It's Miller Time... I go to pull onto a busy road... clutch pedal to the floor... oh, oh, no return. DEAD. I coast s-l-o-w-l-y to the side of the road... some beastly broad in a Mercedes blares her horn and whips past me, apparently quite annoyed.

 

So, to avoid aggravating any other rich people trying to get to their appointed destinations... I get on the trusty cell and call Tim.

 

15 minutes later my baby is home and safe. He said it was the easiest car to speed shift he ever drove... he hit 40+ and downshifted when he needed... stopped cold and restarted... there's some skillfull driving.

 

I followed behind in his F-O-R-D F-350... now that was scary... especially since I'm afraid of heights! Whoa!

Those fords are big... See some every so offen here in Aus. Makes our lanes look small.

 

Good to hear you got the car home alright. One interesting question though, did he start the car in 1st or did he start it in neutral, and if neutral, how'd he get it in gear?

Yeah - did that with my lifted wagon not long ago. Heck - I shift without the clutch a lot into 3rd and 4th. 2nd is a bit sticky since the syncro isn't all that great in mine.

 

The ex-girlfriend wasted my clutch pressure plate - the bearing locked up and wore straight through it. Once the engine is warm it starts right up in 1st gear.

 

GD

Those fords are big... See some every so offen here in Aus. Makes our lanes look small.

 

Good to hear you got the car home alright. One interesting question though, did he start the car in 1st or did he start it in neutral, and if neutral, how'd he get it in gear?

 

He started it in 2nd. Then he shifted up and down as needed. At red lights he had to shut off the car and restart in 2nd.

 

I attempted to move it myself... it won't go into gear with the engine running until the clutch is disengaged.

I had kinda the same thing happen to me in a GL-10 turbowagon. Instead of the clutch cable snapping, the clutch fork actually broke where it pivots on the tranny... that was a bad day...

I had kinda the same thing happen to me in a GL-10 turbowagon. Instead of the clutch cable snapping, the clutch fork actually broke where it pivots on the tranny... that was a bad day...

 

Now, we aren't so sure what went wrong... could you still shift it with a borked fork? Please advise. Arrrggghhh!

If you can pull out half the cable from the engine bay then that pretty much sums it up. If the cable is not broken then that leaves the clutch fork, or the pressure plate or release bearing.... to get to any of those you'll have to split the engine from the transmission. Probably best to pull the engine if it's not the pedal or the cable.

 

You can shift it with a broken fork - bad pressure plate - bad release bearing, or broken cable. All those just mean you won't be able to use the clutch. As long as the disc is good you'll still be able to drive just have to time your shifts to the tach.

 

GD

Done that quite a few times. In the same car. Still got it.

Whew! It was that the cable snapped. I have a new one coming in today. Any advice on the easiest way to change it?

pay close attention to how the old one is connected. i actually attached mine incorrectly and it popped off so i had to reinstall it again. unfortunatley i can't recall exactly what i did wrong, only to say it's not exactly obvious how it attaches down at the pedal. take a good look at the old one before you remove it.

My cable always seems to break while waiting to make a left hand turn in traffic.

 

I've had to kill the car before to stop and restart with the starter motor to go.:-\

 

Not much fun but it works.

Get use to it.

Glenn,

82 SubaruHummer--currently on it's 4th cable since 1982

84 GL Mad Max--unknown cable count.

01 Forester--still on factory cable.

get your hair nice and dirty.