Cracked a pressure plate on my Ford Ranger after a shop said 'it'll hold'

Last Tuesday I was pulling a small trailer up a hill near Asheville and the clutch pedal went straight to the floor. Turns out the mechanic who rebuilt my transmission skipped torquing three bolts. Anyone else had a shop cut corners like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_kim7d ago

Is it possible that you're over-torquing those bolts yourself and that's what caused the issue in the first place? I mean, most shops have a good reason for doing things a certain way, even if it doesn't seem like it at first. Maybe the mechanic figured the clutch would be fine for light duty stuff and just didn't think your Ranger needed that much extra stress.

xena_rivera637d ago

Over-torquing those bolts? Come on. A torque wrench is a torque wrench, and most shops these days use air guns set way too high. That's where the real problems start. I've seen mechanics just zapping bolts on without even checking the spec, especially on older trucks like a Ranger where they figure "close enough." The clutch issue sounds like it could be a bad pressure plate or a throwout bearing that was already on its way out, not because someone followed the manual.

the_lucas4d ago

Wait. The shop said three bolts weren't torqued at all? Like they just left them loose? That's insane. I've had some sketchy mechanic work before but that's next level dangerous. A pressure plate flying apart at speed could have punched through the bell housing. Hope you went back and read them the riot act over that one.