The engine of your car is sophisticated, it is not always easy to understand all the symptoms it sends us. Nevertheless, it is totally important to try to stay on alert for the slightest indicator of weakness in your car to limit the risk of serious problems. If you have the impression that your clutch is slipping on your Ford Ka, you’re right to have started researching. It’s a defect that must be taken into account as soon as possible, otherwise you could end up with an unusable car. To help you in your way our team has chose to prepare this guide which should allow you to see more clearly and make the right choice to avoid aggravating the issue and make sure that it is indeed the trouble you are victim of. To do this, we will first have a look at what a slipping clutch on Ford Ka is and how to verify that this is what is occurring to you, and then, what measures can be taken to correct the issue.

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What is slipping clutch on Ford Ka and how to detect it?

A Ford Ka with a clutch that slips

The clutch of your Ford Ka is the part that allows your automobile to shift gears. It is located between your gearbox and your engine. It is the part that comes into contact with the flywheel which is located on the engine side and which will collect the power transmitted by the clutch. With wear, the clutch of your Ford Ka slips because it is made up of notches that engage in the flywheel, and with wear and friction it wears out. It is said that the clutch slips when its teeth are too worn for it to engage on the flywheel.

How to detect clutch slipping on an Ford Ka?

There are many solutions to identify that the clutch of your Ford Ka is slipping. You can carry out all of these checks yourself.
You can simply identify that your clutch slips when you accelerate and your engine revs up, but your car does not speed up, you may as well encounter a burning smell.
To verify the first observation, you can stop, pull the hand brake, engage the first gear, accelerate moderately by releasing the clutch of your car gently, if it turns out your engine motor rises in revs but the Ford Ka is still stationary it is the indicator of a dead clutch.
Finally, you can put yourself, still in third gear, with the handbrake on, and by releasing it, your car should stall, if not, your clutch is almost certainly dead.

What should I do if my clutch slips on my Ford Ka?

Limit the wear of your Ford Ka clutch

We will at this point give you some ideas to limit the wear of your clutch and avoid your clutch slipping on your Ford Ka. Firstly, it is wise not to leave your foot on the clutch pedal, even if the pressure you apply is very light you will pre wear the clutch release bearing which will sooner or later end up in a total change of the clutch kit. Another point not to be omitted, do not over-accelerate when you start your car, your acceleration must constantly be adapted to the velocity of your engine motor. In the event you are at a standstill accelerate slowly, if you are at medium speed accelerate gradually when you release the clutch pedal of your car so as not to make it slip against your engine flywheel.

Replacing your Ford Ka clutch

Finally, in this last part, we will discuss the repair part. In circumstance the clutch of your Ford Ka is useless, you might be stuck at a standstill and have no other choice than to phone the tow truck, because a dead clutch no longer allows the transmission to transmit power to the wheels. If this is the circumstance, be aware that you will have to change the complete clutch kit, this repair needs quite a few hours of work and is approximated to cost between 500 and 1200 euros according to the engine and the workshop.

Whenever you have any additional questions about the Ford Ka, do not hesitate to consult our Ford Ka category.