Broken clutch quadrant -> bad clutch symptoms?

[LJRuddy]

Well, my stock clutch rolled over 50,000 miles a few days ago and I went to adjust the clutch cable like I do every 10k miles. Up until this point, I have never been able to take any slack out of the cable which I thought was normal seeing as I do not abuse my clutch. Well this time, I lifted up on the clutch pedal and I heard the click. I pressed the pedal down to the floor and when I let up on it, it acted as if the clutch cable had disconnected from the quadrant. I had zero clutch movement at all during this time so I knew something had disconnected.

After dicking around with the pedal, I was able to get the cable to hook by putting the pedal to the floor, pushing the pedal towards the brake pedal and lifting it back up. The first several times I did this, the pedal would grab the cable until about halfway back up when a loud click was heard. At this point, the cable would disconnect again and I would again loose all clutch movement. Other times, I was able to "re-hook" the cable but my clutch pedal would then have about 4 inches of play at the top of the sweep.

After this event took place, I noticed that I now have a hard(er) time getting into 1st gear at a stop. I also cannot shift into reverse without gears grinding no matter how quickly I go from 2nd gear to reverse. Sometimes, 1st gear engagement is completely fine, other times I have to really play with the shifter for it to go in. When grabbing 1st gear is hardest, I can see the car lurch forward an inch or two just before engaging the gear.

Based on the clutch adjustment screw up, I chalked this up to a broken quadrant causing slack in the clutch cable. However, my clutch disk engagement is felt towards the top 30% of the pedal travel - which is the same as it always has been - with some "bite" noticed 2 inches above the floorboard.

Also, I recently noticed that with the engine off and clutch pedal depressed, the shifts into all 5 forward gears are gritty. When I say gritty, I mean the feeling of running your fingernail down the notched surface of a zip tie. I feel this feeling in the shift **** while sliding it into and out of any forward gear. Probably not related but I never noticed this before.

Comments? How hard is it to replace a clutch quadrant? Is there a way I can ensure my cable is tensioned properly in the mean time? Money is kind of tight currently and I really cannot purchase/install a new clutch at this time so I'd like to be as easy on it as possible.

:wave:

EDIT: Also probably not related but might be helpful... The day before all of my clutch problems started, I was caught driving in a torrential rain fall. The rain was falling so hard that dips in major streets/interstates had several inches of standing water on them. Is it possible that I managed to drown a hot clutch assembly (100 degree heat, 60 mile road trip minutes before the rain) and warped/cracked/bent something due to the extreme change in temperature?

 

[rubydist]

It sounds like your current situation is not completely disconnecting the clutch, so the input shaft wants to keep turning.

The adjuster quadrant has a little pawl which is spring-loaded into the teeth on the quadrant - check to see if the spring has come loose off the pawl or something like that to keep it from adjusting properly.

 

[firstgen89sho]

I'd second the spring as well, I have had it happen to me, spring came disengaged from the actual clutch pedal, the spring was still hanging on the quadrant, if that is the case, it is easier to pull the clutch pedal assy out (separate from the brake) and re-connect the spring.

 

[LJRuddy]

Anyone have a write up on this procedure? Its currently 98* and humid as **** out, I don't have AC and this is my DD so I'd like to do this as quick as possible and not screw anything up in the process. Thanks for the help!

 

[JRA2000TL]

Yet another problem with the silver "original factory buy-back" SHO? Wow, that sucks. One thing I learned about getting my car into reverse without grinding was reading some factory info. from some pics another forum member posted. Apparently these cars came brand new with a tag around the gear shift that tells the owner how to properly engage in reverse. It says to shift into N for 3 seconds before engaging reverse. I'd never taken the ridiculously LONG pause when going into R (and didn't know I needed to), but once I did...no more grinding. Now I do have to sometimes put it into 2nd, then N, then R (I think 2nd is lined up the same way R is, so it adjusts the linkage right).

Sounds like you may have some other issues though.

 

[LJRuddy]

Yet another problem with the silver "original factory buy-back" SHO? Wow, that sucks.

This is one of many problems I am suffering from currently. If I were to make a "help" thread for every issue I am currently dealing with, I would be banned for spamming the forum.

One thing I learned about getting my car into reverse without grinding was reading some factory info. from some pics another forum member posted. Apparently these cars came brand new with a tag around the gear shift that tells the owner how to properly engage in reverse. It says to shift into N for 3 seconds before engaging reverse. I'd never taken the ridiculously LONG pause when going into R (and didn't know I needed to), but once I did...no more grinding. Now I do have to sometimes put it into 2nd, then N, then R (I think 2nd is lined up the same way R is, so it adjusts the linkage right).

Sounds like you may have some other issues though.

\

I am aware of this Ford factory recommendation. With a new clutch or one that is in a like-new condition, pressing the clutch pedal to the floor and letting the shifter sit in N will cause the input shaft to slow to a stop simply because it is disengaged from the engine. However, as the pressure plate/fork/TOB becomes more worn, the clutch will sometimes not 100% release from the flywheel causing the input shaft to continue spinning at some rate.

Shifting into a gear (i use 2nd, some use 1st or 3rd) will cause that gear's syncro to halt the input shaft allowing a smooth transition into reverse. I have used the 2nd to reverse method of shifting for the past 5 years of driving in 4 MTX SHOs and my MT Mustang GT without trouble.


Since I have no AC and it was hot as **** out, I didnt drive my SHO at all until around 7pm. I drove it to my parents place, back home, and then downtown where I am currently at using ALL city streets (highway speeds and windows down **** my styled hair ). This was a total of 42 miles so far today. Oddly enough, I only had one instance where 1st gear was difficult to shift into. I am convinced that my clutch is not the issue as I did a little test. I held 4500 rpms in 1st gear and held my speed with the brakes while going WOT for about 3-5 seconds. My clutch did not slip at all. In fact, my gen 3 brakes with SS lines failed to maintain a constant speed as the engine overpowered them. You would think with a worn out TOB/pressure plate that I would see some amount of slippage at this time. ****, I don't even have so much as a hint of clutch chatter in any gear, forward or reverse.

I will get up before sunrise tomorrow and completely inspect my clutch quadrant before it gets too hot out. Hopefully I will find a detached spring.

With that said, I just cursed myself... I'll fix the slack in the cable but 2 weeks from now, my clutch will take a shit and leave me stranded in the middle of my 600 mile trip to Dallas. Oklahoma and northern Texas guys, watch carefully for my "help Im stranded in butt-**** egypt" thread in a week. :laugh_ti:

 

[firstgen89sho]

somewhere on this forum, there is another thread about a quadrant spring letting go, and I put some pictures up of it. I'm sure if you search under my name, you will find it.