Clutch and just plain bad luck! (long)

Super_Stang · 08-01-2001, 11:19 PM

Well Well well!... first lemme say that 8-1 is/was my b-day (17!) and ihaven't had a good one in about 5 years

. so lemme go thru my day! (there is a question i could really use help on in this also)
1 First we had band at my school and that was barely ok.. i paly drums and we got to play some but it wasn't to exciting!
2 i went to get my liscence renewed and i didn't have my highschool attendance thingy and so i had to go back 30 mi to get it and then 30 mi back ( a total of 130 or so mi. ) finally got that done
3 i was cruisin the main drag when a local cop (a friend) pulled up with a 96 cobra that was sweet! and i wanted to run with him however i realized there was another cop behind us so i didn't.. and then he punched it and he was gone! it was fast ( as fast as mine maybe! ) and the cop looked at me like "well i was waiting to see you two race!".
4 i finally cought up to him and dropped her down to 2 when POP! i was like holy SH!T.. and so i pulled off the road and noticed that the clutch engaged WAY sooner than normal (like 1/2 or 1 in from the floor and it was doing it about 4 to 5 before)
5 (getting to my question here) i was told that you can adjust the clutch from near the pedal and since my synchros are out i really needed to.. i mean i couldn't go from 4 to 3 unless i was at a stop now! ( i could drop it down with a little grind before the pop ).. so i found a place to adjust it and adjusted it all the way i could.. ( i pulled a little notch lingy down so that the clutch pedal was as far out as it could be and then it clicked in ) ( does this make sense cause this is the problem - the clutch still won't engange 4-5 inches from the floor and i can't shift for crap! ) i need to get the cable very taught so that there is no play or anything in the pedal!
6 LAST! MY B-DAY SUCKED JUST LIKE EVERY YEAR IN THE PAST! I KNOW I COULDA HUNG WITH THAT COBRA AND I REALLY NEED MY CAR FOR SCHOOL UNTILL MY 67 IS DONE!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!

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1967 mustang gt with a 390 bored and stroked, dual quads, 12.5 :1 compression, 3.50 9" posi gears, comp cam, edlebrock heads, 4 speed toploader, coupe and dark moss green!
1989 Mustang GT Hatch just purchased for 1600 and needs mods! 156K on the engine but it was well taken care of.

stng87 · 08-02-2001, 12:37 AM

do you have the stock clutch cable and quadrant? If so i would guess that somethinkg went wrong with either of them. They suck. Get an adjustable one. I would look under by the pedal and see if everything is in order (ex.) cable is in the track of the quadrant, cable is still hoked up right. Also pay attention to the spring that operates the small paw adjuster. Its just a smaller version of your quadrant and also has teeth which it grabs that quadrant with. Its teeth have to be pressed up against the teeth of the quadrant, meshing with them. Im sure your problem is stemming from that stock quadrant (is so equipped). Perhaps the mating teeth on the plastic quadrant and the adjuster are so worn down that they cant hold anymore.

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1987 black with t-tops. Cobra intake, 1.7 cobra crane rollers, gt40p's, bbk shorties, off road h-pipe, Holley adj. fuel pressure regulator, Tremec t-5z, 65mm TB, 4.10's, adj cable, 155lph fuel pump, Ram clutch kit, 3 row motorsport radiator,
275-60-15 BFG TA's on Welds, Hurst shifter,Former AOD Semper Fi

jimberg · 08-02-2001, 01:37 AM

There should be about 1/4" to 1/8" of play at the end of the shift fork where the cable attaches. Cables tighten as the clutch wears out which is why the self-adjusting stock quadrant gives up slack as it adjusts.

Where is the friction point now that you adjusted the pawl? Is it better than 2 inches from the floor? I agree that you should replace that quadrant, but we should see if we can fix it in the mean time. You were looking at it, since you pretty much described it, so do the teeth on the quadrant look worn out? It's also possible that you broke the clutch release fork where the throw out bearing attaches. It sounds like it could have pushed back some. That pop may have been it breaking, or it could have been the quadrant shredding a gear.

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351W 89 Mustang GT Convertible

Super_Stang · 08-02-2001, 01:56 AM

well i can't really say i got a good look at it.. i was kinda mad at some things that were happening at the time so i was just trying to get somethin done.. BUT A HA! i found a really great article from corral.net that is for a 4.6L mustang (would it still be about the same?) that gives me a real good idea of what i can do now..tomarrow(today) i will get a good look at everything i can and get back to you all if i can't get it fixed but i gotta wait till daylight!

------------------
1967 mustang gt with a 390 bored and stroked, dual quads, 12.5 :1 compression, 3.50 9" posi gears, comp cam, edlebrock heads, 4 speed toploader, coupe and dark moss green!
1989 Mustang GT Hatch just purchased for 1600 and needs mods! 156K on the engine but it was well taken care of.

