Signs of a stretched clutch cable?

[TIGGER]

The clutch went out on my car a month ago. I am going to tear it down this weekend. I am pretty sure the pressure plate failed. My question is how can I check to see if my clutch cable is stretched? The reason I ask is that for the past 5 years or so there has been about 1-1.5" of slop in the upper portion of the pedal. The pedal would never spring all the way up unless you helped it. On top of that the clutch was very stiff, especially at the end. My car has a 2.3L, are the clutch cables still available?

 

[Blue coyote]

I've been told that the clutch cable for the II is still produced and available at most parts stores. Can't hurt to check, and if its cheap enough, it might be worth replacing even if it appears okay....

 

[1badII]

New clutch cables are still produced. I replaced mine last September. Just broke that one, too.

 

[TIGGER]

About what did the new cable cost?

 

[LedZ 5.0]

In my area a new cable is $65.00 at Advance Auto.

 

[IICrazy]

I paid $90.00 at Napa

 

[1badII]

$65 at Carquest.

 

[TIGGER]

Thanks for the input. I took a look at my car yesterday and I noticed that the clutch pedal has slipped half way off the pivot shaft. The E-clip poped off and was hanging on the carpet edge. I bet with the pedal in this position, I am not engaging the clutch enough. I will get the pedal back to where is should be and give it a try before I rip the transmission out. Hopefully it cures my problem.

 

[a351Must2]

The clutch cable also has about 3" worth of adjustment available...I'd be surprised if it stretched too far to be corrected by adjusting, without breaking.

 

[TIGGER]

OK, I have a question for you guys. Lets say I position the pedal correctly on the pivot shaft and the clutch works as before. Before this happened, the clutch was adjusted to grab fairly low. What would cause the pedal slop up top?

 

[Mstng2]

Make sure you check the tab at the top of the pedal where the cable hooks to the pedal. The tab can bend over time and act like a bad cable. Eventually breaking so you lose your clutch. This happened on my 74 and I pulled the tranny in sub 0 temp only to find a perfectly good clutch! DOH!!!! The tab can be decieving too, looking good but actually bending. Good Luck!