Clutch pedal noise

[paulie71]

Is the cable running against something in the engine bay?

Does your car still have the cambelt cover?

Or could it be rattling near something else such as fan or alternator?

Try to get someone to depress the clutch (out of gear of course) and see what happens in the engine bay and try to eliminate any vibration points. If this fails do the same inside the cabin-maybe remove centre console so you can see your friends engaging and disengaging the clutch to establish if the noise is from within the cabin.

Good luck mate

[greasykitchen]

Thanks for the advice.

I'm fairly sure that the sound is coming from the fire wall area, or just where the cable attaches to the pedal. It's pretty noticable in the driving position. And it does it even with the engine off.

I took a video of it on my phone this morning - hope it works.

Unfortunately I can't really look at it till the weekend, but I still have to drive it to work!

[paulie71]

You said it was a new clutch cable?

If so then it sounds like the firewall as you state or check the pedal bracket. Is it hard to depress the pedal? It could also be something like some rubber/plastic items rubbing against something which can be easily resolved with some silicone lubricant.

[gldgti]

Pete

i'd bet this is your problem mate. i've had it happen too, just like this photo of petes.

new cable time.

[greasykitchen]

Ok, the cable isn't as new as I thought. It was last done 29/11/05 or about 25,000kms ago. ($66 + labour).

So I'll look at the pedal mechanism some more and look in to a new cable (a call to Imparts). They're not too hard to replace??

Thanks for your help people.

Cheers

[greasykitchen]

I replaced the cable today and all seems good now. The cable wasn't fraying, but there is a plastic sleeve thing between the inner and outer cables that was moving and cracking etc. But I think the cause of the actual noise may have been to do with the insulation/foam stiff on the inside of the firewall.

The noise is gone now and the clutch feels much lighter and better generally and easier on my broken toe!

We had a bit of trouble getting the cable in though. I bought replacement bushes that go in the tab on the gear box to hold the cable in place. But this meant that the cable wasn't quite long enough by a matter of millimetres. The thickness of the bush means the adjusting knob is higher up so the inner cable is too short. So we removed the thicker bush so it would fit.

Question is, is the very tight fit normal? Is there a way of making it all fit together with all the bushes? A plate has been welded/riveted to the firewall so maybe this has mad the distance the cable has to travel slightly longer?

The offending bush:



The old cable:

[paulie71]

Classic signs of a worn clutch cable. They are another thing to replace but the more frequent the better.

And I have steered clear of non-german aftermarkets as I had a brazilian one in my old Mk1 a few years back (RIP Roadrunner) and I trashed the cable in less than 12 months and about 18000km. There are heaps of OEM german ones out there that might cost more but you won't be under the bonnet and under the dash too often.

Cheers and well done mate

[greasykitchen]

Cheers. Both old and new cables are German. The old one was starting to rust a little and had no lubrication left (if it ever had any). We put quite a bit of light oil down the inner of the new one. Extra smooth.

Not sure what to do about the bushing - a case of it ain't broke...?

[paulie71]

Cheers. Both old and new cables are German. The old one was starting to rust a little and had no lubrication left (if it ever had any). We put quite a bit of light oil down the inner of the new one. Extra smooth.

Not sure what to do about the bushing - a case of it ain't broke...?

They are pretty cheap to replace. I found that the new cable tends to find it's way back into the new groove.

Have fun mate and good work in lubing up the new cable-nothing beats forward thinking!

[Golf Loon]

Dont worry about the bushing, some cables need em, others dont. If it works well, its right.