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Drivetrain Clutch stopped working and went soft

  • Thread starter Thread starter AnthonyA1234
  • Start date Start date Jun 21, 2022
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General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair
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#21
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #21
I think the cable is toast.
 
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AnthonyA1234

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#22
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #22
Can anyone recommend me a cable I should use that will work with the steeda stuff I have?
 

Wayne Waldrep

Before I post a pic, do you have one of yours?
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#23
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #23
**Not currently available** MM Clutch Cable, Universal Mustang, Ford OEM, 1982-04
 
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AnthonyA1234

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#24
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #24
Wayne Waldrep said:
**Not currently available** MM Clutch Cable, Universal Mustang, Ford OEM, 1982-04
Click to expand...
Yea I heard those were the best unfortunately it looks like they’re out of stock and they don’t know when they’ll be able to get more. Are there any other good ones out there?
 

manicmechanic007

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#25
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #25
It looks like it has a quadrant system and they are bitchy for a regular person to fix
You have to get serious with the pedals to remove and replace the stripped out quadrant parts
 

manicmechanic007

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#26
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #26
The cable should be fine
It was working before the mishap
The clutch pedal would not return if the cable was frayed
 

7991LXnSHO

wanna catch the space herp
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#27
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #27
manicmechanic007 said:
The cable should be fine
It was working before the mishap
The clutch pedal would not return if the cable was frayed
Click to expand...
Look at the cable housing in between the header tubes in post 20. The inner cable looks good, but the outer cable looks fubar. At least I don’t remember it looking like that last time I changed one. Some kind of fluke occurred.
 

limp

wrap a little cheese around it and its a done
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#28
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #28
manicmechanic007 said:
It looks like it has a quadrant system and they are bitchy for a regular person to fix
You have to get serious with the pedals to remove and replace the stripped out quadrant parts
Click to expand...
What do you mean " regular person'? LOL
 

AnthonyA1234

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#29
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #29
Is there any way I could tighten the cable and see what happens? How do you tighten it with the firewall adjuster
 

7991LXnSHO

wanna catch the space herp
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#30
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #30
AnthonyA1234 said:
Is there any way I could tighten the cable and see what happens? How do you tighten it with the firewall adjuster?
Click to expand...
From the first pic in post 19, it might appear the adjuster is turned so it is pulling the cable out already. If it isn’t, you can try to turn it out tighter there.
But your outer cable looks fubar, and if it helps, it will be a short lived repair.
 
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AnthonyA1234

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#31
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #31
So I just tightened the cable using the firewall adjuster (turned it counter clockwise) as much as I could. The pedal now feels somewhat stiff again but I started up the car and with the car running I could not push the shifter into any gear but reverse which made a grind noise. I am able to move the shifter when the car is off however but I could do that before anyway.
 

7991LXnSHO

wanna catch the space herp
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#32
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #32
AnthonyA1234 said:
So I just tightened the cable using the firewall adjuster (turned it counter clockwise) as much as I could. The pedal now feels somewhat stiff again but I started up the car and with the car running I could not push the shifter into any gear but reverse which made a grind noise. I am able to move the shifter when the car is off however but I could do that before anyway.
Click to expand...
Get a new cable. Any brand is better than what is there now. Keep it away from the headers.
 
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AnthonyA1234

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#33
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #33
7991LXnSHO said:
Get a new cable. Any brand is better than what is there now. Keep it away from the headers.
Click to expand...
Yea I went ahead and ordered a steeda adjustable cable. In the future maybe I’ll switch to the MM once they come back in stock. I called them and he said he didn’t know how long it would be.

Is it normal for a cable to just go like that? Could something else have caused this or could I have been driving the car too hard?
 

limp

wrap a little cheese around it and its a done
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#34
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #34
AnthonyA1234 said:
Yea I went ahead and ordered a steeda adjustable cable. In the future maybe I’ll switch to the MM once they come back in stock. I called them and he said he didn’t know how long it would be.

Is it normal for a cable to just go like that? Could something else have caused this or could I have been driving the car too hard?
Click to expand...
Its probably been going for a long time, it finally went.........
 
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AnthonyA1234

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#35
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #35
Just took off the old cable. It wasn’t snapped but something definitely happened since it’s all broken at the end. Check out the pic. One other thing I noticed. The quadrant was missing a cotter pin on one of the pins that it slides on and both pins did not have any sort of spacer on them. The quadrant was just able to slide to the side. Is it supposed to have a spacer to keep it from sliding?
 

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limp

wrap a little cheese around it and its a done
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#36
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #36
That cable reminds me of my Taco minibike....... Always breaking them.....
 
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AnthonyA1234

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#37
  • Jun 22, 2022
  • #37
One thing I noticed now was that my clutch fork rests near the middle of that rectangle hole. When I look at videos of people removing their cable I see that theirs rests near the end. Could this be an indication of something broken or is it normal? At that middle point is where it likes to rest if I try to push it to make it look like the other picture now that the cable is off it’s completely loose.
 

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WillieSmokeUm

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#38
  • Jun 23, 2022
  • #38
My friend had a 1987 GT he bought new. When we replaced the clutch, we did TOB, flywheel, disc, pivot stud, pivot arm, clutch cable and quadrant. All Ford Motorsport items. T5-Z also installed. The clutch was a stiffer unit, and after a few weeks the clutch acted like your clutch does. The clutch pedal lever under the dash broke where it was welded around the round bar. When it was replaced, the new Ford part was an updated piece with more metal around the clutch pedal assy. We never thought about that item coming apart, but the heavier pedal and high mileage (188,000 miles, highway car) the factory item failed. After replacement everything worked as normal. The factory update was made around 1989/1990. It may not be your problem but keep this in mind when putting a HD clutch in a FOX body.
 
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limp

wrap a little cheese around it and its a done
5 Year Member
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#39
  • Jun 23, 2022
  • #39
WillieSmokeUm said:
My friend had a 1987 GT he bought new. When we replaced the clutch, we did TOB, flywheel, disc, pivot stud, pivot arm, clutch cable and quadrant. All Ford Motorsport items. T5-Z also installed. The clutch was a stiffer unit, and after a few weeks the clutch acted like your clutch does. The clutch pedal lever under the dash broke where it was welded around the round bar. When it was replaced, the new Ford part was an updated piece with more metal around the clutch pedal assy. We never thought about that item coming apart, but the heavier pedal and high mileage (188,000 miles, highway car) the factory item failed. After replacement everything worked as normal. The factory update was made around 1989/1990. It may not be your problem but keep this in mind when putting a HD clutch in a FOX body.
Click to expand...
Any chance you have that ford part #??
 
W

WillieSmokeUm

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#40
  • Jun 23, 2022
  • #40
limp said:
Any chance you have that ford part #??
Click to expand...
No. Not sure of original clutch pedal assy date, but replacement was done around 1993.
 
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