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Mk 3 Mondeo Clutch

Hi all.

Long winded question for you lot...

I've got a 2003 Mk 3 Mondeo TDCI. Was in a low speed bump (at a roundabout) about 6 weeks ago. Needed a new bumper & cross-member behind the bumper.

These were replaced.

Immediately after the accident, a resonance started. At about 1500, 1750 and 2000 RPM, there was a "buzzing" from somewhere up front, which sounded like a loose body panel. This resonance could be felt through the bulkhead and steering wheel. This could be felt at idle and while driving.

After the car was repaired, the resonance at idle stopped, and while driving was much better, but not gone. It manifests itself at partial and light engine load, e.g. driving flat out is no problem, decelerating is no problem, but keeping the same speed on a slight incline is enough to start it.

Took it back, and they fitted a "sound deadener" (a bit of polystyrene wedged between the cross member and the bumper which was there originally, but they didn't replace). This made it better still, but there's still some resonance.

I've fiddled around with the spacing of this wedge (because it wasn't pushed flush against the bumper), which may or may not have had any effect.

The resonance is still there, but it's now been joined by the smell of roasting clutch lining. It's *not* the brakes, because I've sniffed them, and they're fine. There's a strong smell in the engine bay, above the gearbox/bell housing, and from the passenger side wheel arch.

There *may* also be a "strange" noise accompanying the resonance (perhaps it got lonely). It's a sort of quiet grindy shusshing noise, a sort of "worn differential" type noise. Not a whine, but the sort of noise you may get between two slightly worn gears when there's no load going through them, as the teeth slap against each other. (Sounds like the Welsh phoneme "ch" as is Coch, sort of like someone clearing out the back of their throat!)

This engine has a dual mass flywheel.

Do these fail in a way that causes resonance when driving at partial or very light load? Do they tend to smoke clutches when they fail? Could a low speed bump have damaged it, or is it purely coincidence? The smell only started this week, 5 weeks after the accident.

If the garage rode the clutch when they had it, how long would the smell be likely to last? We're getting up to about 5 days now.

TIA.

Pete.

Reply to
Pete Smith
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Oh dear. It does sound like the clutch me. Now, that is going to be expensive. Do a google on "dual mass flywheel". As whether the accident broke it, the garage broke it or its wear and tear I can't help on that bit. Dave

Reply to
Dave Spam

I have done, and the symptoms I'm experiencing don't seem to match up to the symptoms I've seen online.

My resonance isn't a harsh one, and it's at "high" revs, not at idle/low revs.

From what I've seen, when the DMF goes south, it normally manifests itself as feeling like a misfire at low revs, and uneven driving, which goes away at high revs.

The other odd thing is that the clutch isn't slipping either. It just smells. It's noticeable from outside the car. It *was* fine, went to the garage, and came back smelling. I thought it was the dead pigeon by the side of the road, so didn't think anything of it, until I got to work, and realised the smell was still there.

Pete.

Reply to
Pete Smith

roundabout)

Theres something about the clutches on the mk3 failing,

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will help as some of them work for ford and know about the recalls etc and the faults your'e having. I use them and find them very helpfull

Reply to
simondo

Definately sounds like the DMF has broken up and the two halves are not firmly fixed together as they should be (there is basically a rubber sandwich between) Its becoming pretty common on the 2 litre (in the mondeo and tranny) for the DMF to break up and Ford are recommending it to be replaced with the clutch, although i've heard of several going south at around the 30k mile stage. They're around 300UKP to replace too!

Tim..

Reply to
Tim..

Mine hit 30k last week :-/

Oh well. It needs some warranty work doing on the steering rack (it's got the "Clunk at low speeds" problem). They can take a look while it's in.

Got 12 months warranty left, and if there's prior failures, I'll see what they say. I just need to be 100% sure within myself that it is the DMF, because the garage told me that any warranty work that turns out to be non warranty, I pay for. I don't really want to pay for a clutch strip down!

As I said above, the symptoms ATM aren't typical for the ones I've seen, but 100% of the respondents have mentioned the DMF. The clutch smell has now stopped. It's definitely not slipping (top gear, clutch out = rapid stall). It's just got this faint resonance.

Thanks.

Pete.

Reply to
Pete Smith

A faulty DMF will not cause clutch slip.

A good check (tho not 100%) is to put the car in 3rd or 4th gear, handbarke off and whilst an assistant watches the crank pulley, rock the car forwards and back. If you can find slack in the transmission, or the crank pulley does not move, yet the car will move abit back and forth, then you definately have a problem with the DMF.

Strangely I have a Toyota Rav4 D-4D in at the moment with a suspected failed DMF too.

Tim..

Reply to
Tim..

In that case, I'd suspect garage personnel.

Timeline is...

Drove 13k miles. No stench. Bump. No stench. Drove 500 miles. No stench. Garage. No stench. Drove 200 miles. No stench. Garage. Stench. Drove 7 days. No stench.

That's an interesting one, thanks. I'll give that a go ASAP.

FWIW, I think I've found the resonance.

It's covered under Ford "TSB 4204".

Resonance in the intercooler pipework. It's a very common problem, and there's a lot of annoyed people on the FordMondeo.org forums with the problem.

I assumed it was a result of the accident, but the symptoms that everyone's reporting are identical to mine "Acceleration from 1000RPM in a high gear, there's a loud vibration/rattle" "Vibration at 1200 to 1500" "Vibration at

1800rpm".

It looks like the bump loosened something, and gave it room to wobble.

I think I need to check with the repair garage tomorrow to see if they actually did this work. They said they replaced a sound deadener behind the bumper, and 2 plugs in the intercooler pipework. OTOH, they told me they replaced the aircon radiator, and it was actually the intercooler :-/

Thanks for the help,

Pete.

Reply to
Pete Smith

There you go i said the forums would be of use to you,glad youv'e found the problem and you can go armed with the info so as they carnt try and baffle you with bullshit.

Reply to
simondo

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