Frusturated at Clutch engagement

[dantheman68]

ever since i put my Spec II in my 95' (about 3k miles ago) the pedal has engaged about 1 inch from the top... i drove my friend's SHO this weekend, and its so much easier to drive, and shifts like butter... sometimes my 1-2 or 2-3 shifts are hard, and shifting overall is notchy compared to his 93'

the only things i can think of is that the clutch cable isnt adjusted, the cable is worn out, or the auto tensioner is shot...

im sure its one of these, because i have a bizzy'd tranny filled with Mobil 1 synthetic, and his history is pretty much unknown...


now, if i disconnect my clutch cable, and reconnect it, ill pull up on the cable and it will click, like it is adjusting, and i tried manually adjusting it, but it didnt help at all... im really stumped, and tried searching, but most results said that the clutch was bad, which in my case i know isnt true


so i think i have three choices

1. put in a new cable

2. fix the auto adjuster (have no idea how to do this, or if it can be done)

3. drive it off a cliff

 

[CerberuS]

3. Drive it at my home (and hand over the keys.)

Seriously , buy the cable first , its like 30 bucks.

 

[blue2ndgen]

I'm glad you brought up this thread because I am having the same problem. I bought my stage II when you did but I have only put about 1,000 on mine. I always thought performance clutches were suppose to engage sooner than stock. I thought I heard something about shimming it to adjust it but I'm not sure what that means either.

 

[dantheman68]

does yours chatter too? mine will, im hoping that this will make it a little better or easier to manage (most likely the second) im not going home for a few weeks (college), but i am going to put a new cable in, and then maybe look at adjusting the quads again... or try it differently

 

[TYSHO]

I ran into this problem, too. My clutch only has a few thousand miles on it and the problems started after a high speed run. I've replaced the clutch cable and it didn't help. I also checked my pressure plate straps and bolts, which were both fine. The last thing I will be changing before blaming the pressure plate somehow, is the quadrant assembly. It seems to look good, but who knows. I'm picking one up tomorrow and am going to install it, hoping it cures the problem.

The weirdest of all, if I push my pedal down only like 2-3 inches, I can shift perfect. But if I push it to the floor, I can't engage any gear. To top that off, when I went on another high speed run I was able to push the pedle down all of the way and have smooth shifts, but that went away on the next attempt. I'm wondering if the problem is with the pressure plate diaphram.

 

[blue2ndgen]

does yours chatter too? mine will, im hoping that this will make it a little better or easier to manage (most likely the second) im not going home for a few weeks (college), but i am going to put a new cable in, and then maybe look at adjusting the quads again... or try it differently

It hasn't really started chattering yet but I think its starting to make a little noise. I do know of a couple peoples who's do chatter.

 

[blue2ndgen]

I ran into this problem, too. My clutch only has a few thousand miles on it and the problems started after a high speed run. I've replaced the clutch cable and it didn't help. I also checked my pressure plate straps and bolts, which were both fine. The last thing I will be changing before blaming the pressure plate somehow, is the quadrant assembly. It seems to look good, but who knows. I'm picking one up tomorrow and am going to install it, hoping it cures the problem.

The weirdest of all, if I push my pedal down only like 2-3 inches, I can shift perfect. But if I push it to the floor, I can't engage any gear. To top that off, when I went on another high speed run I was able to push the pedle down all of the way and have smooth shifts, but that went away on the next attempt. I'm wondering if the problem is with the pressure plate diaphram.

Ya let us know what happens tommorow after you install the quadrant.

 

[92ShoOff]

Ya let us know what happens tommorow after you install the quadrant.

x2

I have a had 2 new clutch kits (most recent was a SPEC Stage 2), did a new clutch cable about 10k miles ago, have tried manually adjusting and no luck. I have the same problem as you guys. New clutch does great until I run it hard and then it starts catching with the pedal almost completely released. Do please let us know if changing the quadrant cures this for you!

 

[dantheman68]

I ran into this problem, too. My clutch only has a few thousand miles on it and the problems started after a high speed run. I've replaced the clutch cable and it didn't help. I also checked my pressure plate straps and bolts, which were both fine. The last thing I will be changing before blaming the pressure plate somehow, is the quadrant assembly. It seems to look good, but who knows. I'm picking one up tomorrow and am going to install it, hoping it cures the problem.

