ok so my wife was driving her 2002 ford focus manual transmission on the freeway and out of no where the clutched stopped responding.. she pulled over and we had the car towed to our house.. so i checked it out and the clutch goes into gear on or off.. just does not move.. i can actually act like im driving the car with no movement.. i can put it into first and hold the clutch down and press the gas and the speedometer doesnt move like normal.. i let go of the clutch slowly and the speedometer acts like the car is moving slowly rising.. i press the clutch again and put it into second and so forth and the cars speedometer keeps rising.. as if i was driving the car.. but it doesnt move.. its soo weird.. so dont think i need a new clutch because of that fact.. what could cause the tranny to not respond to the wheels.. any help would be greatly appreciated .. thank you
2002 Ford Focus Clutch problems HELPPP!!!
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The internals of the transmission are rotating, so it is not the clutch.
I would have to say you lost the differential
The differential is generally a very small (for what it has to do) gearset (would fit into a standard coffeecup) made up of four really tough hardened gears, two bigger, two smaller which distribute the power from the transmission to the two sides towaard the wheels.
The sets of gears in there can be damaged, and still work, and you would hardly notice. (just a slight small barely noted jerking now and then in the driveline) until finally they shear off completely. No noise, nothing, just gone.
So that is my guess, you lost the differential.
Complete tranny teardown to replace.
other possibilities are some other gear inside the transmission broke. But internal tranny stuff usually is noisy and spectacular. The differential is in front of the rest of the tranny, and just destroys itself, nothing else. (that is why i think the differentail is your issue.)
I lost a differential in my manual transmission Contour SVT, and from noting it was getting jerky, to total failure was about 5 miles.. and that was driving really really carefully to the dealer on the freeway the moment i noted the thing was having issues... It went R.I.P. when the Ford tech tried to take it out testing it ... LOL!
(actually prior to the day, for a few weeks i had noticed a tiny slip now and then, sort of a tiny jerk in the driveline when turning corners.. but i had no idea it was anything so serious...) no noises. just the feeling of jerkyness ...
After rebuild, i saw the old part. Wow, totally ripped up thick heavy gears...small, but still was shocked how badly damaged they were.
Added: the cost to rebuild the tranny and replace the differential was equal to the actual value of the car at the time. i did do the work, but that was because i really really loved that car a lot.
Otherwise i would have been better off junking it. It was an SVT, and about as old as your car is now for you.
Generally iwould have to say if it really is the differential, you should junk the car.
You could have a shop put in a junk tranny.. but that has it's own possible issues.
From my experience, if it is a blown differential, do not repair the car unless you totally love the car. it is going to cost you MORE than it is worth. Sorry.
Also: if it is NOT the differential, it could be just a broken halfshaft. From the differential to the wheels, the halfshafts BOTH have to be conencted. or the car will just sit.
You would be able to see one of the halfshafts turning under the car when in gear, and the other just not moving.
Then THAT is a reasonable repair. But that would have probably made some noise, a LOT of noise IMO. so it is less likely.
Finally, it may be the splines in the wheel that the halfshaft goes into, or the splines at the differential that the halfshaft comes from.
I do not know if the part from the differential to the halfshaft is easy or not. the other, at the wheel is also a reasonable repair.
Sorry it seems such bad news. From another gal driving a stick.
I would have to say you lost the differential
The differential is generally a very small (for what it has to do) gearset (would fit into a standard coffeecup) made up of four really tough hardened gears, two bigger, two smaller which distribute the power from the transmission to the two sides towaard the wheels.
The sets of gears in there can be damaged, and still work, and you would hardly notice. (just a slight small barely noted jerking now and then in the driveline) until finally they shear off completely. No noise, nothing, just gone.
So that is my guess, you lost the differential.
Complete tranny teardown to replace.
other possibilities are some other gear inside the transmission broke. But internal tranny stuff usually is noisy and spectacular. The differential is in front of the rest of the tranny, and just destroys itself, nothing else. (that is why i think the differentail is your issue.)
I lost a differential in my manual transmission Contour SVT, and from noting it was getting jerky, to total failure was about 5 miles.. and that was driving really really carefully to the dealer on the freeway the moment i noted the thing was having issues... It went R.I.P. when the Ford tech tried to take it out testing it ... LOL!
(actually prior to the day, for a few weeks i had noticed a tiny slip now and then, sort of a tiny jerk in the driveline when turning corners.. but i had no idea it was anything so serious...) no noises. just the feeling of jerkyness ...
After rebuild, i saw the old part. Wow, totally ripped up thick heavy gears...small, but still was shocked how badly damaged they were.
Added: the cost to rebuild the tranny and replace the differential was equal to the actual value of the car at the time. i did do the work, but that was because i really really loved that car a lot.
Otherwise i would have been better off junking it. It was an SVT, and about as old as your car is now for you.
Generally iwould have to say if it really is the differential, you should junk the car.
You could have a shop put in a junk tranny.. but that has it's own possible issues.
From my experience, if it is a blown differential, do not repair the car unless you totally love the car. it is going to cost you MORE than it is worth. Sorry.
Also: if it is NOT the differential, it could be just a broken halfshaft. From the differential to the wheels, the halfshafts BOTH have to be conencted. or the car will just sit.
