I would advise having fresh fluids put in the trans. Use the Ford honey it is what most swear by here.

 

I did a tranny swap 3 months ago with new fluid (including 1 qt. of the $20 Royal purple stuff), new clutch, new slave cylinder, and a lot of new brake fluid ended up getting mixing with the old. Had no problem bleeding the air out of it. Replaced the clutch master cyl 2 yrs ago. All that and I'm having the same problem as CGfreak, Like the clutch isn't disengaging to let me shift.

Has anyone heard of running straight 75w or lower viscosity during the winter months?
Just wondered what the harm would be in using thinner gear lube and if it would result in smoother shifts.

And oh yea focus fanatics this is my first post!

 

I have a similar problem with my SS. The clutch is very sticky and the back pressure on the pedal is strong. It doesn't like to shift at all.
I just let it warm up for a few minutes, pump the clutch a few times and it's better.

 

It's obvious that these are hydraulic clutches (as opposed to cable-actuated). Our Focus is an auto trans, but my Saab is a manual with a hydraulic clutch. The only info I don't know about the Focus' setup is if the hydraulic fluid is shared between the brake system & the clutch system, or if they use two separate reservoirs. Can you answer that for me?

Transmission oil should have absolutely nothing to do with this problem.

My Saab uses a shared reservoir. Of course, the standard maintenance interval for brake fluid has always been "replace every 2 yrs or 30k mi, whichever comes first." This is because brake fluid absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, & that water will eventually corrode the metal lines & caliper parts. With a shared reservoir, you should flush the fluid out of the clutch line at the same time that you do the brakes.

And that's as far as most people go (if they even think of it). However, I've learned over the years that the clutch really needs flushing more frequently in order to maintain proper feel & function. This is because the seals & pistons of the clutch system travel so much more than those of the brake system, & so they generate much more wear & debris that needs to be cleaned out. Because of this, I do my clutch at 1 yr intervals.

If your hydraulic fluid is of unknown age, flush both the brakes & the clutch systems. The fluid's probably pretty nasty. Drive it for a week or two, then flush just the clutch system again. The fluid will still look like crap, but it should be better than the first flush. At that point, you're good for another year. When next year rolls around, just do the clutch system again.

EDIT:
I forgot to say, these symptoms (indicating old fluid & deposit buildup) typically show up when the weather turns colder. Seals aren't as flexible as when it's warm out, so the hydraulics function much less efficiently & these symptoms start showing up. I just went thru this on my Saab, here in Northern Colorado, with the clutch engaging almost at the firewall. After performing the flush/drive/flush sequence I've been following for the past decade, my clutch engagement has now returned to the end of the pedal travel where it should be.

 

It's a shared clutch/brake fluid reservoir, and I agree about disregarding trans fluid for now. If it were my car I'd bleed out whatevers in the hydraulic lines and get new fluid in, and make damn sure when refilling that you bleed out all the air.

I don't know what effect the ambient temperature is having and why the problem goes away, it just sounds like there's air in the system up until that point.

 

Just got done bleeding the clutch. When the fluid first came out it looked like oil. After that took it for a test drive and it works flawlessly. The test will be how it shifts tomorrow morning.

Thanks for the input guys.

 

Update:

So i was driving home from dinner tonight and i noticed my foot was slippery. Looked down and noticed that my master cylinder was leaking, it was perfectly fine until i bleed the system today. i know i over filled the reservoir to the point when i put the lid in, it spilled out over the edged, do you think its just that? Going to monitor over the next few days.

 

Thank you for your advice, 6SPD and Eiron, it seems that CGfreak and I need to stay on top of the condition of our hyd fluid since we have such aging cars.

 

Sounds like the clutch pedal master cylinder gave out on you. It has nothing to do with how much fluid you put in. That would explain why it got air in it and made it hard to shift and also why pumping it would make it work for a little while. It's a common part to go out on our cars with age.

 

Oh and I also want to add if it's been a while or if you never changed the transmission fluid it may be a good idea to do that too. The ford honey mentioned earlier really does help in the shifting with the cold. What's ford honey you ask? It's synthetic manual transmission fluid you can find it HERE or at your local dealer, it's pricey though, and it looks like honey and almost smells just has sweet hence the nick name ford honey.

