Thread: Broken clutch cable

This morning I went to start my car. Stepped on the clutch pedal and I hear and feel a crunch sound. Thought my cable had snapped, but it was alright, clutch felt much softer though, not very much resistance like before. When I got back home I decided to check it out some more. What I found was that the cable nut was loose and it had a lot of play in the cable. So I adjust the cable and tighten the nut. Feels much better now. As a matter of fact, the clutch never felt better. I've been driving for 20,000 miles with a loose clutch cable. Has anyone ever experienced this before? I'm guessing the engine vibration loosened the nut. I feel stupid now.

That will happen. Check the end inside the cabin, as they tend to snap there as well. I've had that end shear part way off on me before but I limped it home and installed new cable.

i had the cable bust on me when i was dropping the kids off at school the end that is attached the pedal busted in half. i had no choice but put the car in second and start it and drive home about 1 miles like that luckly i was able to shift it without the clutch into 3rd and then 4th but at every stop sign i had to turn the engine off put it in 2nd and start it. hahahahah looked like i was learning to drive standard.

i have never had it come loose on the trans side though, make sure you tighten it up with some pliers.

How much travel should the clutch pedal have before you feel resistance? Before it felt like it had maybe 2 inches. Now I hardly feel any. Do I have it too tight?

two inches is waaaay too much. You can set it up however you like but check the FSM for the spec. I usually set it for ~1-2 cm iirc.

Sounds like i'm good to go then. Thanks guys.

Also, in my B14 at least, as the clutch cables becomes out of spec, it becomes increasingly more difficult to shift gears at the shifter, especially going into 1st

It's a lot different now. Before I had to push the pedal all the way to the floor in order to shift. Now I barely even need to push the pedal to shift. I think I like it a lot better now than before. Just hope I have it right.

Yeah I like it that way too. Less effort. But then again if you don't push it enough you can get lazy and start to miss shifts

Its fine. Your clutch is just engaging at the top of the pedal. Helps you shift a little quicker with less clutch pedal travel.