Need Clutch Adj. Help I'm Going Crazy!

[Deleted member 87397]

Here's the shorto of it.

Did a T-5 swap, started the car, rattling from the bellhousing, I'm thinking, maybe the bearing or fork I used just suck, but people on the forums say add tension to the cable and it will quit. I added tension and made it quit, but by the time it quit there was no freeplay on the pedal so the clutch would be constantly engaging and burn up. So I ordered a fork from Ford dropped trans and replaced fork and bearing just to be safe, verified they were installed correctly, bolted everything back up, adjusted the cable and it's still making the noise. Now I'm thinking maybe my cable and quarant are crap or there's something I'm doing wrong when adjusting. Cable and quad are UPR knock offs I got on ebay.

I currently have: Adjustable cable
3 hook quadrant with the cable hooked on 2
Firewall Adjuster

CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME? I'M GOING INSANE AND I JUST WANT TO DRIVE MY BABY AGAIN!

 

[ninety15.0]

buy a ford clutch cable...i went through about three cables for some stupid reason, one was a steeda cable that came with the quadrant and adjuster, and two napa specials....then i bought a non adjustable ford cable and havent had a problem since. good luck man i kno its very frustrating.

 

[Deleted member 87397]

Were you having the same problem as me? I'd hate to drop a 150 on a ford cable and have it not fix the problem.

 

[HISSIN50]

The OEM cable can be had from Diversified for 50 bucks to your door (it was 49 straight up IIRC, to mine at least).

I think cable preload and actual meaningful tension on the PP diaphram fingers are being confused. I am real anal and dial this in just right, so I know exactly what you are feeling.

When the TOB just meets the PP fingers, there is no slack in the cable. But the TOB has not yet begun to push the fingers in, ergo there is no clutch slippage. Furthermore, you still have to push the clutch in a ways to get it it disengage. And a stall test will still pass.

Cable operated clutches do generally require this slight preload - not doing so can actually allow the TOB to rattle around, which prematurely wears it, as well as wearing the bearing retainer.

Good luck.

 

[bock]

Do you have the noise when pressing on the clutch pedal?

If not,you need a throw out bearing...

 

[timewarped1972]

ok here's what i did.......you have an adjustable cable.......i took my adjustable cable and tightened it all the way on the clutch fork........and just used the fire wall adjuster to adjust the cable.......in effect i adjusted the adjustment out of the cable itself.......what hook are you using on your quadrant?? i'm using a 3 hook e bay and fwa myself.......i'm running it on the second hook ( the one in the middle) .

from there, i adjusted the fwa out till there was some resistance.....i checked under the car and adjusted it untill there was basically no lose slack in the fork......you could move it up and down still, but no obviouse free play.......i then turned the fwa about another turn or so out.........and that seems to be perfect.......pedal starts to engage a couple inches off the floor ( probabbaly sooner if the car were on jack stands as it has to engage more on the pavement before you actually feel it) .

thats another way to check your engagement.....put the rear up on jack stands, start it and you'll see if your clutchis all the way to the floor the tires should not try to spin at all.....but start to some where between and inch or so off the floor........if it does that then you know it's dis engaging when it's too the floor, but letting all the way out when your foots off......

as for the noise........doing this should eliminate that.........did you check the bearing retainer when you had the tranny out??? many people have had problems with the steel bearing retainer tube seperating from the aluminum part thats bolted to the trans......( if it's a steel retainer ofcourse)..

 

[Deleted member 87397]

When I have it adjusted so it doesn't rattle, the clutch engages when the pedal is all the way up. I don't think that's right, but correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[HISSIN50]

When I have it adjusted so it doesn't rattle, the clutch engages when the pedal is all the way up. I don't think that's right, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Is the POE right at the top, or near the top? If it makes you feel better, loosen it up and keep tightening till the noise just barely goes away.

Mine is pretty close to the top too.

 

[timewarped1972]

something else i just thought of, and this may sound dumb but i'm askin anyway........you did remove the rubber grommet from the end of the cable and file down the 4 small tabs before putting the cable through the fwa correct?? just checking......

