Re: Clutch Cable Confusion

[skerocdriver@juno.com (SHAWN C MEZE)]

On Mon, 1 Sep 1997 06:03:32 -0700 Benton Yoshida
<byoshida@zygote.hsc.usc.edu> writes:
>
>My '81 seems to require a clutch cable adjustment every 2 months or 
>so. The clutch doesn't seem to disengage when I push the pedal down all 
>the way, in other words, I have to increase the free play.  Is this 
>frequency of adjustment normal and is this what normally happens: the
free play
>decreases? I thought that as the clutch wore, the free play would
>increase; or so I vaguely remember from my '81 S which seemed to need 
>an adjustment only every year or two.  

When the clutch wears the point where the clutch disengages/engages will
be lower to the floor, thus increasing the freeplay. 
If the clutch isn't fully disengaging then there is too much freeplay,
right? if the pedal is tight then the clutch should be fully disengaged
when the pedal is depressed. Im a little confused myself. 

>Can someone unconfuse me? 

No way man. But maybe I can help with the clutch problem your having.

>Is this indicative or some other clutch malady?  BTW, I never replaced
the 
>clutch in the '81 S in the course of over 120K miles.  And no, I haven't

>become a leadfoot in my old age...   Thanx for any advice, benton---

Actually, you can wear the hell out of a clutch by just sitting at a red
light. (Trust me, I have a sister who goes thru clutches like I go
through jobs.) Do you have any of those bad clutch habits?? Be honest. :)

To maximize the life of the clutch, you are either using it, or not. No
in between here. If you rest your foot on the clutch, your causing some
wear. (even though the throw out bearings are bulletproof, the plate and
pushrod are not) Some even criticize the act of rowing down the gears (4
heel/toe 3 heel/toe 2 heel/toe 1 stop.) when comming to a red light,
which I also do.

I think your problem could be in the clutch cable. Grab a hold of it and
feel the cable in its entirety. The cable can be cutting through the
teflon inside the cable and that could be changing the effective length
of the cable and the adjustment of the clutch. 

If the cable is fine then could the adjustment mechanism be getting
adjusted on its own. Meaning, is the set nut tight or is it loose? 

If its not the cable, then it might be that your engine or tranny is
leaking a slight amount of fluid onto the clutch itself. Small enough to
help speed up the wear proccess but slow enough to not see any moisture
on the bottom of the tranny/engine. How does the clutch feel, overall?
Same as always or does it slip a little? 
Well, thats my best guess. HTH!


              Shawn Meze
86' Jetta GLi           82' Scirocco GTi
The Fastest, Quickest, Cleanest and
best looking Scirocco in all of San Diego!
http://www2.netcom.com/~trnsfrma/vws.html
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