can't get it up!!

[marcz]

... clutch pedal that is.

 

Nice to meet you all this is my first post and unfortunately it's to do with a problem.

 

The clutch cable broke on my 85 GL 1.8 wagon at the clutch fork end. Seemed like a straightforward repair. But, after putting it back together with a new cable the pedal is not returning properly after being pushed to the floor.

 

It's acting like the return spring is not strong enough but it did the job before the cable broke. I've lubed the cable and checked that it's not kinked, and have made adjustments so that it all looks right. Is there something else I should be looking at?

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[GLCraig]

Proper routing of the cable is important. Did you make sure that you routed it exactly how the old one was routed?

 

Did you reconnect the hillholder? Its spring is also the clutch return spring.

[marcz]

GLCraigGT

 

Yes the cable is routed like the old one and the hillholder is still connected. In fact, I thought the spring on the hill holder was the return spring! I now see that I am actually missing the return spring that should be at the top of the release fork. That should take care of the pedal returning to the up position.

 

But, I still think there is a problem, the release fork doesn't seem to be under any pressure, I can more or less move it back and forth. Shouldn't there be some resistance? I started the motor and pushed in the clutch to see if it would go into gear but no luck.

 

It's hard to tell for sure but I took the boot off the fork and it looks like the bearing holder is still on the end of the fork inside the housing. I'm trying to avoid pulling the tranny, any other ideas as to what the heck is goin on?

[manxsta]

sounds like you could have a faulty preasure plate also,if the fork is loose and you cant get any gears,how old would you say the preasure plate is? was the clutch working fine before the snapped cable?

[marcz]

manxsta

 

Not sure about age of the pressure plate but the clutch was working fine that's why I think it's something easy resulting from the cable breakage.

 

At this point my questions are:

 

1. Sould the release fork have some resistance to movement from inside the clutch assembly when I try to move it by hand?

 

2. Why am I not able to release the clutch by moving the release fork to the correct position?

[GeneralDisorder]

Sounds like a double failure - maybe somehow the pressure plate failure caused the cable to break.

 

From the sound of it - I would say the release bearing is gone/destroyed or the pressure plate fingers have snapped off or worn through. Take the boot off and shine a real strong light down in there and see if you can see any damage....

 

The fork should be movable, but only till the release bearing makes contact with the PP.

 

GD

[marcz]

GeneralDisorder

 

Off to get a stronger light, it's the wife's car I hope to sort this out soon!

 

thanks

 

mz

[calebz]

Aftert I replaced my clutch cable I had what sounds to be the same problem.

 

On some models, there is a spring mounted under the clutch pedal. It is not there on all years or all models. As far as I can tell, it is unnecessary. It actually caused more problems in my wagon that it helped. A proper return spring up topside with be more than enough to deal with pedal return.

 

This may not be relevant to your problem at all, burt you never know. Besides, it beats the hell out of replacing the pressure plate.