new 2006 FORD GT owner.... having problems with car please help!

[360vue]

Hi everyone.... in the last 3 months I have had some problems with the car. first check engine light came on, so I took it to one of my mechanics that work for my car dealership ( he does not specialize in this car but has been a master tech for 15 years) he found a passenger VALVE COVER LEAK & VACUUM LEAK and replaced both parts (everything was working perfect again). then 2 weeks later found a big puddle of oil under the car so had it towed to mechanic again, found LEFT REAR AXLE COUPLE SNAPPED BOLTS OFF IN OUTPUTSHAFT.... ( replaced and fixed it based on recommendation's I found on the forum) everything was good again.

I then decided to drive the car to Las Vegas across the desert during the day temp was about 110 outside, half way there clutch got stuck to the floor and would not come up. I pulled over and let it cool down for about a hour and a half and clutch seemed to be working good again... HAS ANYONE HAD PROBLEMS WITH THEIR CLUTCHES GETTING HOT ?.... So I finished the drive to Vegas and left the car in underground parking till I headed home. I drove home at night and had no problems the whole 350 miles home. then a couple weeks later I decided to do a mountain run with a couple of my friends & there cars, again during the trip up I had to pull over because clutch pedal got real spongy and was getting stuck to floor again temp was around 88 outside. then after about a hour we headed back down and it started to do the same thing, so I put car in nuteral and costed down the parts that I could and this kept clutch feeling more firm and not getting spongy. Clutch feels off now but it still grabs good, so my tech says to wait till it goes out to replace... does anyone have any experience with this? We did complete fluid flush on clutch, brakes, coolant, oil & filter still having problem with clutch pedal getting stuck to floor if system gets too hot.

Boost gauge quit working, a couple weeks later oil pressure gauge quit working. now speedo just bounces up and down and does not keep accurate speed... now just today went to a car meet and odometer went black after I started the car so I turned it off and turned key to on position waited 45 seconds then started car and odo worked again... I'm getting ready to replace the gauges with the speed hut ones unless anyone else has any other ideas?

I know it is a lot, thank you for taking the time to read and for any advice or help you can offer!

 

[fjpikul]

Your clutch is fine. Changed the fluid and make sure you bleed the system in both places (mid firewall and down low, back, passenger side). You need to change the coolant and make sure you get all the air out of the system. They have devices for this. A search can be your friend. For the gauges, either your ground is bad or your battery is facing. All of these are well known maintenance problems well documented on this forum.

 

[fjpikul]

Oh yes, better get your airbags replaced.

 

[360vue]

Oh yes, better get your airbags replaced.

thank you for your response, just sent everything you said to my tech asking if he did it all that way. I will post his response!

 

[nota4re]

Sorry to hear about the issues you are having. Please note that generally speaking, the GTs are just deadnuts reliable with just a couple of exceptions - both of which you have unfortunately experienced.. Let's have a look at some of the problems you've had/are having.

1. The axle bolt replacement upgrade MUST be done to ALL GTs. Both sides need to be updated. Sorry you found out the hard way.

2. The gauges are the other known weakness. Replacement for all of the smaller gauges are readily available (and they won't fail again) and we can repair the Tach and Speedo. The other alternative, as you mentioned, is to go with a whole Speedhut panel.

3. Your "clutch" issue is both unique and interesting. My thinking is that something is causing your clutch fluid to boil - creating air in the hydraulic clutch system. My first questions would be around the fluids that were used. What gear oil is in the transaxle - and is the transaxle completely full? What type of brake fluid was used when the clutch fluid was changed/bled? Finally, what exhaust system is on the car? Is everything shielded properly and no exhaust leaks? The only other cause of excessive heat can be a clutch that is slipping.... but it is kind of hard to think of a slipping clutch on the way to Vegas - and which otherwise is not obvious. Can you make the clutch slip? In a safe area, I would drive the car in 3rd gear at about 3000 rpm, and then floor it. Do speeds and RPMs rise linearly or do RPMs jump way up?

