[catangel]

Hi fellow new Cmax owners.We got our new car on mobility from local fords on 15th June.My hubby is 50 ,new driver.First day we got her,drove from showroom ,1 minute later smoke bellowing out of bonnet ,and oh what a stink,pushed back into ford dealers and told let it cool down.they took her for a test drive said she was ok! hardly any problems at all since untill 13th august2007, stuck in jam on a hill ,same horrible smell and engine warning light comes on!RAC send a pickup out ,in the garage now waiting to be looked at on 15th.Ford told my hubby hes knackered the clutch WHAT!! hes a very good driver not a boy racer!! They wont give us a courtesy car cos hes a new driver and they told us he may have to pay the repair if its driver error!! Everyone we tell who drives is shocked at this They all say that you would have to hammer the clutch for years to mess up Help! what do you guys out there think! maybe its going to turn out to be a fault with the C-max will keep you posted!We have found the car to be really smooth comfy ride and easy for me to get in and out cos im disabled with M.E. Bright Blessings x

 

[gompertz]

Hi

I wonder if you can please tell us what the outcome of your clutch problem with Ford was.DidFord pay for a new clutch? Did the smell ever happen again with a new clutch?We have a new c-max and when using the clutch up a hill we are getting a horrible accrid smell too. The dealers we bought from have passed our problem to Ford who are refusing to replace the clutch. Would be very interested to hear how your clutch problem was resolved please.

 

[lazyb]

This probably wont help but in my old megane scenic i reversed for 300 yards with a caravan on the back and i had to slip the clutch a little bit, got the same horrible burning smell, car did another 45000 miles before i sold it and was ok. Have read some reports of problems with dual mass flywheels not sure if cmaxs have them.

 

[Topman]

Hi everyone

I had a similar problem this week Was in nose to tail traffic for about an hourwhen a fishy/ rubber smell became obvious almosttoo bad to bear Have taken it back to the ford dealerfrom where I bought only 2 months ago -1 yr old and only 5kon the clock Apparentlythey have had a few cases of this in the past and the problem stems from the removal of asbestosby Fords ?

Also despite the age and mileage of the carthey think it is unlikely that fords will agree to warranty workas it will be classed as wear and tear!! I have driven for over 36 years in many different cars both private and company and I do not ride the clutch and will not be interested in paying £400to correctso if the problem does not susbside or indeed is repeated I anticipatea long paper chase with Fordsand or local garage which I hope it does come to!
Anyone got any update of this type of situation I do not have intention in sitting in carwith a smell or perhaps I should only drive it when there is light traffic round!!!!!

 

[gompertz]

We have got nowhere with our Ford dealer we bought our car from. They passed our complaint onto Ford who have refused to take responsibility for the clutch problem. We have asked Ford to write to us, which they have not yet. We are still waiting for an answer from Ford. Would be interested if you get anywhere with your complaint Topman. We still have the awful smell very regularly.

 

[Topman]

Just a bit of an update - have checked with friendof mine - he had a similarproblemwith a top of the range Saab a few years ago and had to learn to live with it

My smellappears tohave disappeared for the most part - dealership foreman has confirmedthat the clutch operation is sound enoughso looks like I will have to do two things:

Stock up with grossload of air freshners and or only drive on roads with no stop start ! (joke ) can we not as aforum make representations to Fords centrally- because this seems to be an R and Dproblem !

 

[catangel]

Hi all,Not been online for a while,had a reminder that i got new posts regarding our old mutual friend,or should that be ENEMY<Mr Cmax Clutch!
We did get the whole clutch replaced by Ford, but that could be cos we got a motability car plus the fact it was brand new car!Since then,with advice from a ford mechanic,my hubby has changed driving style a teeny bit and now uses hand brake more often,when in uphill line of traffic,it does mean he continuously has to do hill starts if its busy,which is a pain!Still when waiting on a steep junction holding car with clutch even very very short moment it does start to stink!!Should we really have to be learning new ways of driving to cure,what is obvious now FORDS problem!!!So peeps,lets all rally together and show FORD all these emails ,(wonder if they read this) and get them to sort it all out once and for all.One of you made an interesting point about the cause being something to do with ASBESTOS removal,WHAT!! EY!! Please elaborate,sorry forgot your name.Anyone reading this please feel free to join in clutch scandal!!Joking aside this is a serious matter.Noone we know who drives has this problem with their car as long as its not a cmax!! Was it a faulty batch? was it 2007 models etd etc etc!! bright blessings catangel x

 

[Topman]

The basic point here is apart from possibly one or two situations - Fords cannot argue that the majority of c max owners who may havethis problemare ALL 'poor' drivers

Without sounding pompous I have driven overtwenty vehicles both companyand private over 36 years and have NEVER hada clutch 'burn out' problem !!!

If in my case the clutch is 'mechanically' still soundthen the smell factor should NOT be an issue - it must be down topoor productdesign / manufacture

I ama C Max owner of only two months bought from a ford dealer the caris approx15 months old with 7k on the clockI am not goingto accept the wear and tearget out clausethat Fords could possibly pull

Currently awaiting a discussion with the local dealerfrom which I purchased it to agree way forward

 

[Topman]

Hi

I flaggedup the clutch smell / clutch replacement issue both verbally and then in a two page letterwiththe ford dealerthat Iboughtthe car from only some two monthsago (5kon clockand just over1 yr old) They have telephoned today to say that a new clutch and parts have been orderedand will be fitted at no charge over the next week or so

They have recognised that despitewhat'wear and tear'clause might be in the Fords warrranty this should not happen to a car of this age and mileage At this stagethey are willing to do the work for me even though they are unsure about whether they will be able to reclaim from Fords

I have to say that my relationship with the dealership is very good and we did buyanother car fromthem (ford diesel fiesta) some monthsbeforebuying the c maxOverallwe are very happy with both cars somaybe thishad some bearing on their very helpful response

 

[Hi Bri]

My C Max clutch has recently been replaced after 4.500 miles and 9 months use. Replacement clutch stinks inside car when used uphill or traffic queues. I have owned and driven very many cars over 50 years without ever having similar clutch problems. Dealer suggests short motorway journey with windows open to get rid of smell!!

 

[Topman]

Thats clearly not acceptable as mentioned in my previous postsMy C Max is going in this weekso hoping that the new clutchdoes not present similar problems!If it does then given issues experienced by other ownersFords will need to look at this situationcentrallyand put in right!There isa design or batch problem!