08-01-2001, 11:19 PM	#1
Super_Stang Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Refugio Posts: 67	Clutch and just plain bad luck! (long) Well Well well!... first lemme say that 8-1 is/was my b-day (17!) and ihaven't had a good one in about 5 years . so lemme go thru my day! (there is a question i could really use help on in this also) 1 First we had band at my school and that was barely ok.. i paly drums and we got to play some but it wasn't to exciting! 2 i went to get my liscence renewed and i didn't have my highschool attendance thingy and so i had to go back 30 mi to get it and then 30 mi back ( a total of 130 or so mi. ) finally got that done 3 i was cruisin the main drag when a local cop (a friend) pulled up with a 96 cobra that was sweet! and i wanted to run with him however i realized there was another cop behind us so i didn't.. and then he punched it and he was gone! it was fast ( as fast as mine maybe! ) and the cop looked at me like "well i was waiting to see you two race!". 4 i finally cought up to him and dropped her down to 2 when POP! i was like holy SH!T.. and so i pulled off the road and noticed that the clutch engaged WAY sooner than normal (like 1/2 or 1 in from the floor and it was doing it about 4 to 5 before) 5 (getting to my question here) i was told that you can adjust the clutch from near the pedal and since my synchros are out i really needed to.. i mean i couldn't go from 4 to 3 unless i was at a stop now! ( i could drop it down with a little grind before the pop ).. so i found a place to adjust it and adjusted it all the way i could.. ( i pulled a little notch lingy down so that the clutch pedal was as far out as it could be and then it clicked in ) ( does this make sense cause this is the problem - the clutch still won't engange 4-5 inches from the floor and i can't shift for crap! ) i need to get the cable very taught so that there is no play or anything in the pedal! 6 LAST! MY B-DAY SUCKED JUST LIKE EVERY YEAR IN THE PAST! I KNOW I COULDA HUNG WITH THAT COBRA AND I REALLY NEED MY CAR FOR SCHOOL UNTILL MY 67 IS DONE!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!! ------------------ 1967 mustang gt with a 390 bored and stroked, dual quads, 12.5 :1 compression, 3.50 9" posi gears, comp cam, edlebrock heads, 4 speed toploader, coupe and dark moss green! 1989 Mustang GT Hatch just purchased for 1600 and needs mods! 156K on the engine but it was well taken care of.

08-02-2001, 12:37 AM	#2
stng87 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: southern california Posts: 329	do you have the stock clutch cable and quadrant? If so i would guess that somethinkg went wrong with either of them. They suck. Get an adjustable one. I would look under by the pedal and see if everything is in order (ex.) cable is in the track of the quadrant, cable is still hoked up right. Also pay attention to the spring that operates the small paw adjuster. Its just a smaller version of your quadrant and also has teeth which it grabs that quadrant with. Its teeth have to be pressed up against the teeth of the quadrant, meshing with them. Im sure your problem is stemming from that stock quadrant (is so equipped). Perhaps the mating teeth on the plastic quadrant and the adjuster are so worn down that they cant hold anymore. ------------------ 1987 black with t-tops. Cobra intake, 1.7 cobra crane rollers, gt40p's, bbk shorties, off road h-pipe, Holley adj. fuel pressure regulator, Tremec t-5z, 65mm TB, 4.10's, adj cable, 155lph fuel pump, Ram clutch kit, 3 row motorsport radiator, 275-60-15 BFG TA's on Welds, Hurst shifter,Former AOD Semper Fi

08-02-2001, 01:37 AM	#3
jimberg Registered Member Join Date: Oct 1998 Location: Rogers, MN Posts: 2,089	There should be about 1/4" to 1/8" of play at the end of the shift fork where the cable attaches. Cables tighten as the clutch wears out which is why the self-adjusting stock quadrant gives up slack as it adjusts. Where is the friction point now that you adjusted the pawl? Is it better than 2 inches from the floor? I agree that you should replace that quadrant, but we should see if we can fix it in the mean time. You were looking at it, since you pretty much described it, so do the teeth on the quadrant look worn out? It's also possible that you broke the clutch release fork where the throw out bearing attaches. It sounds like it could have pushed back some. That pop may have been it breaking, or it could have been the quadrant shredding a gear. ------------------ 351W 89 Mustang GT Convertible

08-02-2001, 01:56 AM	#4
Super_Stang Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Refugio Posts: 67	well i can't really say i got a good look at it.. i was kinda mad at some things that were happening at the time so i was just trying to get somethin done.. BUT A HA! i found a really great article from corral.net that is for a 4.6L mustang (would it still be about the same?) that gives me a real good idea of what i can do now..tomarrow(today) i will get a good look at everything i can and get back to you all if i can't get it fixed but i gotta wait till daylight! ------------------ 1967 mustang gt with a 390 bored and stroked, dual quads, 12.5 :1 compression, 3.50 9" posi gears, comp cam, edlebrock heads, 4 speed toploader, coupe and dark moss green! 1989 Mustang GT Hatch just purchased for 1600 and needs mods! 156K on the engine but it was well taken care of.