 

Here is a link to some clutch master cylinders. Shop around for the best price, but here are two of them HERE and HERE

 

Gotcha, me and my wishful Thinking. Yup before I started working on my car yesterday I got the fluid. Was gonn change it if bleeding the clutch did not work. We'll at least on Saturday I'm free to change that and the master Cylinder.

 

CGfreak102, have you tracked the leak down? And have you verified that the fluid level is dropping in the reservoir?

I was wondering if your over-filling of the reservoir might've provided a travel path for the excess fluid, allowing it to drip onto the pedal? (I don't know the configuration of the setup on the Focus, so I don't know if this is possible.)


wisebag02, yes, it's a lot less hassle & expense to flush this once a year (or two for the brakes) than it is to ignore it until it gives you proplems. Not to mention the safety factor involved with maintaining your brake system! Heck, just always having a nicely working clutch is well worth the few minutes it takes to do this! [woot]

 

I don't know if I know how to flush an entire brake system. Do you just bleed it all out through the brake bleeder screws while adding new fluid to the reservoir?

 

Kind of... it's actually pretty easy if you have the right tools. (Just like everything else, right?) []

The fluid doesn't like to drain out on its own, so you need to either push it or pull it out. Some people like to have a friend push the brake pedal while they crack the bleeder valve. Some people like to use a hand-held vacuum pump (like a Mighty Vac) to suck the fluid out from the wheel/caliper. I prefer to push it out from the reservoir with a pressure bleeder. I like the Motive Pressure Bleeder. If you use a friend or a vacuum pump, then you have to keep topping up the reservoir to make sure you don't pull any air into your lines. If you use the pressure bleeder, it constantly feeds in fresh fluid as you drain out the old stuff.

Pressure bleeding goes roughly like this:
1) Buy two liters of DOT 3 (or DOT 4) brake fluid.
2) Suck out as much old fluid as you can from the reservoir, then fill it back up to the "Full" line with fresh fluid.
3) Add a liter of fluid to your pressure bleeder & attach it to the reservoir.
4) Pump it up to 10 to 20 psi, then go around & bleed each wheel & the clutch.
5) Remove at least 8 ounces from each line.
6) You might need to re-pump the bleeder if you want the fluid to keep moving out quickly. I wouldn't pump it up above 20 psi.
7) Make sure you don't run the bleeder dry, or you might push air into whichever line you're working on at that time. Fortunately, with a pressure bleeder, it's quick & simple to get all of the air out of any part of the system.

I'm sure there's a proper bleed order for the Focus wheels, but I don't recall what it is.

 

Eiron,
It has dropped to just below the max line, I have also found out where the fluid comes from. when releasing the clutch a small amount comes out of the whole where the white plastic thing goes in and out.

 

Sorry, my Saab doesn't have a white plastic thing... []

I'm going to guess that this is the piston rod to the clutch master cylinder, which would mean that the seals have worn enough to allow fluid to push past & dribble out the back end (where the pedal connects).

I can buy a rebuild kit for mine for about $12 that includes all new seals & washers, but I don't know if the same kind of thing is offered for the Focus. It also requires a smooth internal bore to the master cylinder, which sometimes no longer exists. But at $12, it's a cheap repair to try before being forced to buy a new master at $200 (again, Saab parts & pricing).


P.S.,
Am I the only one who thinks of Felix the Cat every time I see/hear/say the words "Master Cylinder"?

 

CG - leakage there means new master cyl., but it's not tragic - I just did mine & autozone had an EXACT factory match for $35.

And the instructions you can find on the site here work fine... Checked 'em when I did mine just for chuckles to see how well it matched my car.

(when you read them, the only difference I found was NOT having to unbolt the "block", slide clip was all I needed to touch there, you'll see it on the new part)

Luck!

 

Yup, got one ordered will be picking it up. found a nice guide with pics on how to do it also on here.

Also changing out my fuel filter.

 

Replaced the master Cylinder today. Working great so far. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

So, no more leaking fluid onto my feet. But i am noticing another issue while driving it, which has only been happening since i replaced my master cylinder.

Heres the issue;
I have been noticing when shifting from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd, and occasionally 3rd to 4th.
As i am letting off the clutch i feel the gears engaging, but then my car kinda stutters, sorta like a da, da, da ,da noise. It does not happen every time i shift tho and is hard to replicate.

 

I don't know for sure, CG, but have you checked your motor mounts? don't forget the "dog bone" one underneath on the tranny.