I have a 2.3 91. The piece of cable that hooks on the clutch fork keeps snapping off the end piece. It is just a ball welded on to the end of the wire. There is no other issue with the transmission, or the clutch. The thing just lets go. I can only think that we are going to have to fab something up.
Anyone else have this issue?
Thanks!
A quick search suggests that if it's been apart and you didn't get the throwout bearing on the clutch fork correctly, you can start breaking stuff, that included. I think the issue is that in that case the throwout bearing will reach the end of its travel before the pedal and cable do.
Even if it hasn't been apart or the bearing is known to be correctly installed, are there any adjustments like a pedal stop? Have you checked to make sure the pedal doesn't have travel left when the fork hits the end of travel?
The cable is probably the cheapest and easiest thing to kill in this scenario.
There are two things to look at which a pretty common. First, the OEM transmission bearing retainer which has the tube where the throwout bearing rides is aluminum and does not hold up well over time. Lubrication is sparse or gone, and the steel throwout bearing wears on the aluminum and galls it. The bearing jambs on the tube and the cable is the weak link and breaks.
The second is sort of odd, but if the car has been worked on much it is possible for the next thing to happen. If, for whatever reason, the ground strap between the engine and the chassis is removed or disconnected, the only ground path is the clutch cable. When you start the car, all the current drawn by the starter motor, which is a LOT, passes through the clutch cable and it gets hot and the cable end comes off. Weird, but it happens.
Most likely your bearing retainer tube is all berkleyed up.
I had a similar problem with my Fiat 124. The end of the cable where it hooked into the pedal broke every couple of months. The hooks were worn and not allowing the end to pivot when the pedal went through it's movement, twisting the cable until it snapped. A few seconds with a dremel fixed it right up
Someone sent me a write up on how to replace this small cable with a bolt. I will keep you posted!
In reply to thedoc :
Fingers crossed! I have to say it always concerns me a bit to skip finding the source of the problem and just bulking up the weakest part. I feel like eventually I'll wind up with a really durable car made entirely of angle iron.
stukndapast said:If, for whatever reason, the ground strap between the engine and the chassis is removed or disconnected, the only ground path is the clutch cable. When you start the car, all the current drawn by the starter motor, which is a LOT, passes through the clutch cable and it gets hot and the cable end comes off. Weird, but it happens.
I came here to post exactly that. i had that failure on one of my Corvairs.
You'll need to log in to post.
