Stiff Clutch Cables

jameshughes · Post by **jameshughes** » 27 Sep 2004, 14:07

I have a 306 with a automaticaly adjusting clutch cable.
The clutch was very stiff. Following some advice I squirted oil down the cable at the back of the peddle to ease it off.
To aid doing this I used a G clamp to lock the clutch release arm in the engine bay to keep the clutch dis-engaged.
This is so I could pump the peddle with my arm whilst oiling it and not have to fight the cluch as well.
This frees the cable up nicely.I released the G clamp and went about other tasks on the car(well its is a new car to me)
Driving that night I thought the clutch bite was high and oiling it had revealed that the clutch was in need of change.
The next day it started to slip.Leading me to think I had brought a lemon.Not liking the idea of having a new clutch I thought it must be something I have done.I took the cable off and took the auto adjust mech apart then refitted the cable(It lives in a plastic gland half way down the cable and is located near the subframe at the bottom of the engine bay). The clutch is now easy to use and the bite is in the right place.
So this is just advice to check the auto adjust mechanism before running off for a new cluch.THe haynes manual reckons you should not attempt to adjust this clutch - I wonder how many people have payed out for a new clutch on the back of that little gem.

G4EIY · Post by **G4EIY** » 06 Oct 2004, 01:25

Hi James,
Could you expand a little on what you found and did.
Was the adjuster damaged or siezed up, and just required lubrication.
Cheers

P 2501 · Post by **P 2501** » 12 Oct 2004, 13:43

When i bought my 306 the clutch was a bit stiff, but this wasn't the main problem. On mine the clutch pedal has a sort of plastic rod that goes through the centre of the main spring and this was very dry, so that when the rod rubbed against the assembly it creaked and almost stuck when the pedal came back up.
This became almost unbearable, especially in hot weather so i sprayed the plastic area of the clutch pedal with simoniz back to black and immediatly the clutch felt like it was brand new.
I presume the cable is ok on mine because that was 40k miles ago and the clutch is still like new.
Hope this helps someone else.

jameshughes · Post by **jameshughes** » 15 Oct 2004, 19:19

Inside the auto adjust mechanism there is a white plastic shell which one half of the cable terminates in.
Inside the shell there is a black plastic "thing" with the other half of the cable in.
There is a thread on the outside of the white shell.
I took the whole thing apart then stuck it back together and it dropped the clutch height back to where it should be. Note if your clutch is worn this isnt going to cure it.