93' Clutch Issues

[THEBIGSHO]

I have had problems with my clutch since I bought my car at about 80k miles, now it has over 100 on it and I have adjusted the clutch cable several times but it has always been on the stiff side. This morning the pedal seemed excessivley stiff and the car would barely start because of the clutch not disengaging fully. It had a hard time shifting into any gear on my way to work and whenever I clutched I could hear a sharp squeeking noise coming from the transmission side of the car and when I came to a stop there was smoke rising from the hood. But halfway through my 10 mile trip all the sudden the clutch cable was loose and shifting was easy but the squeeking turned into more of a ffftfftfftffft noise and its not as loud. To me it sounds like something is wearing down internally becuase of my cable always being so tight, people who have driven my car have always remarked at how hard it was to push the clutch. I researched previous posts and read that there is some sleeve that the TOB rides on that could use locktite but I dont think my symptoms sound the same as these posts? anyone have any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I would like to aviod ripping my tranny apart at all costs but it sounds like thats what I'll be doing soon...
Thanks

 

[THEBIGSHO]

Well I switched over from the 93 mtx to the 93 atx for the winter so I can work on a few things including the clutch linkage. I was wondering if anyone has had experience droping the tranny in an mtx and how hard it was to change the clutch themselves. I have done it on a ford pickup and a little ****** wagon before but I have a feeling this will be a lot harder and more time consuming. Also I have magnaflow exhaust on this car and I don't really like the way it sounds, it's got kind of a ricey rasp to it when on the gas, and I'm looking for more of a low rumble sound that my atx has, if anyone knows how to rig it up to get that sound that info would be appreciated also...

 

[itwonder]

Your TOB is toast. Stop driving it before you cause a fatal problem. Go to shonutperformance.com and buy Josh's DVD which includes step by step instructions for doing a clutch job.

 

[220ksho]

Clutches fail on these cars when the TOB starts digging into the diaphram fingers. The fingers break off one by one which causes uneven pressure on the TOB, then it binds on the shaft housing, making the pedal feel stiff.

It's definitely a bigger job than a RWD pickup. Not sure about the ******.

You have to take a lot of parts off the car, including the subframe. Which means you have to remove the y-pipe, half shafts, spindles, and the shifter linkage. You also have to support the engine from above during the subframe removal. After that, it's pretty much like any other clutch job.

You can definitely do it if you have a wrenching background, and it sounds like you do. You just have to be a little more creative with the SHO. There's a lot of stubborn parts and little tricks that you'll learn along the way.

I haven't seen the SHO nut video. I'm sure it would help. I dug into it with a Chilton's manual and a little common sense. I'm in the middle of my third SHO clutch job. It gets quicker each time.

I'll have pics up soon.

Good luck!

 

[THEBIGSHO]

Well I just bought that video from shonut performance and am saving up for some new parts and making room in the shed for my winter project. I figure while Im at it I might as well put in a new exhuast, some new plugwell and valve cover gaskets to fix my oil leak, maybe polish the intake, and tie up some other odds and ends. Thanks for the help hopefully I can still get 220k miles out of this car