Clutch cable and heavy traffic

Synchros shot? Weird noises while shifting? Not sure what needs to be replaced?
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Maggiolone
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Clutch cable and heavy traffic

Post by Maggiolone »

I live in a large metropolitan area; lots of lights, pedestrians, traffic, etc (even in the suburbs). I relish the rare occasion when I can take my '84 Jetta out and shift past 3rd gear.

Tonight I drove over railroad tracks after being in stop-and-go traffic after a train passed through. Then I maneuvered for a good 1.5 miles from nuetral-1st gear in a congested downtown area.

While finally parking, I felt no connection to the clutch at all. I had no slippage before, either. I adjusted the clutch cable, and all is well now.

However, this has happened to me before in a similar situation: clutch cable doesn't seem to behave when the car is in heavy stop-and-go traffic.

My cable is newer, and my clutch is less than a year old. Is this a matter of the cable going south, or am I giving it too much throttle into first? Has anyone else experienced this in city driving?

Could the cable be stretching?
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bk7794
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Re: Clutch cable and heavy traffic

Post by bk7794 »

I know my throttle cable has been acting strange as of late. I replaced it last year and had to re-adjust it numerous times with in the last 22k miles.

My clutch cable knock on wood is the original and seems to be fine in heavy stop and go. I Am quite shocked because the mechanic that worked on it had to be the biggest idiot I ever met.
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Maggiolone
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Re: Clutch cable and heavy traffic

Post by Maggiolone »

The clutch is a new Sachs unit, installed 8 months ago. It has less than 1k miles. I had the timing re-done; before I had to throttle the clutch a bit more. Yet, the car has been rarely driven. I doubt the clutch could fail.

The slippage has only occurred in heavy-traffic situations, and adjusting the cable freeplay rectifies its performance.

I have not smelled any clutch burning.
Last edited by Maggiolone on Sun May 27, 2012 7:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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theholycow
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Re: Clutch cable and heavy traffic

Post by theholycow »

What is "riming"?

Are you able to mark or measure the cable adjustment and see whether it's coming unadjusted? That would probably be the most important question. If it's coming unadjusted then the adjuster needs to be more secure; possibly it is worn out and needs to be replaced, or maybe the new clutch assembly is too stiff (does it feel heavier than the old one?). If it's not coming unadjusted then it may be some kind of cable stretch, an adjustment elsewhere that is being compensated when you adjust the cable, or maybe a cable mount or housing that's messed up.
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Maggiolone
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Re: Clutch cable and heavy traffic

Post by Maggiolone »

theholycow wrote:What is "riming"?

Are you able to mark or measure the cable adjustment and see whether it's coming unadjusted? That would probably be the most important question. If it's coming unadjusted then the adjuster needs to be more secure; possibly it is worn out and needs to be replaced, or maybe the new clutch assembly is too stiff (does it feel heavier than the old one?). If it's not coming unadjusted then it may be some kind of cable stretch, an adjustment elsewhere that is being compensated when you adjust the cable, or maybe a cable mount or housing that's messed up.
I meant "timing;" I corrected that. I had weak response, so I'd throttle a bit more when engaging into first, but it was slow, steady revs.

I'm thinking it's a stretched cable; I've had to adjust it several times. The two most notable are after being in stop-and-go traffic. Once, it seemed to almost not want to disengage, and I let the engine stall after releasing the clutch in gear, and the car shifted fine the next day.

I'm trying to rule out variables...what's the average life of a new clutch? I've been driving stick for about a year, but the clutch is only 8 months old and not really used in winter. I'm not driving like a racer (in fact, I shift smoothly and slowly).
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Re: Clutch cable and heavy traffic

Post by theholycow »

To wear out the clutch in that amount of time, you'd either have to drive like a major jerk or there would have to be a problem with the installation or part.
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bk7794
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Re: Clutch cable and heavy traffic

Post by bk7794 »

I bet the cable stretched. I mean you adjusted it and it fixed it right up. There is a lot of tension on a clutch cable.
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Re: Clutch cable and heavy traffic

Post by DarkPilot »

1984 Jetta? It may be time to replace the cable. My old Volvo was an '84 and at around 245,000 miles the cable snapped but not before it stretched and re-tensioned a few times. It had the same symptoms you describe.
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Re: Clutch cable and heavy traffic

Post by Maggiolone »

DarkPilot wrote:1984 Jetta? It may be time to replace the cable. My old Volvo was an '84 and at around 245,000 miles the cable snapped but not before it stretched and re-tensioned a few times. It had the same symptoms you describe.
It's definitely not the original cable. It's a GEMO brand; it's relatively newer, although I don't know when the previous owner installed it.
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