clutch not disengaging after replacement, seems jammed

[sallystrothers]

I'm in the process of converting from an AOD to a T5 and I am more or less done with the conversion except when I go to push the clutch pedal in, the further it goes in the harder it gets to the point where it feels like I'm about to snap the cable. The clutch pedal goes in smooth when I disconnect the cable and the clutch fork moves back and forth smooth when I disconnect the cable on that end.

It feels to me like when the fork/TOB is pressing against the pressure plate diaphram it is getting jammed up on something. My possible list of causes are the following, which seems most likely?

1. Faulty pressure plate (I bought an XTD stage 3 clutch from ebay)
2. Fork pivot not adjusted correctly (threads are backed out quite a bit)
3. Binding of the throwout bearing on the input shaft further down the shaft
4. Binding of tbe cable (the cable moves pretty freely on its own, but maybe under high tension it is binding)
5. ???

Any ideas? I will admit when putting the transmission in it went in nearly all the way on its own, but there was a 1/4" gap that we close with the bolts but they didn't feel overly hard to turn so I assumed it wasn't binding on anything.

 

[Mr. Rustypwnz]

pull up on the clutch pedal.. it should pop (you will hear this) and then readjust the quadrant.

 

[sallystrothers]

update, I fired up the engine for 30 seconds, then worked it a little more and now it appears to be disengaging, however the pedal is still very hard. I can however shift it into 1st and when I let out the clutch pedal the rear wheels begin spinning whilst the car is on jack stands.

Anyone else have experience with the XTD stage 3 clutch on how hard the pedal is?

 

[sallystrothers]

pull up on the clutch pedal.. it should pop (you will hear this) and then readjust the quadrant.

How do you adjust the quadrant? Seems mine is an aluminum aftermarket one.

 

[Duncan McDougal]

Obvious question, did you put the clutch facing the right direction? The flywheel side is labeled as such.

 

[HISSIN50]

Did you loop the cable in as wide an arc as you could? Is the cable feeding straight into the firewall's hole (as opposed to being off to the side, like a water skiier who skiies off to the side of the boat)?

 

[sallystrothers]

Did you loop the cable in as wide an arc as you could? Is the cable feeding straight into the firewall's hole (as opposed to being off to the side, like a water skiier who skiies off to the side of the boat)?

Cable is routed correctly in a wide loop outside the motor mount then back again. The cable is rubbing the top of the cable housing on the cabin side where it comes in to the quadrant. Would it be worth adding some moly grease there?

 

[90lxcoupe]

sounds like the cable is binding, get a new cable and see if that solves the problem. if you have an aftermarker quadrant make sure to get one with a threaded rod with adjuster nut on the end of it.

 

[old_blue]

where did you get the clutch cable from? is it aftermarket? if so take it off, open trash can and place said cable in trash can. Aftermarket cables are junk especially the adjustable ones.

go to ford and buy an oem cable.

I had this same issue after just installing a king cobra clutch. it felt like a clutch on a 600 hp engine. people kept telling me it was the cable and I thought "no way, it is brand new." I swapped out the cable and all is well.

I would start with that if everything else is hooked up correctly. might save ou from having to take the trans back out.

 

[HISSIN50]

if you have an aftermarker quadrant make sure to get one with a threaded rod with adjuster nut on the end of it.

Never seen this. Got a link or more info?

 

[old_blue]

Never seen this. Got a link or more info?

I was confused too but figured he was juat talking about an adjustable clutch cable.

 

[sallystrothers]

where did you get the clutch cable from? is it aftermarket? if so take it off, open trash can and place said cable in trash can. Aftermarket cables are junk especially the adjustable ones.

go to ford and buy an oem cable.

I had this same issue after just installing a king cobra clutch. it felt like a clutch on a 600 hp engine. people kept telling me it was the cable and I thought "no way, it is brand new." I swapped out the cable and all is well.

I would start with that if everything else is hooked up correctly. might save ou from having to take the trans back out.

I actually don't know if the cable is aftermarket or not, it came with the pedal assembly I got off ebay. It does kind of look OEM to me though...

 

[old_blue]

was it in a ford box or package? then not oem. just my .02 though. may not even be the problem but I would much rather do that than tear it all back out.

 

[HISSIN50]

If the cable is not of known pedigree, I agree with OB to at least find a buddy with a Ford or MM cable and try it out. The parts store cables can get real tight as they are actuated. You dont want to tear up your firewall or deal with the cable when the ferrule breaks.........