Thread: B14 Clutch Lever Cracked!

Clutch lever is cracked at the top where it mounts to the transmission. Looks like this is a common problem on these cars. It’s barely drivable with the clutch cable adjusted at the max setting, but pedal is soft and sticks and i know this won’t last.

Any idea where i can find this part? Looked on OEM sites and a bunch of aftermarket sites and cant seem to find one.

I read forum posts about doing a temporary or permanent weld as a quick fix without removing the transmission. How exactly is this done? Could you remove the clutch cable, push the cracked sides together and weld it like that? A muffler shop would actually do something like this? Would something like JB weld work as a temp fix using the same process?

Not very mechanically inclined and not sure how to approach this new challenge, especially if i cant even find the part.

Thanks for any advice!

Thinking about this a little more…. Will welding the crack together more than likely fix the problem? I do not see any flex on the lever due to the crack, so will sealing it really make that big of a difference? Am i more than likely going to have to shell out for a whole clutch kit?

Shelling out for a whole clutch kit wouldn't even fix this problem.

Yes, you can remove the clutch cable and weld the lever. It should be a pretty permanent fix. Yes it will make a big difference.

Thanks for the reply. Just to confirm- Even though I don’t see any flex in on the lever due to the crack when moving the lever, welding it should greatly reduce the slack in the clutch cable? I guess it wont hurt to try it, although i will have to find a place that can/will do that work.

I loosened and unhooked the clutch cable from the clutch lever, and then pulled the lever all the way back to see if i could get the crack to close up at all. The lever moves back some past its natural stopping point, but it does not flex or budge at all at the cracked area. This makes me think welding won’t fix the issue since the crack doesn’t seem to be impacting the movement of the lever. I guess i could be wrong. The lever definitely needs to be fixed/replaced as it will probably break off soon, but somehow i don’t feel confident it’s causing the issue.

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I do wonder if maybe you just can't close up the crack, but the crack still is the issue. It couldn't hurt to install a new lever of course, but I believe that is a transmission-out job. =/

You are there, so you'd know better than me. Maybe the crack is not the real problem. Did you get a new clutch cable recently? Was it perhaps a 1.6L unit? Even if a proper OEM 2.0L clutch cable, lots of people have issues with those not being the correct length and needing more adjustment than the clutch cable allows. The traditional and really nice solution is to purchase a reinforced clutch cable bracket from @Andreas Miko. This allows for more adjustment in the direction you probably need and makes adjusting the cable possible in situations where normally it would not be.



If you want to do a test, you can get some large washers or otherwise adapt the bracket to allow for more adjustment to see if not enough clutch cable adjustment is your real issue.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I am not mechanically smart enough to know if that will help in my case, but i am willing to try it! Anything to avoid pulling the transmission which i will probably need to pay someone to do. But you are right that i will probably need to fix or replace the lever anyways since it will eventually break off.

I did get a new clutch cable about a month ago. It is a PIONEER CA468 (Length: 28.50") from rockauto designed for a 2.0 (it says).

I think part of the reason the lever cracked is i had to adjust the clutch cable to the max setting (closest to firewall) after the install to get the clutch to engage properly. The pedal engagement was soft/low and difficult to get into gear without it at almost the max adjustment. That was probably a sign something was wrong (lever or otherwise), but i didn’t know better.

If the crack isnt the issue (although it’s definitely an issue), it there possibility something broken internally (bearing?) causing the rotating position of the lever to not be correct?

Still not sure how to approach all this, since i cant find a replacement clutch lever online anywhere.

I have pics/video showing the crack and lever movement, but too slow to figure out how to post it.

The OEM clutch cable is the only one worth getting. The RockAuto supplied PIONEER unit is no doubt horribly suspect even if it says it is for the 2.0L engine. It is the reason you can't get a proper adjustment.
Even the OEM 2.0L units can be a bit troublesome, but so far the least trouble we've seen on the forum.

The too-long clutch cable is most likely not the cause of your cracked lever though. Those just happen sometimes. Bad luck.


You can probably get that RockAuto clutch cable to work with some of the tricks I mentioned above.

If i can get the cable to work using those washers…wonder if should drive the car with the crack. Or will that trick add even more stress to the crack and maybe cause it to break? Frustrating problem, but mainly because i am not so mechanically inclined.

Things could get a little worse with the crack if you get the clutch to fully disengage, since you'll be fighting against the pressure a bit more...