2005 Mustang Clutch Master Cylinder eyelet broke

[GhostTX]

So this freaked me out. I was shifting into 2nd and between gears when it happened and worse, I was on a country road blind hill (no shoulders) and had to pull off so only half my car was on the road. I have the hood up, flashers going for people coming behind me, but it'd take some guy racing down the middle of the road from the other side to cream me. I managed to line up the cylinder piston to the clutch pedal and get it into first and get it rolling, and limped home in 1st the whole way. First thing I did when I got home was started sleuthing what happened.

Turns out the clutch master cylinder eyelet piece broke that attaches the piston to the pedal. It's the eyelet looking piece that balloon 2 retains onto the pedal:




Found this as a possible solution:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322568809400

Hope it works.

I thought about changing the whole cylinder, but a $40 fix versus a $80 part plus labor at my local shop. =/

[DON SVO]

That's wild. I don't think I've seen that on your year range car.

[Rick Modena]

I have not seen that, but I have seen (and worked on it to) the clutch pedal break in half too, on the part where that eyelet piece attaches to the slave cylinder. This was on a 2005 Stang, also when it broke it bent the eyelet rod, so that had to be replaced (slave cylinder) as well since it started leaking hydraulic fluid into the car floorboard.

You might want to inspect that clutch pedal thoroughly, as it is not serviced from Ford and you have to order that entire clutch pedal assembly, iirc we had to weld that pedal back together or spend approx. $300.00 on a new assembly.

[46Tbird]

I am wondering if the problems you both experienced are specifically related to the (first year S197) 2005 cars. I also wonder if the issue was further downstream, as in a pressure plate or throwout bearing, that caused unusual forces against the pedal / rod.

Just thinking out loud here, because I've never seen or heard of those failures on any other S197.

[Rick Modena]

I am wondering if the problems you both experienced are specifically related to the (first year S197) 2005 cars. I also wonder if the issue was further downstream, as in a pressure plate or throwout bearing, that caused unusual forces against the pedal / rod.

Just thinking out loud here, because I've never seen or heard of those failures on any other S197.

I'm thinking it has to do with the clutch pedal itself (it may have nothing to do with the OP's problem), the hole on the pedal shaft where the rod to the slave cylinder is attached to is a pressed hole, not machine drilled. This process has weakening the area in front (towards the car seat) and that's where the crack appeared. Since the pedal is not serviceable and expensive, we just welded it back and replaced the slave cylinder since the shaft had bent over time and started leaking too.

[Rick Modena]

Also to the OP, if you wind up replacing the slave cylinder, be very careful removing the C-cotter pin where it attaches to the firewall, that bitch did an Olympic high jump into the abyss and and we never found it, had to go the wrecking yard and get another off a manual car since its not serviced from Ford either...


<---FTL

[GhostTX]

I checked the pedal and it's OK. The one thing that was wrong, is there's a metal plate/arm that pushes on the switch for the cruise control (telling the car to disengage when clutch is pushed in). That arm was bent, I assume from the force of me when the clutch pressure disappeared when that eyelet broke. I manually bent that back until it was perpendicular again to what it should be.

Thanks for the tips. If that cylinder has to be replaced, I'm taking it to my local shop that's treated me well. It's such a small space to get to that cylinder assembly, and you basically have to lie on your back and contort yourself. There'd be too much swearing and such for me to get in there, and with my luck parts would go to the four winds as you said.

I'll take pics when the new part comes in and post when the fix happens (and works...).

[Broncojohnny]

The 2005 cars had a lot of problems. They would also leak water into the cowl panel and it would leak down and ruin the computers.

[GhostTX]

The 2005 cars had a lot of problems. They would also leak water into the cowl panel and it would leak down and ruin the computers.

Never had that with mine. IIRC, it's because when left outside all the time, debris would cause the drains to clog. Mine always goes to bed in the barn.

[GhostTX]

Got it and installed. Seems to be working ok for now. After a dab of non-permanent Locktite, I opted to put the set screw down so it'd be easier to tighten, replace (if it loosens up), and for someone to see if a someone else has to mess with it.

Old vs New Part


The two shafts. Note the retaining clip on the left:


Installed. The retaining clip took 10x longer for me to install than the "fix" part itself. Such a cramped area, I had trouble getting leverage to put the clip back on.


Pic of my hand, to show the working space: