Clutch pedal noise

[greasykitchen]

I replaced the cable today and all seems good now. The cable wasn't fraying, but there is a plastic sleeve thing between the inner and outer cables that was moving and cracking etc. But I think the cause of the actual noise may have been to do with the insulation/foam stiff on the inside of the firewall.

The noise is gone now and the clutch feels much lighter and better generally and easier on my broken toe!

We had a bit of trouble getting the cable in though. I bought replacement bushes that go in the tab on the gear box to hold the cable in place. But this meant that the cable wasn't quite long enough by a matter of millimetres. The thickness of the bush means the adjusting knob is higher up so the inner cable is too short. So we removed the thicker bush so it would fit.

Question is, is the very tight fit normal? Is there a way of making it all fit together with all the bushes? A plate has been welded/riveted to the firewall so maybe this has mad the distance the cable has to travel slightly longer?

The offending bush:



The old cable:

[paulie71]

Classic signs of a worn clutch cable. They are another thing to replace but the more frequent the better.

And I have steered clear of non-german aftermarkets as I had a brazilian one in my old Mk1 a few years back (RIP Roadrunner) and I trashed the cable in less than 12 months and about 18000km. There are heaps of OEM german ones out there that might cost more but you won't be under the bonnet and under the dash too often.

Cheers and well done mate

[greasykitchen]

Cheers. Both old and new cables are German. The old one was starting to rust a little and had no lubrication left (if it ever had any). We put quite a bit of light oil down the inner of the new one. Extra smooth.

Not sure what to do about the bushing - a case of it ain't broke...?

[paulie71]

Cheers. Both old and new cables are German. The old one was starting to rust a little and had no lubrication left (if it ever had any). We put quite a bit of light oil down the inner of the new one. Extra smooth.

Not sure what to do about the bushing - a case of it ain't broke...?

They are pretty cheap to replace. I found that the new cable tends to find it's way back into the new groove.

Have fun mate and good work in lubing up the new cable-nothing beats forward thinking!

[Golf Loon]

Dont worry about the bushing, some cables need em, others dont. If it works well, its right.

[greasykitchen]

Thanks folks. All is good in clutch cable land.

[Jarred]

I reckon lucky you fixed it when you did.

My old 76er, the outer white plastic started coming off, and cracking/tearing. I didn't think much of it at the time, other than "oh, another things I'll have to replace"

but then the cable snapped on me! luckily i was in a carpark. So I caught a tram home, got a spare off a friend, and caught the tram back, fixed the cable in the middle of the carpark! (in hawthorn, which is a bit posh, boy did I get some looks! )

[greasykitchen]

Yeah, not a job I'd want to do on the fly or on the side of the road, but that's probably just me I had images of the cable going in heavy traffic heading home from work making for a fun time all round. Glad to avoid that.

Now I'm detecting a slight 'notch' in the pedal motion on certain gear changes. Hmmm. Hope it's nothing...