Clutch and Clutch cable blues.....

[RATM]

Man am I about to drive my car into a lake...

I am having to adjust the clutch cable at the firewall almost daily for my clutch to work, which will soon come to an end because i wont have that many threads left to turn my adjuster. In the morning, when the car is "cold", the clutch cable is fine. However, as the morning drive progresses, the clutch gets shorter and shorter until I seem to have no clutch left and cant get my car into gear. It gets to the point where if i have it in gear, with the cable fully depressed, the car is moving. But this dosent happen in the AM when I start my day. WTF??? Is this a problem with the clutch itself or could my clutch cable be lengthening due to the heat under the hood and if so, WHAT DO I DO????

This is very very frustrating and upsetting.

Thank you!

 

[DouglasOhio]

Id check the whole cable out first, crawl under the car and check where the cable comes out of the casing and make sure that little metal c clip is there, the one that holds the casing to (i think) the bracket on the bellhousing. It might be a bracket on the car itself, holding the cable housing in place. Check for any frayed part of the cable at/or around the cable end. Then id crawl under your dash and check out the cable quadrant, if you still have the adj quadrant, get an aftermarket aluminum one in there. Thats all i can think of at the moment, good luck.

 

[jerry beach]

What kind of cable is it? Did you install it recently? Some aftermaket cables have proven to be junk. My steeda adjustable has been fine. Most prefer to use the ford cable, or an autoparts store brand. Since you have a FWA, you wont need an adj cable.

I would take the cable loose from the clutch fork and see if it moves freely in the housing by hand. It must be binding, or the clutch itself is binding. Find out which it is. Look and see how close to the header the cable housing is. Also make sure the cable is routed properly.

 

[RATM]

It is an stock OEM replacement from Ford. This was replaced by my father in law, who has been a mechanic for 30+ years so installation is not an issue. Can the heat from the header/engine cause the cable to lengthen a short bit and therefore render my firewall adjustment crap?

 

[RATM]

bump

 

[jerry beach]

I was thinking more along the lines of it binding in the housing and causing the whole housing to move when hot, therefore not acting on the clutch fork properly. Take both ends of the cable loose and make sure it moves freely. If it does and wont stay in adjustment then the problem is most likely the clutch itself.

Or it could be youru quadrant. What kind do you have? If its the stock plastic deal they are unpredictable like that. I would replace it if its stock, its only a matter of time.

 

[v8only]

it's most definetly stretching. Most often, it's due to improper routing. Even though it is a family member, never be so sure that you don't double check his work. Verify your cable is routed as shown in the pic below. If it is, it could be melting if it's too close to your headers. usually, that happens with aftermarket headers only. If that is the case, get the longer sn95 cable from MM, it'll fit, and you can route it away from your headers. Do something NOW, though if this is your daily driver, as that cable is now about to snap

 

[86T-Top]

I am having to adjust the clutch cable at the firewall almost daily for my clutch to work, which will soon come to an end because i wont have that many threads left to turn my adjuster. In the morning, when the car is "cold", the clutch cable is fine. However, as the morning drive progresses, the clutch gets shorter and shorter until I seem to have no clutch left and cant get my car into gear. It gets to the point where if i have it in gear, with the cable fully depressed, the car is moving. But this dosent happen in the AM when I start my day. WTF??? Is this a problem with the clutch itself or could my clutch cable be lengthening due to the heat under the hood and if so, WHAT DO I DO????

I had the same problem, twice.

The problem is the clutch cable. The first time my Steeda adjustable cable took a crap on me after 15k miles. I then replaced it with a POS from Autozone that maybe lasted 2k miles.

The problem is the cable is actually crushing up by the firewall. Inspect your cable for any cracks or squashing. Mine looked like a shirt sleeve bunched up on the arm. Look specificly at where it mounts to the firewall to 5 inches down the cable. When I took the cable out I saw that the plastic piece that mounts at the firewall had slid down the cable. BTW the cable finally let go on a 90 + degree day out.

If that is not it do what everyone else suggested. Also when you take the cable out, inspect the firewall for cracks.

 

[tsoccer3299]

yeah on my steeda firewall adjuster ive been having to loosen it up every few days just to get it in gear. i guess its time for a new cable.