96 cobra clutch clutch issue

89blkntch · Jun 4, 2008

Car is a 96 cobra. Has 55902 miles on it. Low milage car. Got some MT tires and put them on, well 8 pounds of boost and a t-45 don't agree. Needless to say, pulled the tranny and had it rebuilt. Pulled the flywheel and had it turned at Orielly's auto parts and got a new ford racing cluth from jegs, and inst it. Issue now is that when the car is off, you can put the car into gear and everything. Put the car in nuetral and start it and it runs makes to noise besides the blower whistle and the exhaust. Go to put the car into gear and it does not want to go in. clutch pedal is depressed for those who want to know. Turn the car off and put it into gear go to start it a it lunges foreward. everytime the starter turns over. I am gona say that the clutch is engaged at all times. When you look through the inspection cover, when the pedal is depressed you see the fork push against the bearing and move the pressure plate fingers. I have tried to adjust the clucth cable by pulling up on the pedal and there is no click or anything. I dunno what to do now. The clutch is in the right way the fork is on the pivot ball and the bearing is in the fingers on the back side. CHIME IN PLEASE GETTING FRUSTRATED!!!!!!!!!!!
Any info you need just ask.

BobHyatt · Jun 4, 2008

Is the clutch adjusted correctly? Sounds like it might be dragging which will prevent shifting out of neutral with the motor running. If you have a manual clutch adjustment, the release fork should just offer resistance with the pedal released. You should be able to grab the cable end, and the release level, and find just a bit of play. If it is too loose, then you can't disengage the clutch...

ShortThrow50 · Jun 4, 2008

you can only have one problem and that is that your clutch cable needs to be adjusted. your clutch isnt fully disengaging so you need to get an aftermarket fw adjuster and adjusted it till the cable is sort of snug. the TOB CAN touch the pressure plate some will argue with me but all stangs with the adjustable pedal bs forces this.

SVT32VDOHC · Jun 5, 2008

Getting and adjustable cable to fix a problem like that is like putting band-aid on a bullet wound. The clutch isn't fully disengaging. That's a problem. The clutch should disengage with a factory standard cable.

I just went through this in my 81 notch that I put the 2001 4.6L 2V engine and T45 transmission into. It would lunge forward if you start it in gear, and it was stiff to shift.

I bought a new clutch kit, installed it, and the problem is gone. The clutch was shot, even though it didn't slip. Buy a new kit, and you'll be fine.

BTW...I have put up with this problem in my 96 Cobra since 2004. It just isn't as bad, so I still drive it.

89blkntch · Jun 5, 2008

No bandaide here. I took of the lower cover under the dash on the drives side to try to get to the adjustangle quad under the dash. had to call a little friend over to crawl under there to release the braket. It was fully adjusted to the rear and had to much slack on the itself. Got it tight and now WOW. What a diff that it makes. It feels good and makes no noise. It does good in 1 & 2 gears but when you get into 3 and start to go once you give it some gas (just a little get up and go) it will slip just a little. Then on to 4 and 5 at the higher rpms when you put the gas down 3/4 the way down it slips to. It is a Ford Racing 10.5 cluth kit. If anyone has this clutch how many miles does it do this for/ or is will it go away. Does it need any more adjustment? Any input would be nice. Thnx in advance.

BobHyatt · Jun 5, 2008

89blkntch said:
No bandaide here. I took of the lower cover under the dash on the drives side to try to get to the adjustangle quad under the dash. had to call a little friend over to crawl under there to release the braket. It was fully adjusted to the rear and had to much slack on the itself. Got it tight and now WOW. What a diff that it makes. It feels good and makes no noise. It does good in 1 & 2 gears but when you get into 3 and start to go once you give it some gas (just a little get up and go) it will slip just a little. Then on to 4 and 5 at the higher rpms when you put the gas down 3/4 the way down it slips to. It is a Ford Racing 10.5 cluth kit. If anyone has this clutch how many miles does it do this for/ or is will it go away. Does it need any more adjustment? Any input would be nice. Thnx in advance.

