Ford Focus Clutch replacement

John_Mc

Hi,

Quick question - how much to get the clutch replaced on a 2002 Focus?

A garage quoted me €650 so just want to see where that stands against other places.

Thanks in advance,
John

Darragh29

About right, that car has a concentric slave cylinder that should be replaced with the 2 piece clutch kit that drives up the cost of parts by around 150 Euro-180 Euro...

John_Mc

Darragh29 wrote: »

About right, that car has a concentric slave cylinder that should be replaced with the 2 piece clutch kit that drives up the cost of parts by around 150 Euro-180 Euro...

Hi, thanks for your reply. That's grand so, will go with them

Darragh29

Just make sure that this price includes replacing the CSC/concentric slave cylinder along with the clutch assembly, because some folks don't bother, but any decent garage would be changing this as a matter of course... But just check beforehand...

master-d

Make sure to get a few different quotes of different reputable garages, I recently had the clutch replaced in my Bora and i was getting quotes from €400 to €600+vat from a vw garage. In the end it cost me €450 because they advised me that some sort of cylinder looked like it needed replacing. Obviously the price for your car will be different as it is a ford but what im trying to highlight is the difference in price between different garages.

Big_Mac

Also, you'll find that an aftermarket clutch and pressure plate will be substantially cheaper than the OEM clutch. Worth considering......

Darragh29

Big_Mac wrote: »

Also, you'll find that an aftermarket clutch and pressure plate will be substantially cheaper than the OEM clutch. Worth considering......

Hmmm. Aftermarket clutches made by for example Valeo and LuK are OEM replacemant parts. Ford, Renault, Volvo, BMW, Mercedes, Nissan, Fiat, in fact not a single vehicle manufacturer builds clutches. If you get a "genuine" Ford clutch, you get a Valeo or an LuK clutch in a Ford box, if you get an OEM replacement clutch, you get an LuK or a Valeo clutch in an LuK or valeo box. You get the same product but in a different box and obviously for a completely different price. OEM does not equal a "genuine" part. When it comes to clutches, there is no such thing as the "genuine" part, because clutch parts are not made by a vehicle manufacturer. This is the kind of misleading talk that has main dealers getting away with screwing people for years and scaring them with words like "genuine" and "original" parts...

John_Mc

Just rang Esmonde motors for a quote to replace the clutch on my 2002 Ford Focus.

They quoted €740 to replace both the Bearing & the clutch. Daylight robbery! :mad:

Anyone know any independent garages on the south side that can do this for me?

Darragh29

John_Mc wrote: »

Just rang Esmonde motors for a quote to replace the clutch on my 2002 Ford Focus.

They quoted €740 to replace both the Bearing & the clutch. Daylight robbery! :mad:

Anyone know any independent garages on the south side that can do this for me?

You're going to pay a big more for this task than you would normally pay for a clutch replacement job, because of the CSC set up. The replacement parts are going to cost you around 300-400 Euro. If you shop around, you should be able to get it for around 600 quid for it to be done right...

John_Mc

Darragh29 wrote: »

You're going to pay a big more for this task than you would normally pay for a clutch replacement job, because of the CSC set up. The replacement parts are going to cost you around 300-400 Euro. If you shop around, you should be able to get it for around 600 quid for it to be done right...

Rang these guys up and they quoted me €380 for the Clutch, and then between €80-€120 or the bearing thing.

http://www.carsforsaleireland.ie/car/auto-mechanics/south-dublin-autos/

Too good to be true?

Darragh29

John_Mc wrote: »

Rang these guys up and they quoted me €380 for the Clutch, and then between €80-€120 or the bearing thing.

http://www.carsforsaleireland.ie/car/auto-mechanics/south-dublin-autos/

Too good to be true?

To be honest, I wouldn't do a clutch for that but each to their own...
It seems a bit low on the low side to me, I know this will sound gimpish but I wouldn't do it unless I was replacing the cover assembly, driven plate and concentric slave cylinder. If you wanted to just change the two piece clutch assembly, and take a chance on the CSC I'd send you up the road to a guy who would do that and we wouldn't fall out over it. If I was doing it, I'd replace the whole lot and give you a 3 year/30,000KM written warranty with it, I know it's putting around 200 Euro onto the job but you could be sure you wouldn't have a clutch problem again in 6 months time.

It varies from garage to garage but I'd never take a Ford in for a clutch and not replace the bearing, it's not worth the hassle, the CSC's leak and eventually cause trouble anyway, then we'd be into claim territory and doing the whole thing again in 6 months time, yakedy yakedy yak...

