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Author Topic: Clutch cable mishap  (Read 2262 times)

SHOwn

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    • 91 XR2
Clutch cable mishap
« on: June 03, 2017, 12:27:11 AM »

So I left work last night and got about 4 miles of my 25 mile drive home under my belt. Then at a stop sign, I made a left and shifted to 2nd and then when going for 3rd (leisurely) my foot goes to the floor with a pop! Thought my clutch cable snapped. I shut her down on a beautiful stretch of road with a nice flat shady shoulder, called my insurance for a tow, and pulled out my sling chair and read my emails for a half-hour. The guy showed up with a nice rig and I was looking at my XR2 backed into my garage 20 miles away in another half hour. I had been planning on pulling the engine and trans to get at the head gasket leak and maybe do rings, and replace my clutch since the engagement had risen some on me a few months ago. I had adjusted it to start to grab at about an inch of the floor. My only problem was effort. IDK what was wrong but that clutch had become a killer to push. Maybe some leverage angle had become too steep?

So tonight after work, I tore into it after doing a double check on the earlier compression test I had run. This time I got her hot enough to kick on the cooling fan, pulled the plugs and set the throttle wide open. I started with #4 and got a healthy 148lbs, 3 had 135, 2 was 143, and 1 was 145.  A nice even test compared to last time. Happy with the rings, I turned my attention to the cable.

After getting the battery and tray bracket out of the way, I finally got the cable out only to find that it was NOT broken! It is fairly difficult to slide in the shieth, seems gummed up, but not broken. Now I have to put it back together to see what was wrong with it! I can't see the top of the pedal assembly to check the hook for the cable yoke, but I doubt it would have broken off before the cable would snap. I will have to try again tomorrow with my iPhone camera to see if I can get a look at the hook. I doubt that the fork assembly broke in the trans, it is still stiff. The pedal was loose, and all this seems to point to the hook at the top of the pedal.

Any thoughts on this or tips for getting at it?
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R. Powell
'91 XR2, LM 16" Chrome Drifters, White Gauge Faces, Kuhmo 40's, Big Brake UG, 2.5" Mandrel Bent CATback, BMW318 Heated Seats, `94 console, '99 Dodge Neon Spoiler, '94 XR2 Sideskirts Bumpers and taillights, Fresh Basecoat-Clearcoat Cardinal Red (Jul2014), vj11/vj14 hybrid, manual boost CTL.

SHOwn

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    • 91 XR2
Re: Clutch cable mishap
« Reply #1 on: June 03, 2017, 11:07:02 PM »

Ok, I could not feel anything but stiffness in the cable while holding one end and clamping the other end into the vice. So I put it back in to see if it would even work, even though I did find two broken strands that I cut out of the end of it. When I got it put back in the car (pure torture to reach the top of the pedal) as soon as I pressed on the pedal it went to the floor and stayed there. I thought it was not on the pedal, so I took the top it's off again and tugged on it and it did come out, but the cable stayed in! It did break after all, it must have been so bound up in there that I couldn't feel a problem in the vice, only stiffness.

So, I called PCfree who lives about a mile down the road, he has the remains of an XR2 and I knew he had a clutch cable. He let me come and pull it from the car and I lubed it up and put it in my XR2. WOW! For the first time in about 9 months the clutch is AWESOME!. It is as light and easy as the Focus I'm borrowing from a friend. The stiffness started about 9 months ago when I raised the engine and lowered the crossmember so I could pull the oil pan and replace the front main seal for the second time, attempting to stop the oil leaks which were eventually traced to the head gasket. I now believe that I must have damaged it then. I noticed immediately after that that the clutch was much stiffer and engagement was high. I adjusted the height and got it workable, but it was so stiff that my leg would cramp at times. It also bit very quickly which made it hard to release smoothly. It's all so nice now thanks to PCfree - thanks my friend!

Now to pull the head and fix those oil leaks!
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R. Powell
'91 XR2, LM 16" Chrome Drifters, White Gauge Faces, Kuhmo 40's, Big Brake UG, 2.5" Mandrel Bent CATback, BMW318 Heated Seats, `94 console, '99 Dodge Neon Spoiler, '94 XR2 Sideskirts Bumpers and taillights, Fresh Basecoat-Clearcoat Cardinal Red (Jul2014), vj11/vj14 hybrid, manual boost CTL.

Gaz

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    • 92 XR2, 01 LL Bean Outback, 92 Concours, 86 F150
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Re: Clutch cable mishap
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2017, 02:40:54 PM »

I feel like I'm reading this from the mail section of Car & Driver.
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