Is my clutch about to go?

[ryanman123]

Hi all,

I bought my Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi under a year ago from Carcraft (July - I know but I was desperate for a car). It's been running fine with no problems, I let my mate have a little drive and he asked me why my clutch was so high - bearing in mind I know very little about cars. The clutch is very high indeed come to think about it, it's almost at the very top. I'm guessing this means it's about to go? If so how long do you think I'll have left on it? It's going in for it's MOT in April so if it needs replacing I'm hoping it'll hold so I can get everything done in more or less one go.
I don't have any trouble with it when driving and it's been like this even since I bought it. I've been looking on forums and some have said they it could be because it’s a new(ish) car and new cars tend to have higher clutches, but I'm not sure. What are you opinions?
Thanks in advance.

Oh it's only just done over 40K (32K when I bought it)

[Howard-]

If the bite point is quite high in the pedal travel then it's probably quite worn, but until it starts slipping I wouldn't worry about it.

[alangla]

I used to run a 2.0TDCi with similar mileage, I thought mine bit pretty high up the clutch travel, but I always put it down to it being a hydraulic clutch rather than a cable. Never slipped on me & it was easy enough to hold at/around the bite point if you were doing super-slow manoeuvres. As others have said, I wouldn't worry until it actually starts slipping.

[Spoonman]

The clutch in my sister's 10-plate Focus is exactly the same. I thought it was on its last legs, but it's been fine for a couple of years - and I'm sure she'd be able to kill a brand new clutch in that time...

[Dr Jekyll]

Unless you're doing something very demanding the clutch should be OK for 140,000 miles never mind 40,000.

[Howard-]

Dr Jekyll said:

Unless you're doing something very demanding the clutch should be OK for 140,000 miles never mind 40,000.

Never underestimate the mechanically-murderous prowess of a driver with zero mechanical sympathy. My other half's previous car which she owned from new had a clutch which was worn out (to the point of slipping if you apply more than about 50% throttle) by about 60k miles. This was a car with a 1.4L 8v engine which had about as much torque as a food mixer.

[Ron240]

ryanman123 said:

I've been looking on forums and some have said they it could be because it’s a new(ish) car and new cars tend to have higher clutches

I wouldnt agree with that at all.
I am on my second brand new Focus in a row. The first was fairly low down and my current one is slightly lower again which had me nearly stalling a few times until i quickly got used to it.
I have experienced(but not owned)cars with clutches that have high biting points and find them awkward to drive....can make an experienced driver seem like a novice.

[focusxr5]

There are few people with less mechanical sympathy than Police Panda drivers (standard response ones, not traffic/armed response etc). For years when I was on response we used mk2 focus 1.6 tdci' s only 90 bhp. They were subject to some horrific abuse and I don't recall any one of them ever having a clutch let go. And they were driven stupidly hard for every one of their 250k miles.

ETA - I think they all had high biting points from very early on. Maybe just a Focus trait.