Clutch pedal issue: Clutch or quadrant/cable?

I have read a few threads that are somewhat related, and did a search, but I still am not sure what is causing my problem.

A few weeks ago, I was driving home and lost pedal feel at the top of the pedal when you first start to push the pedal in; there is about an inch of play. Whenever cruising or at a light, I can feel the pedal vibrate, sometimes slightly and sometimes violently. Whenever at a light, I can also hear chatter as it is vibrating. If I pull up on the pedal with my foot, usually the vibration will stop. This in a way answers my question for myself, but I am still not sure. Also, the problem is intermittent because I will gain the pedal feel back and it will feel fine if I drive normal, but if I get on it and push/release the pedal quickly, then I will usually lose pedal feel again. I tried adjusting the cable, but it does not solve the problem.

I'm pretty positive its probably a combination of a defective quadrant and stretched cable, but I was told by a retired ford tech that it could be that when I replaced my clutch (less than 5k miles ago), that it could be that the pressure plate is not aligned/centered perfectly and that is causing my vibration. He went into a little more detail, but I do not remember it all.

Any input would be very helpful, because its no fun feeling like I cant have fun with the stang because if I do, I'll lose my pedal feel. It would also be nice just to fix the issue.

mity2 said:

i had exactly the same probrem. intermittent vibration comming up through the pedal. almost rattle like, which stops if you pull up on the pedal like as if your adusting cable slac.

Turned out it was bad TOB. Which eventualy took out clutch plate...

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Deffinately not what I wanted to hear. What the hell is it with the T-45 and TOB issues? I just replaced the damn thing! Did it all in one shot: Pilot bearing (reason for pulling the trans in the first place), clutch disc and pressure plate, and TOB. The thing has less than 5k miles on it!

Oh, one more thing I did forget to mention is that when I am getting the vibration, when I finally took the time just to look under the dash, the ball at the end of the clutch cable was not in contact with the quadrant. If I pushed the clutch pedal down, as soon as they made contact, the clutch felt great. Would this mean that it is in fact a stretched cable and faulty quadrant, or am I still looking at a bad TOB?

I have tried to adjust the clutch. I have tried it several times. Put it in first (with engine off ofcourse), pull up on clutch pedal, then depress slowly. I can hear it click as it tries to adjust itself, but it does nothing. It will click everytime I try to adjust it, but it wont take out the slack.