Cluch adjustment

[spierce]

I've got what I believe to be the worlds worst clutch, it's fairly new also. maybe 30k on it as a daily driver and it's been the same way since the day I put it in.
Here is what I've got: Billet Steel flywheel, FMS Cobra clutch & PP, adjustable clutch cable, adjustable firewall piece, and aftermarket quadrant that replaces the factory plastic piece.
Now the problem.
when I've adjusted the firewall piece all the way in my clutch releases really high off the floor and I still have a lot of play at the top end of the pedal. so if I let off the clutch the clutch fork rattles because there isn't enough tension on it. Second problem, the clutch is a dirty ****** to push in. I've checked everything and I just can't find where something is either installed wrong or hanging up. This car is a AOD to T5 swap car and I've never been able to adjust it right. I have a second car was converted as well but doesn't suck.
Any suggestions?

 

[HISSIN50]

I am a little confused - the clutch's point of engagement is really high from the floor, yet you have a lot of freeplay at the top of the pedal?

Since you noted having an adjustable cable, I would get under and manually dial slack out of the cable at the fork (you can pull on the cable with your pinkie while under the car to see when you have just a hair of slack or no slack left).

Which hook on the quadrant are you hooked on?

The adjustable cable might be giving you some rough pedal travel issues. I just got some new stuff myself and am waiting for it to cool down to install it (I also live in Tucson).

Jeremy (V8 only) has a nice article on adjusting the clutch if you need the reference. He might see this and post too.

Good luck.

 

[ECU5.0]

youre rattling clutch pedal might be due to a warped flywheel. mine is doing that too but only at high rpms. it just needs to be turned, but as far as the high engagement goes, adjust it so you have about an inch to 1 1/2 inches at the top, no total slop in the pedal but not totally tight. it should take a little pressure to push the pedal away from its top most position and than get stiff about 1 1/2" down. since you have both a firewall adjuster and an adjustable cable i would recommend turning the firewall adjuster all the way in so that there is a lot of slack in the cable and than taking up most of the slack with the adjusters on the cable, that way you are only adjusting with the firewall adjuster (to make things quicker and easier). as far as the clutch being hard to push in, check to make sure that the cable is routed correctly, mine goes under the k member and next to the oil pan i believe. also make sure that your quadrant is lined up exactly with the hole in the firewall. you might have to use some nylon washers to shim it. good luck

ps. everyone note that this is the first time that hissin50 has ever been logged off of stangnet!

 

[v8only]

I've just added my article to my sig for clutch adjustment. I should have done that a long time ago.

In there, you'll see a link and a section for cable routing. To be precise, poke it under the engine mount to the clutch fork

to start though, ditch that damn adj cable. since you have a firewall adjuster, get an oem cable from diversified (buyfordracing.com $40) or MM.

also, what worries me, is you've got the fire wall adjuster dialed all the way in, slack up top, and a loose clutch pedal. This tells me that you've dialed ALL the slack out of the cable. this should cause your clutch to grab RIGHT off the floorboards. Before I suggest that your clutch is worn, you should try the routing of the cable, and if that's not it, a new cable, then we'll all help you from there, best of luck!!


btw, hissin is off, maybe his computer crashed!

 

[ECU5.0]

dang it, i meant the motor mount not the k member....oh well jeremy is here to save the day. i totally read his post wrong too, i thought he said his firewall adjuster was all the way out, hmm guess that changes things

 

[v8only]

dang it, i meant the motor mount not the k member....oh well jeremy is here to save the day. i totally read his post wrong too, i thought he said his firewall adjuster was all the way out, hmm guess that changes things

for months, I was saying under the k member, THEN I yanked my engine, and, clear as day saw how it was really routed, lol, my bad.

it is strange, though isn't it that his adjustment is all the way in, he has slack on the cable, and it grabs too high?

now that I think about it more, I'm willing to bet Fri nights beer that his cable IS sticking, and that if he took the cable cover off at the bell, and pulled sideways on the cable, it would have a lot of tension, yet at the clutch pedal end, it likely is loose because of a bend in the sheath, or an internal cable issue. Theoretically, I'm only guessing, I can see this being the reason for the clutch grabbing high, as the cable is not releasing at the end.

To the original poster, with the firewall adjuster dialed all the way in, is there cable tension/pressure at the clutch fork end, or is that loose too?

 

[ECU5.0]

for months, I was saying under the k member, THEN I yanked my engine, and, clear as day saw how it was really routed, lol, my bad.

it is strange, though isn't it that his adjustment is all the way in, he has slack on the cable, and it releases too high?

yeah, if there was slack in the cable (even if you had enough that the throwout bearing could come completely off the pressure plate) and there was enough movement to actually release the clutch from the pressure plate the clutch would grab right at the floor as soon as you let off the pedal. hmm...maybe it was typed wrong....or worse the clutch is almost gone

 

[v8only]

hey, I added more to my above post, what do you think?

 

[ECU5.0]

definetly sounds like a possibility. mmm friday night beers? sounds delicious.

to the original poster: check to make sure the quadrant is installed correctly on both rods of the clutch pedal assembly. i remember having so much trouble getting my cable adjusted properly and it ended up being that the quadrant was only hooked onto the front (well closest to the driver) rod. the idiot that had the car before me decided it was too much work to get the little plastic pawl off before he put the new quadrant on.

hehe you remember that dont you jeremy, i thought i was gonna kill someone

 

[v8only]

that was so funny, I would have never ever guessed that in a million years. I would have loved to have watched the original guy who installed that piece swearing and cussing at it. LOL

 

[spierce]

I'll check it all out. Since this is a 5 spd. conversion I thought maybe something didn't line up quite right.. and that adjustable cable is a pain, I'll probobly be replacing that in the next week or so also.

I'll let you guys know how it goes.

thanks

 

[94 Cobra 5.0]

not to insult your intelligence but i made this mistake when i replaced my clutch cause i wasn't paying attention to what i was doing and was in a rush, but did you put the throw-out bearing on the fork correctly. when i did it i forgot to put the tob on the flat spring on the fork. i put the tob on the fork and that was it. i had a big problem trying to get the clutch to disengage. might want to double-check that just to be sure.