Clutch Woes

[trevorno]

So I put in a new clutch while I had the motor out for head gaskets on my 90 legacy. I put the motor back in. I'm reconnecting the clutch and when I press on the pedal, it goes to the floor and stays there. I can pull on the fork and get it to pop back up and there's tension on it, so I don't think it's the cable.

 

Where is my problem? When I put the throwout bearing on, it seemed loose in the clips, is that it? I turned it so it was tighter, but I'm worried that's the problem, which means tearing it apart again.

Edited March 12, 2012 by trevorno

[nipper]

Did you put in a new throout bearing and new clips?

 

There is a clutch spring (forget if it is the pedal or the fork or both) that can cause this. If this is the original cable I would replace it just because.

[Fairtax4me]

Check the sheath end of the cable, make sure the little boot is hooked in the bracket on the transmission.

[trevorno]

New bearing but I re-used the clips. I'll replace the cable and check that spring tomorrow. Hoping the cable fixes it.

[the_bard]

Not that it's much help now, but I would've swapped the clips. They're cheap.

 

I had one snap on me, heading west on Route 7 out of Troy at 70 mph. My OBW was driving fine as can be... clip snapped... what the *$%$ is that squealing noise?

 

Being retained by only one clip let the throw-out bearing flop around enough to squeal. It didn't wear on the input shaft, but it was embarrassingly loud. If it had broke after I swapped my clutch, I'd be crying... pulling it again just to replace that cheap clip would not have been fun.

[nipper]

re using the clips are your problem. You never reuse them as it always results in having to take everthing apart to replace them.

[trevorno]

So I got theclutch cable in the bracket correctly and the appropriate tension, but the clutch doesn't engage until the pedal is near the floor. I used an aftermarket replacement from AutoZone . Any ideas?

[Fairtax4me]

You may just have to adjust the cable more. If you push the release lever by hand towards the rear of the car how far will it move? When adjusted properly the lever will only move 1/4" or so.

[trevorno]

I adjusted the cable as tight as it would go to no avail, same problem. I think I'm going to take the motor out again and have a mechanic friend of mine look at it.

[Mikevan10]

I suggest using care as you remove the transmission so that you do not inadvertently dislodge anything. This way you can see if the release bearing clips are still in place and if the release bearing is in correct position with respect to the clutch fork. Would be interesting and maybe even useful to know.

 

I have always wondered how inportant the clips are once the transmission is reinstalled and the clutch cable is adjusted.

[cal_look_zero]

Mikevan10, I've replaced 2 clutches recently due to failed TO bearings and neither of them had clips on when I pulled the engine. Whether the lack of clips led to failure of the TO, or failure of the TO led to the clips falling off isn't certain, but I'd bet on the former.

[trevorno]

So everything is back together and running like a champ. When I pulled the motor again, the throwout bearing clips were hanging loose. I replaced them with factory new ones, then replaced the clutch cable. Put it all back together and it's good as gold. The only hitch is that the clutch engages when the pedal is pretty close to the floor. The cable tension nut is on as tight as it will go, and there's no play in the clutch fork. I might rig up a spacer to give it more tension and see if it makes any difference, but for all intents and purposes, it works fine.