clutch cable ?
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scatcat
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Sun Mar 17, 2002 12:01 am
clutch cable ?
I got my 77westy on the road the other day for the first time . i put a new clutch kit in . there is no freeplay to be had by adjusting the cable . i ordered a new cluch cable and hope to put it in tuesday. the clutch makes no noise or anything but the haynes book says it is unlikly the cable would stretch . since the cable is cheap i will try replacing it first to see if it is the problem . has anyone else run into this same thing before ? i really don't want to pull the engine again but if the new cable doesn't work then i'll have to inspect the clutch . any ideas ?.....jeff
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Marc
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- Joined: Thu May 23, 2002 12:01 am
It's fairly common on a bay for the new cable to come up long. Watch the bowden tube bracket on the side of the trans flex while someone else strokes the pedal and you'll see where some of the problem comes from. Even with plenty of bowden tube preload the cable may be a little long if the flywheel's been resurfaced...I used to make "longer nuts" by welding 2 adjuster nuts together piggybacked, with the threads drilled out of the bottom one, to have around as a quick "fix" for the problem. Works better than simply adding spacer washers - that can cause the cable to back off by itself.
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ToddGsanford
- Posts: 113
- Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2003 12:01 am
bowden tube
have had a problem with the bowden tube where thr bracket mounts to the tranny. this was moving causing a ton of flex in the tube and no clutch. replaced bolts and heliacoiled trans case and was like new
todd
todd
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Marc
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Check out the bowden tube bracket mount as Todd suggested, and make sure the bracket itself isn't cracked, that there's plenty of preload (sag) in the bowden tube itself (if the rear clutch tube weld breaks you can lose preload and cable travel)...if you don't find another problem and the cable's still too long, the "longer nut" trick isn't anything to be proud of but it's an expedient fix.scatcat wrote:marc , i haven't put the new cable in yet are you saying that sometimes the new cable will be too long and i will have to do as you did with the adjusting nut ? i have another a-nut from my old 72 ...jeff
I vaguely remember there once being a slightly longer release bearing available (can't recall the part number) that could also be used to remedy the problem on resurfaced IV flywheels but you'd have to find one and pull the engine out to deal with it that way.
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mez
- Posts: 91
- Joined: Fri May 02, 2003 5:05 am
Re: clutch cable ?
I had what seemed to be a problem with my 73 Squareback clutch cable, but it turned out that the pedal was stretching. Eventually, the clutch pedal assembly pulled nearly completely off inside the tunnel. I had to buy a new pedal assembly, the installation of which was rather a pain.scatcat wrote: there is no freeplay to be had by adjusting the cable . i ordered a new cluch cable and hope to put it in tuesday. the clutch makes no noise or anything but the haynes book says it is unlikly the cable would stretch . since the cable is cheap i will try replacing it first to see if it is the problem.
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dman
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Wed May 01, 2002 1:01 am
Hello everyone. Amazing...I just encountered the same problem this past week on my 73 Westfalia. I recently installed a Chevy 2.8 liter V6 motor into it and replaced the stock clutch with a Kennedy Engineering 1700lb version (stock is 1200lb?).
With the new clutch I found that the adjustment wing nut would bottom out but there was still just a bit too much freeplay. I wondered if perhaps this cable had stretched over time. I read in the Haynes manual that you could place shims between the preload tube and the bracket to help "shorten" the cable. I tried that but it still wasn't enough. While trying to back the bus up into my garage I couldn't get enough release on the clutch and ended up burning the clutch disk a little (stinky).
This weekend I pulled out the motor (very easy to do) and double-checked my clutch install. Everything was installed correctly so I roughened up the clutch disk with some sandpaper to correct the slight burning and re-installed the motor (very very hard to do).
This morning I ended up adding an additional nut before the wingnut as described by Marc above. The pedal now seems to provide the proper amount of movement. I hope that this will cure my problem.
If it truly is the cable having stretched over time then I'd prefer to replace it with a new one, but I'd like to know if that is actually the case. Does anyone know for certain whether or not these cables have the habit of stretching over time?
With the new clutch I found that the adjustment wing nut would bottom out but there was still just a bit too much freeplay. I wondered if perhaps this cable had stretched over time. I read in the Haynes manual that you could place shims between the preload tube and the bracket to help "shorten" the cable. I tried that but it still wasn't enough. While trying to back the bus up into my garage I couldn't get enough release on the clutch and ended up burning the clutch disk a little (stinky).
This weekend I pulled out the motor (very easy to do) and double-checked my clutch install. Everything was installed correctly so I roughened up the clutch disk with some sandpaper to correct the slight burning and re-installed the motor (very very hard to do).
This morning I ended up adding an additional nut before the wingnut as described by Marc above. The pedal now seems to provide the proper amount of movement. I hope that this will cure my problem.
If it truly is the cable having stretched over time then I'd prefer to replace it with a new one, but I'd like to know if that is actually the case. Does anyone know for certain whether or not these cables have the habit of stretching over time?
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