Basically the self-adjusting quadrant sucks. But it should adjust the clutch reasonably. Crawl under the car on ramps, remove the release fork cover, and see how tight things are. You should be able to push the release fork forward just a bit with minimal hand pressure. If it is very stiff, the cable is too tight. And that will most definitely cause slipping. Otherwise, time for a new clutch.

tboshearz · Jun 5, 2008

BobHyatt said:
Basically the self-adjusting quadrant sucks. But it should adjust the clutch reasonably. Crawl under the car on ramps, remove the release fork cover, and see how tight things are. You should be able to push the release fork forward just a bit with minimal hand pressure. If it is very stiff, the cable is too tight. And that will most definitely cause slipping. Otherwise, time for a new clutch.

I'm the owner of the cobra in question... I didn't think it should be slipping.. good thing he asked, haha.

It's a brand new clutch, so i'm assuming it's just needing a little adjustment? I guess it's time to call the small people back over to help us big lugs out.

Thanks for all the quick help guys, you guys were spot on without even seeing the car, this forum is really great about that.

BobHyatt · Jun 6, 2008

tboshearz said:
I'm the owner of the cobra in question... I didn't think it should be slipping.. good thing he asked, haha.

It's a brand new clutch, so i'm assuming it's just needing a little adjustment? I guess it's time to call the small people back over to help us big lugs out.

Thanks for all the quick help guys, you guys were spot on without even seeing the car, this forum is really great about that.

It is not that hard to screw up a new clutch install. Just gob on a bunch of grease on the transmission input shaft to lube the clutch disk as it slides, and that grease will sling off and onto the clutch or pressure plate / flywheel and you are done with that clutch...

You also need to clean the anti-rust off the pressure plate (as per instructions) before installation or once again, you get to do it all over again.

tboshearz · Jun 7, 2008

hmm.. is there a reason why it would be slipping in higher gears but not the lower gears?

Also, what would consider working a clutch in? Should I keep it under a certain RPM or when am I free to test it out fully?

BobHyatt · Jun 7, 2008

tboshearz said:
hmm.. is there a reason why it would be slipping in higher gears but not the lower gears?

Also, what would consider working a clutch in? Should I keep it under a certain RPM or when am I free to test it out fully?

Torque.

It is easier to spin up the drivetrain in a lower gear. In 5th, the torque from the motor is applied thru the clutch, but it is hard to spin up the drivetrain. The torque can overwhelm the clutch.

BTW it is slipping in low gear as well, you just don't stay in it very long and the RPM climbs so fast normally, you won't notice that it climbs a bit faster than normal because you shift out so quickly...

5th is normally where you "test a clutch". Hit around 40-50mph on level ground or uphill, and floor the thing while watching the tach. If the engine speeds up significantly when compared to car speed, the clutch is "done"...

As far as break-in goes, most new clutches recommend 500 miles of "city driving" before any hard launches. This gives time for the clutch disk, pressure plate and flywheel to "mate" properly, and conditions the clutch disk material itself properly.

Some like to drive hard when they get off the ramps, but it is the wrong way to treat a new clutch/resurfaced flywheel...

tboshearz · Jun 7, 2008

Thanks Bob, guess it's time for a new clutch, I wonder what went wrong.

SVT32VDOHC · Jun 9, 2008

BobHyatt said:
It is not that hard to screw up a new clutch install. Just gob on a bunch of grease on the transmission input shaft to lube the clutch disk as it slides, and that grease will sling off and onto the clutch or pressure plate / flywheel and you are done with that clutch...

You also need to clean the anti-rust off the pressure plate (as per instructions) before installation or once again, you get to do it all over again.

hmm...You say to gob a bunch of grease on the input shaft, then you say it will sling off. That is right, so I don't understand which one you are telling him to go with.

A thin coat of grease is all you need. No clumps, no gobs.

BobHyatt · Jun 9, 2008

SVT32VDOHC said:
hmm...You say to gob a bunch of grease on the input shaft, then you say it will sling off. That is right, so I don't understand which one you are telling him to go with.

A thin coat of grease is all you need. No clumps, no gobs.

I wasn't telling him to gob the grease on, I was telling him that this is a fairly common mistake, "if a little is good, a lot is better". There is actually a good grease for this application that is different from what you would use on a wheel bearing or what you would use on brake caliper pins. The stuff is thicker, almost pasty. Just a thin film will do.

96 cobra clutch clutch issue

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