You would be able to see one of the halfshafts turning under the car when in gear, and the other just not moving.
Then THAT is a reasonable repair. But that would have probably made some noise, a LOT of noise IMO. so it is less likely.
Finally, it may be the splines in the wheel that the halfshaft goes into, or the splines at the differential that the halfshaft comes from.
I do not know if the part from the differential to the halfshaft is easy or not. the other, at the wheel is also a reasonable repair.
Sorry it seems such bad news. From another gal driving a stick.
Tranny output shaft must be getting driven by the engine (speedo works) but the power ain't getting to the wheels. Jack one front wheel off the ground with the tranny in a gear and see if it rotates fairly freely. If it does then one (or both) of the wheels is no longer mechanically connected to the tranny/final drive (differential). This could be caused by a sheared drive shaft, stripped splines (differential or drive shaft), or the drive shaft has pulled out of the hub (is the wheel bearing/axle nut missing?) or tranny, or possibly a totally failed CV joint. Did you have any work done on this car recently?
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That's what it is. We've had this happen on this board before. It's the driver's side axle, and the snap ring was either not properly seated, or it has broken or slipped out.
It is also possible that the inner CV failed completely- however, I'm surprised that you don't hear some sort of sounds associated with that- unless the balls and forks fell out. The boot would be ripped wide open, and I've never seen that. Inner CV failures are difficult to diagnose, so don't be mad at your mechanic. You'll have vibrations similar to out of balance wheels except that the vibration is not speed specific. It will happen when you reach a steady speed, get worse going uphill, and disappear going downhill at any steady speed. The effect is worse as you go faster. I just had one go out on me recently, but I "thought" I felt it for like 3 years it just wasn't harsh enough for me to properly diagnose it as the definite cause.
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5 Posts
Ok, I have a problem too. I may be clutch or something else. 2001 ZX3 Zetc 193k miles Automatic trans
I drive alot. Have had some slippage over the past 6 months to a year. Usually around 2nd to 3rd. After about 300 miles yesterday, I stopped at a sign. Started to take off and in mid of intersection I had a loud pop followed by gringing and whining along with loss drivability/ power. That noise was faster in drive and reverse and continued to do it in neutral as well. Its sounded like trying to shove a manual trans car into gear without using a clutch.
Any ideas?
Whats the problem im dealing with here?
I drive alot. Have had some slippage over the past 6 months to a year. Usually around 2nd to 3rd. After about 300 miles yesterday, I stopped at a sign. Started to take off and in mid of intersection I had a loud pop followed by gringing and whining along with loss drivability/ power. That noise was faster in drive and reverse and continued to do it in neutral as well. Its sounded like trying to shove a manual trans car into gear without using a clutch.
Any ideas?
Whats the problem im dealing with here?
hmm.. that same exact thing happened to me in my other car.. needed a whole new transmission.. like everything including the outer shell..it was still under warranty so i lucked out and got a new one
so i jacked the front of the car up and sure enough the axle was popped out about 2 inches (passenger side one not driver side one) .. not a bad fix.. heres what i have a question on.. both wheels are spinning freely in neutral which is expected when the axle popped out.now when i put in gear with the car off.. both wheels still turn freely .. wouldn't the one axle that is still attached be locked in place if it was in gear??.. Check out this photo of the axle detached .. ick.. going to be an interesting weekend
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With a non limited-slip differential (that's what you've got) you have to have both wheels connected to the engine and both wheels on the ground for the engine to drive the wheels. The "freewheeling" of the driver side wheel that you've noticed would not occur if the passenger side driveshaft was engaged with the tranny and the wheel was on the ground (you would only be able to rotate it back and forth only the amount of tranny/final drive backlash). The question is......why did the shaft pop out? Is the circlip intact and is the inner CV joint slipjoint action free and smooth etc?
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21,250 Posts
^^ what he said. There's no clip holding that one in, but there is a bearing that is bolted to the side of the engine near cyl 2 part of the block. The studs might've come loose and allowed the bearing to come free, or you're missing the bearing hold down entirely. If the bearing itself is bad- but the clamp is still there- then you will have to get a new axle to get a new bearing.
so i found the problem... the bearing that holds the half shaft in place came loose off the half shaft.. the bearing stayed in place but it detached from the half shaft itself.. so i went and bought a new half shaft with bearing in place already...easy fix.. so glad it wasnt the clutch.. car is driving perfect now..thanks for everyones help
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3 Posts
alright well i need some help. My clutch is slipping bad and its brand new. i replaced the slave cylinder and master cylinder. a brand new clutch kit and hydraulic line. the clutch still slips. the differential is still good but i want to know what i need to do. HEP ME PLEASE I MISS MY CAR
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213 Posts
Might want to start a new thread on this. If people don't check this thread, they won't see your post or if they do check this thread they might not see your post. By starting your own thread you can describe all your issues in detail and everyone will be able to see what problems you are experiencing. That way the 1 person that might genuinely be able to help you can help you; whereas if that one person doesn't check this particular thread he won't be able to help because he doesn't know you need help.
BTW welcome to FocusFanatics!!! [thumb]
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