Hello, quick question, I've searched through soem posts but have not come to a conclusion. I have a simple question, I put in a new king cobra clutch to go with my resurfaced flywheel and new motor, the clutch engages very high off of the floor, maybe an inch and a half from the top of its travel and I dont know if its fully engaging, probably not but i couldnt tell because I only brought it around my block twice. Well the simple question is which way do I adjust the clutch to get it to grab in the correct spot(about halfway between the floor and its top position). Do I loosen it and let off some slack or tighten the cable at the clutch fork?? I have a stock cable and DONT have an adjustable firewall adapter. Thanks
Clutch cable adjustment
- Thread starter Andy00018
- Start date
When it releases high (that is with NO slack in the pedal), it usually means a worn out or thin clutch disc. But you should try to adjust it first if it does have some give or slack in it. If you have the stock setup, you're SOL. Either get an adjustable-threaded cable so you can tighten or loosen it and/or an adjustable firewall adjuster - no other ways. Check first though to see if your clutch cable, the part that attaches to the clutch fork, has the threads on it. If so, tighten away until you have about 1" of slack in the pedal - any tighter will not release the pressure plate all the way and any looser will result in you dilema now.
Well, clutch travel and engagement point is something that seems to be a personal preference on this board. If you do another search you will find some heated discussion on it. I recently went from a AOD to T5 set up, with quick release quadrant, fire wall adjuster, and king cobra clutch. 10 pounds of preload on the clutch cable(or clutch fork depending on how you look at it) is supposedly specified, which means that there should be NO slack in the pedal, or at least very little. I would imagine 87stang's suggestion of 1 inch of travel to be a safe bet, although mine has less.
With the above set up, the clutch engaged very high off the ground, much like yours seems to be. Also, the disengagement travel of the clutch felt like 2 inches also, making fast shifts really easy, but also making modulation of the clutch difficult. I recently found I hated that quick release quadrant, and changed it with a 3 pick up UPR one. With the same preload, the clutch now seems to engage at the middle of the clutch travel, making it feel much more like a conventional 5 speed clutch.
Stangbear, another member, mentioned that the King Cobra clutch plate is thinner than stock, so the engagement will be little faster, and possibly meaning higher off the ground.
Assuming you are able to adjust your cable tension, I would tighten until there is almost no slack in the pedal, and then back it off just a bit, and go drive it around. Irregardless of where it catches, make sure the engagement of the clutch is good, as well as the disengagement. If the clutch works fine, keep it that way, and learn to live with where it catches. The cable mechanism is really simple on the T5's: pressing in the clutch pulls the fork lever, which forces the throw out bearing onto the pressure plate fingers, which releases the clutch plate. If you loosen the cable, all it does is lower the clutch pedal, and when you step on it again, it will release at the top of it travel again. Loose cables will allow the throwout bearing to bounce on and off the pressure plate, and may shorten the lifespan of the bearing. It also may be a source of irritating clicks and clacks. As always, "your mileage may and will vary".
With the above set up, the clutch engaged very high off the ground, much like yours seems to be. Also, the disengagement travel of the clutch felt like 2 inches also, making fast shifts really easy, but also making modulation of the clutch difficult. I recently found I hated that quick release quadrant, and changed it with a 3 pick up UPR one. With the same preload, the clutch now seems to engage at the middle of the clutch travel, making it feel much more like a conventional 5 speed clutch.
Stangbear, another member, mentioned that the King Cobra clutch plate is thinner than stock, so the engagement will be little faster, and possibly meaning higher off the ground.
Assuming you are able to adjust your cable tension, I would tighten until there is almost no slack in the pedal, and then back it off just a bit, and go drive it around. Irregardless of where it catches, make sure the engagement of the clutch is good, as well as the disengagement. If the clutch works fine, keep it that way, and learn to live with where it catches. The cable mechanism is really simple on the T5's: pressing in the clutch pulls the fork lever, which forces the throw out bearing onto the pressure plate fingers, which releases the clutch plate. If you loosen the cable, all it does is lower the clutch pedal, and when you step on it again, it will release at the top of it travel again. Loose cables will allow the throwout bearing to bounce on and off the pressure plate, and may shorten the lifespan of the bearing. It also may be a source of irritating clicks and clacks. As always, "your mileage may and will vary".
Well, the adjustment, in my opinion, is to allow you to keep the required preload in the clutch cable as it streches over time.. However, many people on this board use that adjustment to lower the clutch pedal. If you look under the dash, you will see that the cable end connects directly to the clutch pedal end. Without the clutch cable there the pedal is "freewheeling" for lack of a better term. So, when you loosen the cable, the clutch pedal will go down. Since the slack you gave the cable is taken up by the clutch pedal going lower towards the floor, the throwout bearing is still at the same place it was before you loosened it. So while the pedal is now lower in relation to where it was earlier, the clutch will still engage at towards the top of the pedal in your case. If you really loosen the thing, the clutch can be made to release right off the floor. Keep in mind, tho, when I changed my quadrant the release point totally changed compared to the quick release one.
The whole name of the game is to try and keep enough pressure (or tension) on the clutch fork by means of the clutch cable so as to make it possible to not have to push the clutch pedal down but so far before the clutch starts to dissengage (with regards to preferences and the like). Tighten it up, you release higher up on the pedal, loosen it up, and you release lower on the pedal travel.
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