[Landlocked26]

My 2007 Escape XLS manual trans just started getting really hard to get in gear. It almost seams as though I am only engaging the clutch half way but it is fully engaged. It will pop and grind into gear at first and then this will ease up as you drive more with the shifting eventually returning to almost normal as the car gets warmer. Of course the dealer is trying to tell me I need a clutch replacement but there is no way I should need a clutch at 41000 miles. As I said, once the car gets warm it runs perfectly. Is this a master cylinder or slave issue? Anyone seen this? Thanks.

 

[Squishy]

How have the temperatures been? You should notice firmer shifts when the temperature dips below freezing, but I don't think it should be as difficult as you describe. You could just need a transmission fluid change, or your clutch fluid has absorbed too much water - if it uses brake fluid, it should be clear or golden yellow, not dark. You could also try cleaning all the linkages with WD-40 and putting on some grease where the manufacturer says it is good to -40 or lower.

 

[Landlocked26]

The air temp has been cold but it is parked in a heated garage and it is consistently the same until the vehicle gets warmer. I will check and try out your suggestions this weekend and see what I can come up with. Thanks.

 

[escape05xls]

Hmm my Mazdaspeed 3 was sorta like that in cold weather, hard to get into gear when cold kinda grinded. The trans fluid was not synthetic, as it has a LSD and if you do not do additives with synthetic and lsd it chatters like crazy. Is the transmission synthetic oil on those?

 

[jas88]

Try pumping the clutch pedal about 5 times and then see if it makes it work as normal. If so then you have a problem with your hydraulic clutch, either the master or slave cylinder. Have you checked the clutch fluid level lately?

 

[Landlocked26]

O.K. Here is a dumb question. How do you check the fluid for the clutch. I see no reservoir. Also what is the procedure for bleeding this if I have air in their? Also does anyone know where I can get a copy of the Ford service manual on CD for this vehicle. Thanks.

 

[escape05xls]

There should be a dip stick hidden in the engine bay somewhere... I think on the right of the engine..

 

[wptski]

The older ones had no reservoir as it was a sealed and replaced as a unit.

 

[C17chief]

I don't know specificly how it is set up on the escape, but on a lot of vehicles (almost all are hyd clutch these days so I wont say a lot w/ hyd clutch), the clutch uses brake fluid and shares the same fluid from the master cylinder. Basicly, if the escape has this setup as well, check your brake fluid. That is your clutch fluid too.

 

[jpark]

Yup, the 2007 manual transmission is hydraulically controlled, and the master cylinder does share fluid with the brake master cylinder. On North American E/M/Ts, the clutch master cylinder (#5 in the diagram below) is located to the right of the brake master cylinder as you look at the firewall from the front of the car.

The fix for your problem may be as simple as bleeding the lines, since there appears to be a bleeder valve (#10 in the diagram below) on the fork end of the hydraulic line.

 

[escape05xls]

well I learn something new every day! weird imo to have it share the fluid...