Drivetrain Clutch Issues- Need Assistance With Adjustment

DanG

Founding Member
Oct 8, 2000
694
0
17
Maryland
I need some assistance tracking down a clutch issue which I'm having problems identifying. I must have installed a clutch and adjusted the cable correctly a dozen times in the past, however I can't seem to get this right time time around.....
To start, I noticed that it became difficult to shift into gears from time to time while driving, almost as though the clutch needed readjusting. Fast forward to last week, I was driving and went to shift gears, and the clutch cable popped off the Steeda Quadrant. I went under the dash to reinstall the cable and managed to slip it on top the quadrant to limp it home, although the cable was loose. The clutch actually felt ok driving home and shifting, minus a bit of slack in the top of the clutch pedal. I will also note that the dowel pin which holds the quadrant to the shaft also came off during the cable reinstall, to which I replaced the pin where it was as it only goes back one way.

Next, upon going under the car to readjust the same clutch cable via the adjustment at the fork, I found that when I went to drive the car the clutch seemed to not disengage/engage until the top last 1 inch of the clutch travel. Upon inspecting the cable I noticed that it was burned through near the header area so I removed it. Cable was very tight and was bonding near the burnt area when pulling from either end which showed that I at least had a bad cable.

So next, I ordered the following new cable: Zoom Performance Products 48000C - Zoom Adjustable Clutch Cables - Overview - SummitRacing.com
Installed the cable, adjusted it per the following instructions like I have a dozen other times: How To Install A Mustang Clutch Cable (1996-2004) - Installation Instructions at AmericanMuscle.com - Free Shipping! and low and behold, the damn clutch still doesn't engage/disengage till about the last top inch of the clutch pedal travel with the rest of the travel being dead space.
Drivetrain parts are: TKO, Spec Stage III, Zoom clutch cable with Steeda Quadrant ( adjusts at the clutch fork not firewall ), Fox clutch fork. Adjusting the clutch so that the fork just rests on the pressure plate, or adjusting so that the pressure plate is a bit collapsed does not make a different of engagement points.

Possible that the clutch cable is just too long, or does this sound like a bad pressure plate?
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