Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

a better clutch cable!?


Recommended Posts

hey all-

 

curious if anyone on the board has an idea/knowledge of a 'better' clutch cable for an EA81??

 

I've just broken my 2nd in as many years, thankfully the tow was less than 2 miles back home....AAA good....

they have all snapped (pot metal) at the housing ferrel/washer stop behind the pedal. it's never the cable......?

 

just ordered a 'pair' from the dealer, obviously need to carry a spare....

 

-shanonsf

82 GLW "Snow White"..very manipulated

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If there is anything on all my subaru's I would shoot the designer's for it would the clutch cable.

 

They SUCK. They always break in the same place everytime, right at the atachment point / clamp assembly under the dash.

 

I have owned 10+ brats over the years and everyone has blown a cable. Although I have had better luck with Subaru cables (vice shucks or some other aftermarket oem). But sadly even the Subaru ones go eventually.

 

I carry a spare. They are a very easy roadside repair, unless it is raining, then it sucks even worse!

 

I don't know any tricks to make them last longer. Mine have all semed to go at different times, theres no standard time frame.

 

All I can say is use Subaru, and have a spare. Oh yah, Tim is right, you can crashbox fairly well if you know your vehicle sounds. Going up seems fine, but I can only downshift to third without the clutch I can't seem to get down to second.

 

Kurt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Shan..

 

Have you replaced the clutch itself? I've been told that as the pressure plate springs wear and age, they get really stiff. The friction material may not be worn, but the springs may be. Considering where you live and drive, there's a lot of shifting (crashboxing's not that practical in SFO), and stop-and-go (on hills nonetheless:rolleyes: ), all putting pressure on the clutch cable.

 

Sounds like we need to put together another Wrench-Fest:brow: .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haha Dave-

It's funny you mention

"(crashboxing's not that practical in SFO), and stop-and-go (on hills nonetheless:rolleyes: )"

 

One of my cable snaps was just after the Golden Gate headed N on 101 towards Santa Rosa! It was in my 81 Blue Brat and I was on my way to visit Grandma... anyway I had to finish the trip north 60 mi? W/ no cable.. synchro by ear baby! What sucked was going through downtown Santa Rosa with all those lights! I ende up staying overnight and catching the bus back to Frisco for work monday, then the next weekend I went up and changed the cable.

 

I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad it didn't happen in town!!!!!!!!! Holy crap I could only imagine..

 

I do agree though, it is a last resort. however if you know your vehicle you can do fairly well with little damage.

 

Kurt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok folks, thanx for the replies.That's what i was afraid of, they just suck, carry a spare. 10-4!

Zeno- clutch is good, replaced a couple months ago, even the Hill-holder works!

Pretty cool thing in SF! A wrenchfest could work after the holidays. We might have to do a snow run first! ha ha

 

-shanon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kurt,

 

Funny you should mention downtown Santa Rosa...

 

A couple of years ago, on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, we were out "celebrating" at that Mexican restaurant (The Cantina?), came outside into the rain. When we arrived at the Cantina, I couldn't shut the engine off with the key (stuck ON). Stalled the engine, disco'd the battery, went inside. Upon leaving, we pushed the car to start it, the cable snapped (in the usual way, same as y'all). Remember, we're on a 4-day-weekend's eve..ran a few lights, got to my "bud with lots-o-tools"'s place on the westside (Fulton Rd.). Good luck getting parts, my car was stranded there until Monday afternoon. After some fast talking and a little luck, "Lots-o-Tools" let me borrow his POS BMW (..And I do mean POS!!) so I could get back (my then) home to Pleasanton, and back to work..he delivered my car to me, couldn't stand to be another day away from that POS of his..good riddance, it was embarrassing to drive it to work!

 

Terrible luck..A DOUBLE failure (ig. switch and C-cable), on the night before a major holiday weekend,downtown, in the rain..ugh!

 

Replaced both with new Genuine Subaru parts, no problems since:cool: .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok folks, thanx for the replies.That's what i was afraid of, they just suck, carry a spare. 10-4!

Zeno- clutch is good, replaced a couple months ago, even the Hill-holder works!

Pretty cool thing in SF! A wrenchfest could work after the holidays. We might have to do a snow run first! ha ha

 

-shanon

Gotcha Shan, we'll keep Junkie and the Reno/Tahoe guys in the loop for a snow run..maybe we can even coax Mike "Turbosoob" into joining us:) !
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The bracket in the pedal box seems to make this problem worse by not holding the bracket tightly enough. This is the case in my subaru, im not sure if the brackets are always crap or if mine had been damaged previosly. I ended up welding up a new bracket, that holds the cable much tighter, so it cannot move. This seems to have drastically increased the life of hte cable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

and my left leg gets a workout with a horrid rrrrrrrrrrreeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak

it's the stupid 83 1/2+ system of holding the cable in place

and to make matters worse, I have no idea if I am running a worn out ea82 pp and a 2wd ea82 clutch disk for the ea81 engine and ea82 d/r which slips at full throttle secondaries or hard starting :banghead:

 

no broken cables, yet, kow

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ALWAYS carry a spare..............of course I learned the hard way ,when mine went in a driving snow storm (of course the only one we had last winter) and I had the luxury of walking the 3 miles back into town............blew the only chance of having fun in the snow out here!!!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, it snowed here Thanksgiving weekend, and it's been so cold here that the snow really hasn't melted..it's just been frozen, slightly thawed then frozen again. Has the consistency of concrete. The wind has picked up in the last few minutes, must be the storm with lots-o-snow that's expected :grin: :grin:.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave,

 

We are getting hammered here in Mendo, we got high wind, we got lotsa rain, we got debris, and we still got power!

 

i drove home in 4wd the wind is so bad. tree parts are everywhere on my road. time to pack the chainsaw

 

yeeeeeeHA

 

let me know when you have some fun snow to romp in. that frozen crap sucks

 

d

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...