 

[Deleted member 87397]

something else i just thought of, and this may sound dumb but i'm askin anyway........you did remove the rubber grommet from the end of the cable and file down the 4 small tabs before putting the cable through the fwa correct?? just checking......

Yes I made sure I did that. Thanks for the input everyone. So, Hissin, you don't have any wear issues at all? I'll check and see if it's exactly at the top or just before it.

 

[HISSIN50]

So, Hissin, you don't have any wear issues at all? I'll check and see if it's exactly at the top or just before it.

I have the slack removed (said another way, the TOB race is just kissing the pressure plate fingers). This is not enough to actually begin to disengage the clutch - I can still get sideways off idle in first gear at 1200 RPM.

It is hard to stomach I know - we want more freeplay. I actually have more preload than I want - otherwise I was disengaging right off the floor (I dont like my new quadrant).

You will know and smell if you are slipping. It would take a lot of torquing on the adjustment to dial in that much preload.

My two cents. Good luck.

 

[Deleted member 87397]

Hey HISSIN, I think I'm going to order a cable from diversified if the are non-adj. Do you have their website address?

 

[jrichker]

When the throwout bearing is riding on the clutch disk fingers, there isn't any measureable wear on the fingers. The bearing, like all bearings is designed for constant load. That's the way it is supposed to work.

I spent 11 years as an aircraft mechanic, and believe me, there are no cable operated systems that don't tighten up the cables until all the slack is gone. The tension in the cable keeps it from jumping off the pulleys & bellcranks.

 

[HISSIN50]

Hey HISSIN, I think I'm going to order a cable from diversified if the are non-adj. Do you have their website address?

Give this a try.

They do also sell the adjustables for those that are interested (my old single-hook-SVO-quad required an adjustable cable, and I liked the adjustable Ford piece pretty well).

Good luck.

 

[Deleted member 87397]

I'm not disputing that fact, but when I have it adjusted like that, the clutch lets out all the way at the top. Shouldn't it somewhere near the midpoint?

 

[Deleted member 87397]

Give this a try.

They do also sell the adjustables for those that are interested (my old single-hook-SVO-quad required an adjustable cable, and I liked the adjustable Ford piece pretty well).

Good luck.

Thanks bud. I think I'll go with that. I was tweakin on the cable some more last night and it's a bit better, but I'm still getting som rattle and I'm not quite satisfied. I think I'm going to get a locking fwa too so my adjusment won't get out of whack on me.

 

[HISSIN50]

Sounds good. Were I buying a FWA, it would be a Fiore. I went with a unit that has a locking ring on it, and it is kinda useless (if I tighten it enough to not move, I cant get it undone. My arms are big and I can only get 2 fingers in there).

Good luck.

 

[Sicarius428]

I second that. Buy the Fiore.
Kevin

 

[Deleted member 87397]

Thanks guys.

 

[criticman]

Chiming in.

I have the Steeda quadrant, FWA, and adjustable cable. I HATE IT! At first, it was great. The quadrant makes an amazing difference.

The problem I first had was the noise, but I adjusted the cable and the noise is gone.

The issue that remains is like several have mentioned above. The POE is up top (to me, top is when you have NO force or foot on the pedal). I push it in just a tiny bit (maybe 1/10 of the pedal's possible travel) and it disengages the clutch. This makes feathering the clutch in normal driving or track (road) driving a PITA! It is fine for dragging since it is quick to be out of gear to shift and no real need to feather it to get back in to gear in that situation.

So, is there a way to have a more desirable setup (i.e., the POE of the stock setup (when the stock parts are brand new, not worn)) ?

Someone mentioned trying to tighten the cable all the way on the fork to remove the "adjustable" aspect of it - will this work? If so, I am more than willing to do that, use the second (middle) hook on the Steeda quadrant, and just adjust it with the FWA. I just would like some input on if this will work before spending the time doing it.

Or would it be easier to just get rid of the adjustable cable and buy a stock non-adjustable one? If so, price?