Clutch cable adjustmant???

[dhughens]

Have a 90 16valve TC which doesn't shift worth a flip.  Must shove clutch pedal to the pavement and it does better.  Clutch feels real nice and engages fully at midpoint of pedal travel although starts to creep 1/2" from floor.  I understand the cable is not adjustable per service manual.  Any suggestions besides a new clutch?  Thanks for any suggestions.  dan...

[Hemi Dude]

2 hours ago, dhughens said:

Have a 90 16valve TC which doesn't shift worth a flip.  Must shove clutch pedal to the pavement and it does better.  Clutch feels real nice and engages fully at midpoint of pedal travel although starts to creep 1/2" from floor.  I understand the cable is not adjustable per service manual.  Any suggestions besides a new clutch?  Thanks for any suggestions.  dan...

The clutch pedal and free play is adjusted by the following; Sit down in drivers seat. With your left FOOT placed UNDER the clutch pedal pad, LIFT the clutch pedal arm upward toward yourself gently. A couple of inches at most.

The clutch has now adjusted itself. The clutches are definitely adjustable on all manual transmission FWD Chrysler vehicles in the same manner.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Hemi Dude
Missing 'h' (see edit history)

[dhughens]

I will definitely try that when I get home.  My wife and I team drive over the road and won't be back for a couple of weeks.  I'll post results then.  My only thought is that I don't recall any freeplay like I have in my freightliner.  It seems like the pedal has slight resistance in its entire range of travel.  I will also try this on our rampage.  It engages at the top of its travel.

[Hemi Dude]

22 minutes ago, dhughens said:

I will definitely try that when I get home.  My wife and I team drive over the road and won't be back for a couple of weeks.  I'll post results then.  My only thought is that I don't recall any freeplay like I have in my freightliner.  It seems like the pedal has slight resistance in its entire range of travel.  I will also try this on our rampage.  It engages at the top of its travel.

On our FWD cars there is not that type of adjustment that will deliver that free play as on your Freightliner. There is a spring loaded ‘ratchet type’ mechanism built into the clutch lever that releases as the pedal is pulled up. A Spring is attached to the cable half of the ratchet teeth and takes the slack out of the cable and allows the throw-out bearing to rest lightly on the clutch disc fingers. It is the same on your Rampage, which would be ‘COOL’ to see a photo of. They are very scares these days. A friend had one with an Omni GLHS engine in it, it was really fast. That was back in “The Good Old Days” before wokism.

[Nile]

It is possible that your cable is loose at either the shifter or the tranny.  These clutches are quite robust - I have been rather enthusiastic with my shifting at times and have never had a clutch problem.

[Hemi Dude]

1 hour ago, Nile said:

It is possible that your cable is loose at either the shifter or the tranny.  These clutches are quite robust - I have been rather enthusiastic with my shifting at times and have never had a clutch problem.

He appears to say that the clutch does not fully release when pedal is pushed to the floor. Therefore difficult to initially shift into gear.  We'll see what he finds when he returns home.

[Hemi Dude]

dhughens

You have a PM.  Click the envelope, top right of page.

[Turbo Kane]

The cable gets stretched, trans clutch pressure plate has more clamping force with 16v cars also the tb arm looks shorter with our trans so maybe less leverage and more stress on the cable. Not sure why Chrysler didn’t go hydraulic when all the comparable cars of that time did. Yes as already mentioned there’s an adjuster on the backside of clutch pedal try making that adjustment first. I’m going to have a new cable made soon. There’s a lot of cable shops that can make a custom cable. I’ll let you know how mine turns out sometime next year. My trans feels so nice but I’d like to swap it at some point for a 3.77 FD 523. I have everything to swap it but my trans shifts perfectly. I added a shim or stack of fender washers under the cable end on the trans side till I get the new cable. Took care of the problem temporarily.