Gearbox, clutch or both?

ferry

Hi.Asking for my son please.Last night it seemed the gears wouldnt go into place easily and the clutch started slipping. There were no warning signs and everything worked fine journey before that. I know clutches tend to go over a period of time so I'm thinking gearbox. Can this effect the clutch too? Theres no dumping of fluid and the gears slip into gear fine with the engine off . No nasty whiny noises either
Its a 09 Fiesta if that helps.

Thanks as always

Goudy

It's a general rule of thumb that if it selects all the gears with the engine off and won't select them when the engine is running and the clutch pedal is down, it's a clutch issue, either a hydraulic/cable issue or the friction plate is worn.

As it appears to be slipping when it is in gear, I would say it's probably a worn clutch friction plate.
Is there evidence of a replacement clutch in the past? What mileage is on the clock?

ferry

Thanks. No evidence of a replacement clutch and 100k on the clock so probably due.
I am told there was a degree of difficulty selecting reverse in recent weeks so maybe thats a sign?
Just a bit surprised the friction plate would just go?

Thanks a lot

Goudy

Clutches tend to show a couple of signs they are on their way out and most owners tend to notice one of them before the other, but you'd be surprised. Some owners just don't notice things are changing with things like the clutch, they alter slowly over time and they just accept that's how it is, particularly if they've never experienced a worn clutch before.

Dragging, like it feels you cannot push the pedal down far enough to disengage it, which is when it sounds all crunchy or baulks when trying to slip the car into gear.
This is due to the slave cylinder being out at it max, taking up all the slack in the clutch caused by the worn plate, there's just no more movement of the slave to push on the pressure plate to take the pressure off it. Hence no matter how far you push the pedal, it just doesn't want to disengage the clutch and it drags power through and is still spinning the gearbox input shaft, hence the crunch.

And the high bite point that eventually starts to slip. The friction plate has worn all the way down and it takes almost no pressure/movement on the pedal to take the pressure off the ultra thin friction plate, Eventually it will start to slip more and move, first under load/power like pulling away, then all the time.

Sounds like you have both.

Nobbie1967

I had a clutch go on an early 107 when part of the pressure plate broke as I pulled out of a junction (they later beefed up the design). It started slipping and gear changes were very hit and miss, but I managed to nurse it home. Could be something similar rather than the friction material wearing out.

Grey_Critic

09 Fiesta gearboxes are pretty reliable - 100K miles for a clutch is not bad -

Bigwheels1111

Sounds like the clutch, personal choice is Borg and beck,Luk, Sachs for clutch replacement.
The last clutch I had replaced was on a rover 218 diesel. A Borg and beck was used, 130k miles later it was still going when I gave it to my mum.