Anyway, if you're in or near SoCal, we'd be happy to have a look and help you to diagnose what's happening.

 

[360vue]

Sorry to hear about the issues you are having. Please note that generally speaking, the GTs are just deadnuts reliable with just a couple of exceptions - both of which you have unfortunately experienced.. Let's have a look at some of the problems you've had/are having.

1. The axle bolt replacement upgrade MUST be done to ALL GTs. Both sides need to be updated. Sorry you found out the hard way.

2. The gauges are the other known weakness. Replacement for all of the smaller gauges are readily available (and they won't fail again) and we can repair the Tach and Speedo. The other alternative, as you mentioned, is to go with a whole Speedhut panel.

3. Your "clutch" issue is both unique and interesting. My thinking is that something is causing your clutch fluid to boil - creating air in the hydraulic clutch system. My first questions would be around the fluids that were used. What gear oil is in the transaxle - and is the transaxle completely full? What type of brake fluid was used when the clutch fluid was changed/bled? Finally, what exhaust system is on the car? Is everything shielded properly and no exhaust leaks? The only other cause of excessive heat can be a clutch that is slipping.... but it is kind of hard to think of a slipping clutch on the way to Vegas - and which otherwise is not obvious. Can you make the clutch slip? In a safe area, I would drive the car in 3rd gear at about 3000 rpm, and then floor it. Do speeds and RPMs rise linearly or do RPMs jump way up?

Anyway, if you're in or near SoCal, we'd be happy to have a look and help you to diagnose what's happening.

thank you for your response! yes I'm in the orange county area were are you located and what is your name ? its funny you mention the exhaust because I totally forgot to mention that my hole muffler became clogged some how and blew a hole in the side of my stock muffler. So I took it to a friend that does performance exhaust systems all pipes are heat wrapped and I don't think I have any exhaust leaks but now that I think about it this problem did start after I had the system put on..... will need to have this looked at...

 

[Specracer]

As mentioned, I would not worry one bit about the clutch until you fully flush the system and upgrade to a high performance fluid like Motul etc. This chart is a good reference of the wet dry boiling points for the different high end fluids:

Racing Brake Fluid - Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies

Our comprehensive selection of racing brake fluid covers a broad range of motorsport applications, from Formula Ford to IndyCar!

www.pegasusautoracing.com

Sounds like you have a low mile car, that really has not been driven prior to your ownership. You have, in a short period of time, experienced all of the very well known issues, that once addressed, will give you the rock solid car that we all enjoy for thousands of miles. Actually there are a few members here with over 100k miles.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Joe Dozzo]

I'd go with the gauge solution suggested by Kendall / nota4re. Some may use and like the Speedhuts but they are not without their own flaws - the Speedhut speedometer that was in my car when I bought it read wrong and eventually quit - while I was driving the car to Alaska.

 

[360vue]

As mentioned, I would not worry one bit about the clutch until you fully flush the system and upgrade to a high performance fluid like Motul etc. This chart is a good reference of the wet dry boiling points for the different high end fluids:

Racing Brake Fluid - Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies

Our comprehensive selection of racing brake fluid covers a broad range of motorsport applications, from Formula Ford to IndyCar!

www.pegasusautoracing.com

Sounds like you have a low mile car, that really has not been driven prior to your ownership. You have, in a short period of time, experienced all of the very well known issues, that once addressed, will give you the rock solid car that we all enjoy for thousands of miles. Actually there are a few members here with over 100k miles.

Welcome to the forum.

thank you.... you are correct only had 4k miles on it when I got it, spent most of its life in a temp controlled room before I got it!

