue and the Ford garage said the same thing. The AP Racing clutches that are on the fiesta are known for not having very long lifespans but as this is just through regular use, it's not covered under warranty either.

Of course the garage fitting your clutch is going to be on your side, he is claiming its worn down to the rivets.
What is this AP Racing clutch, you didn't mention it in your first post? Does an 'ordinary' driver know about these clutches.
You don't give any information about your driving experience. Are you a racer or a novice?

System

casseus wrote: »

Don't come to the conclusion it is the OP's driving that is at fault,

Well 30 years of driving and dozens of cars owned, many with 100,000+ miles, the highest 250,000 miles, all doing 300 miles or more a week in my ownership and all but 4 of them being bangers, my last car doing 75k in my ownership, my current car doing 100k in my ownership including towing a 26ft twin wheel caravan I've had to replace just one clutch in those 30 years and that was on a car I bought cheap because the clutch had gone.

24k its how you drive.

I doubt very much it is an AP racing clutch because apart from the fact they're far from cheap they have characteristics you do not want in a mass produced car being used for non-competition normal use. AP make multiplate carbon clutches, including 4 paddle, and metallic race clutches. Ford sure as hell wouldn't put any of those in a Fiesta because you need one hell of a strong left leg to push the clutch pedal down when you have a racing clutch fitted.

parking_question_chap

Tarambor wrote: »

Well 30 years of driving and dozens of cars owned, many with 100,000+ miles, the highest 250,000 miles, all doing 300 miles or more a week in my ownership and all but 4 of them being bangers, my last car doing 75k in my ownership, my current car doing 100k in my ownership including towing a 26ft twin wheel caravan I've had to replace just one clutch in those 30 years and that was on a car I bought cheap because the clutch had gone.

24k its how you drive.

Nail on the head, the clutch isnt an on off switch. Nor is it a foot rest for traffic jams.

verityboo

I thought Fiestas had a known problem with clutch slave cylinder faults causing rapid clutch wear

Drivers would find their clutch worn out and were being charged with replacing it with the dealers also just happening to replace the slave cylinder

The problems were caused by the slave cylinder not fully engaging the clutch (resulting in the same rapid wear as continuously resting a heavy foot on the clutch pedal)

Not clear from the op whether the work is completed and whether they have been given the worn parts?

AdrianC

"Servicing and maintenance" is tautologous. Servicing is maintenance.

Any manufacturing faults would be outside that, but covered by the manufacturer's warranty.
Normal wear and tear items may be included - tyres and brake pads, f'rinstance - but any other non-routine, non-warranty replacements are very likely to be outside of the maintenance included in the finance - what do the Ts & Cs say about it?


So the question is what a clutch in 24k is.

It's unlikely to be a manufacturing issue, but possible - however, if they've already stripped it down, then you'd think they'd go for the warranty if it was covered (say, a premature failure of clutch slave).

It may not be visibly over-heated and burnt out. Which would unquestionably be the driver's fault, and not covered by anything.

So it's just worn very rapidly. Is that a manufacturing issue? No. So forget warranty. Is that a consumable that's covered by the maintenance cover? Probably not - read the Ts & Cs. So what is it? That leaves the driver's pocket...


Whether 24k life for a clutch is extreme or normal depends. Is the car used primarily for stop-start heavy traffic, fully loaded and/or towing to the limit, in a very steep area? If so, possibly normal. If not, then almost certain to be driver error.

casseus

Tarambor wrote: »

Well 30 years of driving and dozens of cars owned, many with 100,000+ miles, the highest 250,000 miles, all doing 300 miles or more a week in my ownership and all but 4 of them being bangers, my last car doing 75k in my ownership, my current car doing 100k in my ownership including towing a 26ft twin wheel caravan I've had to replace just one clutch in those 30 years and that was on a car I bought cheap because the clutch had gone.

24k its how you drive.

I doubt very much it is an AP racing clutch because apart from the fact they're far from cheap they have characteristics you do not want in a mass produced car being used for non-competition normal use. AP make multiplate carbon clutches, including 4 paddle, and metallic race clutches. Ford sure as hell wouldn't put any of those in a Fiesta because you need one hell of a strong left leg to push the clutch pedal down when you have a racing clutch fitted.

This just means you've been fortunate and lucky enough not to be one of the Low percentages of people who do have a clutch fail in the low mileage section of ownership in a car. It is not unequivocal evidence of poor driving/clutch control.
I had a dealership principle owned car that done 59K it needed a new dual mass flywheel and a clutch and new csc and mater cyl too after 3000 miles in my ownership then I discovered when I removed the clutch they fitted a cheap made in Taiwan thing I had never heard of. Ive known early model fiat scudo diesels to rip through their clutches like a child with a bag of sweets. Audi diesel engines blowing piston through the block at 20k remember those, audi blamed driver error till evidence stacked up against them. Hyundai I20 and i30 clutches wearing at 2k miles https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/hyundai/i20/59625/watchdog-clutch-failure-after-four-months. Fiesta, Focus and C-Max as know for clutch premature wear between certain years of manufacture.