A little Annoyed! - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

Bass Crazy · 09-17-2003, 23:51

Hey guys.

Today I noticed a weird noise coming from the EA's clutch pedal.

I had a look under, and surprise surprise, the fire wall has started to collapse. It not serious yet, but im sure it will become an issue if I don't fix it.

I was well aware of this being an issue with the EA's, however, I have only had the manual in my car for about 10,00k's. I was under the impression that the firewall would last quite a while longer especially since I only use a standard clutch.

By the looks of things Ill need to take out the Brake booster (probably rebuild while out) to get to the area properly as the Ghia has a heap of sound deadening in the area.

Has anyone got any pics of their re-enforcements?
I'm trying to decide between wielding on a steel plate onto the firewall, or mounting a bracket from the pedal box.

Any tips would be great.

Simon.

EBXR · 09-17-2003, 23:58

didn't this happen to ea/eb manual cars from new?? I thought there was a dealer installed patch to get around it. Maybe check with a dealer??

galapogos01 · 09-18-2003, 00:12

hey sime

bad news. i thought itd last a lot longer too!! maybe once they do crack they last a while before completely giving way...?

anyway, id try to get something under the pedal box - even if its harder, at least your engine bay wont look modified at all, and the mod will be as good as invisible.

hope you get it sorted easily.

Jase

Bass Crazy · 09-18-2003, 00:21

Hey guys,

I already checked with Ford, the person I spoke to told me that they made support plates for XD-F, but not EA onward. They suggested I get it wielded.

Jase, if I do end up wielding it the sound deadener will cover it all.. but im still thinking a bracket on the pedal box might be good as well.

ahh.. I dunno, think its time I bought a mig.

Simon.

XMcoupe · 09-18-2003, 00:28

thats common in EA's. ill talk to a mate that has had the same prob. and get back 2 u

gm dstroya · 09-18-2003, 01:31

sorry to hear simon, it's a common problem with the ea-ed cars.

i'll be welding a 3mm thick plate onto the the area of the clutch cable hole on my ea before i get the bay sprayed.

cheers.joe.

NZ · 09-18-2003, 01:36

Hey simon, Ill get pics of my pedel box as we've modified it so it'll never ever crack the firewall. It looks like a bit of an overkill but hey may as well do it right the first time.

ea_39_s · 09-18-2003, 02:07

i bought the XD-XE plate its a crappy piece of metal for $42.50 from the ford dealer.. yeah i could've had one made up but i just want the prob rectified quick... I called the local welding place and they said $150-200 to weld the plate take the booster off etc again i could've done this but i don't have the time... let alone equipment... my car was at about 153,000kms when i started hearing the noise in the clutch... the guys at the welding place said they've welded about 7 E-series fords there at least using the same plate...the part is XCsomething...hope this helps i'll let you guys know how it goes!

Evil Roy · 09-18-2003, 02:42

A bit of trivia:

That was also a problem with the P-76s. The clutch pivot post would rip away from the underbody. Nasty.

Nice cars though - I'd still like to get another one.

gmanEA · 09-18-2003, 02:45

I had my firewall reinforced and no problems since.
Its a common thing to happen so im sure plenty of places have done it before, if you want a number of place that did mine pm me.