Judder problem

[jjtj]

Hi Hoping someone with experience of Ford Galaxy diesels can help. My car is late 2010, (facelift), 2.0 TDCI with 30k miles. It has been with numerous garages. Has had new Flywheel & clutch kit (Ford Dealer, "who left it in an awful state on return to me"), + realignment of all mountings. I have also tried adding a "FORTE" fuel injection cleaner to the tank.

The problem is - when stone cold there is a judder when letting the clutch out, sometimes it is like a slight skip, sometimes a full violent judder, especially when hasily leaving a junction(not wheel spin) . This gets better as it warms up and eventually goes away. When the engine is warmed up and car is stationary, in neutral, there is a rough tremor only at 1500 RPM.

Any Help would be much appreciated.

[insanitybeard]

Was the hydraulic slave cylinder replaced at the same time as the clutch & flywheel? I'm assuming you had the replacement clutch and flywheel fitted in order to try to correct this problem and it's made no difference?

[jjtj]

  i am told the clutch kit & flywheel was all replaced. This was under warranty at 20K, and i did not receive a receipt of the work done. Afterwards i checked the car and found a catalogue of mistakes including wiring looms hanging due to broken clips, loose pipes, screws missing, cowls broken, screws & clips missing from undertray, bell housing bolts chewed ( All this from Ford Dealership!). I was able to see the new flywheel from underneath, but i don't know any more. When driving the car in 4th gear the tremor at 1500RPM makes the car judder slightly, (this is when the clutch is full out & not in use).  What would make this roughness at a specific part (1500RPM) of the rev range?

[Mirez]

That sounds more like it could be an imbalance in the detonation rather then a rotational problem. Letting the clutch out will amplify any issue with the engine's power as you put it under load so it could be a red herring. Did the injector cleaner make any difference? I would be inclined to start looking at the injectors and the fuel supply, when was the filter last changed? Diesel fuel filters are much more critical then petrol ones as they also have water vapour traps in them.

[gregers]

   jj 

[insanitybeard]

When was the clutch/ flywheel renewed? Being that the vehicle is 5 years old now it must have been out of Ford warranty for a while, plus clutches and items classed as service/ wear items aren't usually covered anyway unless a specific fault can be attributed to them. If whoever replaced the clutch made as much of a mess as you say can you really trust them a) to have fitted it properly and b) to have used genuine parts (you can discount this point if it was replaced under the Ford manufacturers warranty as they would have had to use genuine parts for the claim to be paid)? If it was fitted under an 'aftermarket' warranty then they would have probably done the job as quickly and cheaply as possible.

Did you drive the vehicle before the 'new' clutch was fitted to compare if it made any difference at all? Have you got a vehicle warranty history printout either from ETIS or a Ford dealer stating that the work was actually done? Without this info, somebody could simply be trying to pull the wool over your eyes.