Oh god, replacing the clutch cable

[hamlet]

Just spent five hours doing this. It was absolutely wretched. I cut the original cable to get the latch bit off the pedal, and then the hell of installing the new cable began. I spent FOREVER trying to figure out how to get it onto the pedal, and then I decided to just unscrew the bolt that keeps the brake and clutch pedals in line. With the clutch pedal down, I was able to fish the new cable onto the slot on the pedal, but then I realized that the plastic bracket wasn't there -- the PO had just bent the pedal to keep the cable from sliding out. So I got it into place, and too some pliers and bent it back together myself. Then I had to get the pedal assembly back together.

There is a special hell somewhere that involves trying to get high strength springs to span lengths. All I had were quarters, and getting the clutch pedal spring to take these was asking a lot. But I managed to get enough quarters, washers, and other household crap in between the coils, that it would span, and I put it in, But when the spring stretched, none of the things fell out. I pulled most of them out, but I think there are still three quarters in there. Absurd.

At last, I crawled back under and tightened up the play on the clutch cable, and it was good to go.

Is it really always this difficult? On the bright side, it did fix the noise issue from when I depress the clutch.

[azruss]

I've had the pleasure of doing that chore a couple of times. It definitely rates a 10 on the PITA-meter scale. I hoped you greased up the fork on the clutch petal to insure against eary cable failure.

[BEEK]

i hope for your sake the fork end of the pedal is not bent. it sounds like i might be by the description that you had given. if you had to bend a part of the pedal to keep the cable in place you should have replaced the pedal. the clutch pedal is a weak point in the design. the good thing is after you have replaced it a few times it gets real easy

[hamlet]

Oh great – I'll be getting a new pedal then. I'm shaking my fist at you, previous owner.

[canadan]

i guess the jesus clip was missing?
There was a little plastic clip on the top end of the pedal that kept the end of the cable from falling off the pedal.
JEZZUS where did that clip go was a common comment at the dealerships 20-30 years ago and then much more words that i cant post here today.
Clutch pedal failure is quite common. The problem being electricity following the path of least resistance.
The starter being by far the biggest energy draw in the whole car.
Guess what is the best path and closest to the starter.
Yup good guess, the clutch cable.
If the battery is not grounded to the engine, the next best path is that clutch cable.
Seen them even weld themselves solid and rip the firewall.Its behind the brake booster, figure that one out.
Always run a secondary ground between the body and engine.
Yet another Dan rule.

[narfire]

Think I posted these a while ago but these might give a better idea as to what is going on down there.
I had a pedal assembly and old cable I just pulled from a 72..
The half barrel end rotates to fit in the fork.



You can see the plastic clip that pops off and disappears in the carpet, liner or where ever but has to be put back on the new cable.
Chris

[azruss]

Great pix. The forks I have worked on are narrow enough that you cant insert the cable and pull it to the tee. The tee housing is too fat. you have to bend the cable so the groove in the tee house goes in the fork slot. this is a near impossible job in the car. once this has been achieved the tee housing is captured and there is no need for the plastic retainer.

[johndemar]

Digital cameras are invaluable before starting any job on the car. The older I get the less I remember what went where.
And the clutch cable ranks right up there with the starter in the PITA category, although the picture that Chris showed looks like mine so it wasn't awful replacing it.

[hamlet]

I can't find the little plastic bushing that goes on the back on any of the sellers. Any ideas?

Also, this week I replaced the clutch cable and the starter in one. I'd say the starter was an easier job, but far messier.

[toyfiats]

I can't find the little plastic bushing that goes on the back on any of the sellers. Any ideas?

Also, this week I replaced the clutch cable and the starter in one. I'd say the starter was an easier job, but far messier.

As azruss mentioned, the plastic clip is unnecessary. It was explained to me years ago by the factory dealership mechanic that it was an assembly line clip so that the cable didn't pop out while going down the assembly line. That's the reason no one sells it - it's not needed.

[canadan]

Aruss is right, no fiat mechanic in north america ever put the Jesus clip back in.

Sorry i bothered you guys.

[kbee00]

reading this thread reminded me of my Fiat Strada I had in college. I went thru THREE freakin clutch cables before I found the engine ground strap was frayed apart. Those were miserable to replace - especially in the street - that was "garage". Then again pulling one side of the car up on the curb and draining the oil into the city sewer grate made oil changes easy.....ahhh the things you do when you are flat broke.....loved that Strada. Had a cracked manifold and my late great buddy Gary said it sounded like a Ferrari Testarosa.....

[kenmataya]

I just had to replace the clutch pedal - fork snapped off the top of the original. Not an easy task! but here's a couple of tips:

1. re the "jesus" clip, I can see why they used this on the assembly line! its tricky to get the cable in the fork, and when you do it will pop out as you try to get he clutch pedal into place! here's a simple solution - get a sink washer, cut a slit to the hole and pop it on the clutch cable



2. now that you have the cable securely attached to the pedal, push a short bolt thru the clutch side of the bracket to hold it in place, then thread the main bolt from the center of the car, thru the brake pedal, pushing out the short bolt, tada!

3. the brake spring is fairly easy to stretch into place. i get some steel wire, wrap it around the spring end, then grab it with vise grips to pull it into place. for the clutch spring I extended it using quarters and washers ( just use washers, the quarter are hard to remove )

[SuperCoupe]

I just had to replace the clutch pedal - fork snapped off the top of the original. Not an easy task! but here's a couple of tips:

1. re the "jesus" clip, I can see why they used this on the assembly line! its tricky to get the cable in the fork, and when you do it will pop out as you try to get he clutch pedal into place! here's a simple solution - get a sink washer, cut a slit to the hole and pop it on the clutch cable



2. now that you have the cable securely attached to the pedal, push a short bolt thru the clutch side of the bracket to hold it in place, then thread the main bolt from the center of the car, thru the brake pedal, pushing out the short bolt, tada!

3. the brake spring is fairly easy to stretch into place. i get some steel wire, wrap it around the spring end, then grab it with vise grips to pull it into place. for the clutch spring I extended it using quarters and washers ( just use washers, the quarter are hard to remove )

Added photobucket hack (~original) to restore image. Looks like it worked!