John_Mc

Darragh29 wrote: »

To be honest, I wouldn't do a clutch for that but each to their own...
It seems a bit low on the low side to me, I know this will sound gimpish but I wouldn't do it unless I was replacing the cover assembly, driven plate and concentric slave cylinder. If you wanted to just change the two piece clutch assembly, and take a chance on the CSC I'd send you up the road to a guy who would do that and we wouldn't fall out over it. If I was doing it, I'd replace the whole lot and give you a 3 year/30,000KM written warranty with it, I know it's putting around 200 Euro onto the job but you could be sure you wouldn't have a clutch problem again in 6 months time.

It varies from garage to garage but I'd never take a Ford in for a clutch and not replace the bearing, it's not worth the hassle, the CSC's leak and eventually cause trouble anyway, then we'd be into claim territory and doing the whole thing again in 6 months time, yakedy yakedy yak...

So is the CSC different to the bearing thing? I don't know much about the internal workings of a car so please bear with me:o

Darragh29

John_Mc wrote: »

So is the CSC different to the bearing thing? I don't know much about the internal workings of a car so please bear with me:o

No problem John. The old conventional clutch set up was a pressure plate, clutch disc and a release bearing. The hydraulic clutch cylinder that conventionally operated these three components above was always located outside the area where the clutch is located, which is called the Bell Housing (because it is shaped like a bell).

In recent years, manufacturers like Ford have integrated the release bearing and the hydraulic clutch cylinder into a single component, called a concentric slave cylinder... I've attached a pic of one below.

So where we used to have four parts and typically only replaced three of these parts:

Cover assembly (also known as a pressure plate)
Driven Plate (also known as a clutch disc)
Release bearing
Hydraulic clutch cylinder

We now have 3 parts and we replace all three:
Cover assembly (also known as a pressure plate)
Driven Plate (also known as a clutch disc)
Clutch Concentric Slave Cylinder (CSC).

John_Mc

Darragh29 wrote: »

No problem John. The old conventional clutch set up was a pressure plate, clutch disc and a release bearing. The hydraulic clutch cylinder that conventionally operated these three components above was always located outside the area where the clutch is located, which is called the Bell Housing (because it is shaped like a bell).

In recent years, manufacturers like Ford have integrated the release bearing and the hydraulic clutch cylinder into a single component, called a concentric slave cylinder... I've attached a pic of one below.

So where we used to have four parts and typically only replaced three of these parts:

Cover assembly (also known as a pressure plate)
Driven Plate (also known as a clutch disc)
Release bearing
Hydraulic clutch cylinder

We now have 3 parts and we replace all three:
Cover assembly (also known as a pressure plate)
Driven Plate (also known as a clutch disc)
Clutch Concentric Slave Cylinder (CSC).

Darragh,

Thanks a million for the information. I'll won't be as vulnerable to being ripped by these guys knowing this.

Just one more questions, he quoted my 380 to replace the clutch. Is this the CSC? I mentioned a bearing and he said 80-120 for that, but what did he think I meant when I mumbled something about a bearing?

Thanks
John

Darragh29

John_Mc wrote: »

Darragh,

Thanks a million for the information. I'll won't be as vulnerable to being ripped by these guys knowing this.

Just one more questions, he quoted my 380 to replace the clutch. Is this the CSC? I mentioned a bearing and he said 80-120 for that, but what did he think I meant when I mumbled something about a bearing?

Thanks
John

From looking at the figures alone, the guy you were dealing with quoted you 380 to remove and replace the two piece clutch kit. That doesn't include the CSC which is effectively the clutch release bearing. So, he said if you wanted that replaced, you'd be looking at 380 Euro plus another 120 Euro for the CSC/bearing so you're looking at 500 Euro to get the whole thing done.

Some mechanics don't automatically replace the CSC/bearing on Ford cars because they are expensive and their take on this is that they'll inspect it when the gearbox is out and unless it looks like it needs to be changed, they'll leave it alone. My approach is that I'd always change it because I just hate a customer coming back for anything, some lads don't get too worried about it, they'll just charge for the whole thing again for it if there is a problem down the road with the CSC. I just like to keep things simple and take a more pre-emptive approach to maintenance. If you do a clutch replacement and change the right parts and use OEM replacement components, assuming that the car is being driven normally, you should never see the same car again for a clutch...

antodeco

Im getting my clutch done with active transmissions (gearbox.ie) at the minute. Gave a great price of €470 for the whole thing. Car is still there at the minute (cant get to it myself this evening), but I will let you know how good he is. I can ask him a price tommorow if you want?