 

[AJB]

These cars need to be driven.. Most calls I receive from friends or 'friends of friends' asking for my advice who are having MAJOR issues with their vehicles, are with low mileage cars. In many cases they have spend $thousands of $$ trying to repair and the cars are no longer pristine.
Those who have purchased cars with ODO readings of 6 miles , 10 miles, 54 miles (all 'in the wrapper cars" ) or less that 4000 to 5000 miles are the most vulnerable.
My recommendation always is
1. buy a car that has been driven, maintained and... has at least 5000 ODO miles.
2. If you want an untouched or undriven "in the wrapper " low mileage car DO NOT DRIVE IT UNTIL IS GOES TO GTGuy Rich, or Kendall Cool Tech or one of our certified Ford Dealers (like Milliken Ford Techs) for a complete overhaul, fluids, recall, 1/2 shaft, control arm ''ON AND ON'' verification. Also , just because it is a BIG Ford Dealership does NOT mean they know how to competently do all of this...
andy (ajb)

 

[nautoncall]

You are near Kendall. Take it to him and let him sort it out. It will save a lot of headache and money in the long run. I personally like the OEM gauges too.

 

[2112]

As mentioned, I would not worry one bit about the clutch until you fully flush the system and upgrade to a high performance fluid like Motul etc. This chart is a good reference of the wet dry boiling points for the different high end fluids:

Racing Brake Fluid - Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies

Our comprehensive selection of racing brake fluid covers a broad range of motorsport applications, from Formula Ford to IndyCar!

www.pegasusautoracing.com

.

.
Is there any reason not to use Castrol SRF with the highest wet boiling point?
.

 

[Specracer]

Well thats whats in my car currently, so I would say no. BUT, my understanding is that SRF is no longer available.

Is there any reason not to use Castrol SRF with the highest wet boiling point?

 

[HighHP]

Bought my car 6 months ago. Brake fluid looked good, clutch fluid terrible. I flushed clutch fluid until clean at bleed screw by the bell housing. The line from the bleed screw to the throw brg and the throw brg it self does not get flushed. Drove the car a couple months and flushed again, hoping the fluid in the last bit of line would disperse and mix with the clean fluid. The initial fluid did come out dark again. Have not done this yet a third time. I assume if you do this enough times, the fluid in the last bit of line and throw brg will disperse with the clean fluid and get flushed also. Maybe, it is this last bit of line giving you trouble, try flushing again. Below is a link describing what happens with dirty moisture laden fluid. Same as you describe. Of course, hot exhaust from ??? mentioned above would cause this as well.

Why Has Your Brake Fluid Turned Brown?

If you've looked under your bonnet, then you may have noticed a change in your brake fluid. Learn what brown brake fluid means and what to do about it.

www.stopmasterbrakes.com.au

 

[CanadaGT]

These are minor irritations, imo, Once car is sorted out you will enjoy it. Sorry to hear about all the issues. These are great cars and I have seat time of approx. 90,000 miles. 80K in one car.

 

[06fordgt]

Canada GT great advise here on the forum .
SInce you are in Canada but far away from the best mechanics for the Fords GTs here in Toronto it might be a bit difficult. However I would reach out to Bart or Mike Hocking at Polito Ford in Lindsay Ontario. They are the experts in Canada. They have sold most of the GTs here and also own both 05/06 GTs and NFGT as well. In addition he has his own race teams that races both old and new GT 350s. Great guys and always willing to help.
705 328 3673

 

[Indy GT]

360vue I echo what Dr. Frank and Andy (specracer) have opined. The clutch issue is a known problem with old brake fluid. Surfaced during Rally 2 (2007) when a number of owners had to open the clam shell during our lunch at the top of the mountain drive and let the fluid cool. Easy fix is to flush the clutch circuit with new fluid. In fact, flush and refill the brake lines as well with new fluid since the car has not been driven much in the intervening years. DOT3 is fine. ALL ford development testing on the 05-06 was done using the standard Motorcraft DOT3 fluid and it works fine. Talk to Kendal as he certainly knows how to provide this service.

Sure you can use Castrol SRF if you want to pay the exorbitant price and if you can still get the fluid as Andy suggests. But the plane-jane Motorcraft fluid is perfectly fine and inexpensive as well. Perhaps change annually. Or if you must you can use Motul RBF 600 (DOT4) if you want to spend a bit more than the Motorcraft fluid and get a higher wet-boiling point capability. Still suggest changing annually.