Clutch chatter only in reverse??

[Zap]

Well, after a successful Upper 60k (all of it done now) and replacing the clutch cable on the '94, we're trying to figure out why the clutch chatters, but ONLY in reverse.

The car has no e-brake cables as they are all bad and we haven't replaced them yet. So, we can't officially do the e-brake motor mount test, however the mounts are SHONut reinforced and only about 20k old. If we try to accelerate forward and backward with the hood up in the driveway the engine stays where it should (I've seen bad mounts before and the engine really moves!). Also, the SFB's are Al SFB's so those should be fine as well.

The clutch shifts fairly well, but the shifting can be a bit less than stellar. When the first clutch was done around 86k the fluid was replaced with Valvoline MaxLife ATF. My '95 has Mobil 1 and feels like a dream (that car is seriously incredible but a garage queen - so every time I take it out it wows me).

Is it possible that the MTX may need a bit more fluid? I've been considering just replacing it with Mobil 1 since I've had good luck with that in my car. How would I go about doing that without having to install a drain plug? I don't want to mess anything up but would really like to change the fluid if that should help shifting and the reverse issue.

If it isn't slightly low fluid or bad fluid, any ideas about the reverse issue? If I don't let the clutch up too far it will back up fairly well (it doesn't like inclines as much though... somewhat odd?) but letting out too far just causes excess chatter.

Thanks!

 

[jimtash]

Same thing happened to me when I replaced my cable. There's a grommet/bushing at the end of your old cable that you re-use because new cables usually don't come with one. If you forget to put it on, the clutch will chatter only in reverse so make sure your cable has this piece on it. It goes on the end of the cable on the transmission side and sits behind the raised portion of the tranny where the hole for the cable to go through is.

How did I find this out? Well I was experiencing the same thing after I had replaced the cable and didn't know to transfer the bushing and decided to take it to FPS (Ford Performance Specialist) where they charged me $700.00 for a replacement clutch (the SPEC clutch I had in it only had 5000 miles on it) instead of taking a bushing off one of their parts cars. The best part is that Doug even mentioned to me that the cable was missing the bushing but the thing is, he didn't even replace it so the car just did the same thing during the test drive and after leaving his shop (he didn't care, it was late and he wanted to get home and I remember him saying the clutch needed to be "broken in"). I get mad to this day when I think about what that piece of crap said. Definitely don't take it to a mechanic because you will get hosed (even by this supposidly SHO guru who IMO is a greedy sack of shi* and can rot in **** for all I care).

Oh and Doug if you do read this, my V-8 sits here un-welded and I'll be damn if I'll drive the 4 hours to your shop to have it done. I'd rather pay more at a camfest then pay you a dime of my money. That's how much I despise you and you will never get my business again.

 

[Racer X]

Don't hold back Jim, tell 'em how you really feel.

Sucks that you got taken like that by FPS, but I'll agree on the missing grommit causing that issue.

 

[93rev2sev]

Check subfame bushings and rear motor mount as well as the tranny mount. Any sort of movement will make the chatter seem worse. Do you do a lot of engine braking?

 

[Zap]

THANK YOU!!!!!

I totally forgot to post this, and I somewhat suspected this was part of the problem. Since I've done a few clutch jobs I was somewhat suspicious when the rubber bushing was missing from that piece! The real question is this - Where the heck can I get a new one? When someone else did the last clutch they must have lost it! The plastic piece is also cracked, so I figure I'd better replace it and soon!

Does anyone know if there is a Ford P/N for it?

I'm so glad to find out this is probably the only other problem I need to fix.



One more question - I'm not doing any damage driving it this way until I find the spacer, am I?