The weirdest of all, if I push my pedal down only like 2-3 inches, I can shift perfect. But if I push it to the floor, I can't engage any gear. To top that off, when I went on another high speed run I was able to push the pedle down all of the way and have smooth shifts, but that went away on the next attempt. I'm wondering if the problem is with the pressure plate diaphram.

x 3

thats EXACTLY another thing ive noticed... push the pedal to the floor, then have to let it up a bit to get it into 1st gear...

where do you get a quadrant? is this usually the only part of the adjuster that goes bad?

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

The weirdest of all, if I push my pedal down only like 2-3 inches, I can shift perfect. But if I push it to the floor, I can't engage any gear. To top that off, when I went on another high speed run I was able to push the pedle down all of the way and have smooth shifts, but that went away on the next attempt. I'm wondering if the problem is with the pressure plate diaphram.

Sounds like the quadant is OVER tensioning the cable.

If this is the case, putting the pedal all the way to the floor will ruin the PP and TOB fingers in short order, as you are trying to push the TOB THRU the opening inside the PP fingers.

 

[lithy]

Heh same problem here on my new 92 SHO with a Spec II clutch that is nearly new, previous owner put it a new release cable and still engages very high. Also chatters when in neutral with pedal out. Tried pulling up on the clutch pedal and can't seem to get it to adjust also looked for the quadrant mentioned in older threads and can't find it.

 

[TYSHO]

where do you get a quadrant? is this usually the only part of the adjuster that goes bad?

You can get them from Ford, but I'm getting mine elsewhere for under cost. They use to run dirt cheap, but Ford keeps jacking up the price everytime and it's now $44.45. This replaces all of the little gear and spring mechanism in the pedle, which is all of the parts for the quadrant assembly.


I have a real good question about all of this. Everyone who has this same problem, are they with so called "performance" clutch kits that are not stock?


BTW, I won't be installing until tonight or tomorrow because I am picking up the part later tonight. I'll keep you guys updated, though.

 

[dantheman68]

did you buy it privately?

 

[dantheman68]

Credit to this image goes to Mike Lundeen from this thread Click

you bought this right???


what is the part we are discussing, here is the raw image:

 

[TYSHO]

It's the correct part. It's the blue piece in the picture, a white one behind it, and a spring deal. You install it by removing the bolt on the clutch arm, and you don't have to take out the whole assembly like he did.

 

[dantheman68]

would you mind snapping a pic before you put it in?

 

[TYSHO]

Sure.

I also might pick up a few instead of one.

 

[92ShoOff]

I have a real good question about all of this. Everyone who has this same problem, are they with so called "performance" clutch kits that are not stock?

Yeah, it happened on with my Fibertuff clutch with heavy duty pressure plate a ceramic TOB, and it did it with my most recent Spec stage 2 kit as well. I don't recall for sure if it did it or not with the stock clutch though.

A pattern I'm starting to kinda see over the years here is that '92s seem to have this problem more than the other years. I dunno what could be different between the '92 and the other years... but if anything it's probably something in the self-adjuster rather than the transmission or clutch. But then again maybe it's these aftermarket clutches.

And yes I do too get chatter while idling with the pedal out (push the pedal in and the noise is gone) and the clutch is very grabby. I think the grabbiness is the nature of the clutch disk but I had both of these problems with both clutch discs I've replaced. The stock never had chatter at idle nor was it grabby.

 

[dantheman68]

Sure.

I also might pick up a few instead of one.

hmmm.. well... that would be interesting

edit: if youre talking about selling them pm me the price

 

[dantheman68]

Yeah, it happened on with my Fibertuff clutch with heavy duty pressure plate a ceramic TOB, and it did it with my most recent Spec stage 2 kit as well. I don't recall for sure if it did it or not with the stock clutch though.

A pattern I'm starting to kinda see over the years here is that '92s seem to have this problem more than the other years. I dunno what could be different between the '92 and the other years... but if anything it's probably something in the self-adjuster rather than the transmission or clutch. But then again maybe it's these aftermarket clutches.

And yes I do too get chatter while idling with the pedal out (push the pedal in and the noise is gone) and the clutch is very grabby. I think the grabbiness is the nature of the clutch disk but I had both of these problems with both clutch discs I've replaced. The stock never had chatter at idle nor was it grabby.

i just thought of something... could it be the problems arise because we have a weak quadrant, and a performance clutch has more pressure on it, than a stock clutch, so it gives up sooner than with a stock replacement?

im not really familliar with how the quadrant works, i just thought of that...