POW! Clutch Pedal Goes to the Floor!

[Dan in Pasadena]

I suppose it was bound to happen. My clutch cable snapped today 15 miles from home. After having the car up on stands the last 3 weeks cleaning and painting the wheelwells I got the wheels back on Friday night, took her out for a spin to Old Town. She ran good and I was enjoying driving her after a few weeks without, so I took her out again this morning. Running errands, etc.

On my way home, I took off from a signal, ran up through 1st gear and when I pressed the clutch to upshift, POW! But it snapped in between 1st and 2nd gear and I was in traffic so I felt I was forced to pull over. I SHOULD have gently slid it into second and limped home but I pulled over and ended up having it flat bedded.

Here's the stupide part: I knew the cable had a strand broken. I point it out to my mechanic and he said it was going to go, but probably not soon. I held off...stupid and short sighted! I've learned my lesson. If you THINK it is gonna go, or due to be a problem, FIX IT...don't wait to get stranded.

[azasadny]

Dan,
I replaced my clutch cable last summer and it wasn't too hard to do, just a tight fit between the tunnel and the pedal cluster. My cable snapped in the alley just behind my garage so I just pushed the car into the garage and replaced the cable. Funny thing is, I just had the engine/tranny out to replace the engine and clutch and I could have replaced the cable at the time, but I didn't. Learned a good lesson... while you're "in there" replace parts that are likely to wear out!

[oldE]

Dan,

When it did break on the street, I think you made the right choice in pulling over. Imagine how stupid you would have felt if, on the way home with no clutch, you had rear-ended someone in an emergengy situation.

Part of wisdom is knowing when you've fuched-up and stopping to make it right, rather than getting in deeper.

Les

[Quicksilver]

Replace that whole cable system with hydraulics so it can't fail on you!

. . .



So last fall I am in my G50 car at an Auto-X and I am staged right behind another car waiting for my second run.

BLAM, pedal goes to the floor and clutch engages but I manage to hit the brake before I become better acquainted with the guy in front of me. The pin that is welded to the bellcrank to connect to the clevis on the clutch master had snapped off!

To make it even better Porsche has discontinued the piece and the junk yards won't sell me the part because they can get more money by selling complete pedal assemblies to people doing G50 conversions.

I ended up having to drill it out and replace it with a bolt while replacing the clevis with a rod end bearing. It is actually better so I am real happy with it except the part where I couldn't get some greedy dismantlers to dismantle to take my money...

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by oldE
Dan,

When it did break on the street, I think you made the right choice in pulling over. Imagine how stupid you would have felt if, on the way home with no clutch, you had rear-ended someone in an emergengy situation.

Part of wisdom is knowing when you've fuched-up and stopping to make it right, rather than getting in deeper.

Les

Yeah, I kinda think I madethe right decision too. How would I have handled it when I caught a red light? Oh well, it'd done. I don't have the time to do it myself. This is one of those simple jobs (so I've heard) that I am going to have done by others. Fortunately, I heard about a good small shop near where the car is so I am trying them out tomorrow, Monday.

[zotman72]

You can drive a 915 without a clutch. Start it up in 1st at dead starts, sync shift into 2d and and keep it there. Turn it off at stoplights and slip into 1st. This will get you home. BTDT several times, not fun but possible. Not for the faint of heart and if done badly, hard on your 915. YMMV

[Zeke]

Originally posted by zotman72
...not fun but possible. Not for the faint of heart and if done badly, hard on your 915. YMMV

That's the rub. Hard on the starter, too. Dan did right, IMHO.

Sorry this happened to you, Dan. Thanks for bringing it up. If you even think a cable is going to go, I would change it out as preemptive maintenance.

[the]

Yeah, you can do it, like zotman says. You can sync shift it without the clutch all the way up to 5th gear, if you wanted, but 3rd is high enough to get decent speed.

When I've done it, I started the car in 2nd gear, not first, though. seemed a bit smoother that way.

The biggest issue is when you have to come to a complete stop, then there's no choice but to shut the engine down and start over again.

Not fun, but can be done. It's not dangerous, just use a bit of common sense (like leaving a lot of space in front of you and going as slow as possible for the conditions - you want to try to time the lights to avoid stops). Your brakes have more than enough power to quickly stop and stall the car if you need to stop.

But, 15 miles is a bit far in Pasadena city type driving to pull it off!

[Dan in Pasadena]

A buddy of mine asked if I was sure it wasn't the Omega spring?
I said I wasn't sure because I was dressed nicely and didn't lay down on the street to look up there. I kinda doubt it though because when the cable snapped (or whatever happened) it went SO far to the floor I had to look down there to make sure it was still in the car! I assume that wouldn't be the case if there was still an intact cable but a proken spring.

Anyone know if replacing the Omega spring is manadatory?

EDIT: Just re-read my own lesson-learned, I'll replace it!

[the]

It wasn't your omega spring. That's only a "helper" spring to make the clutch easier to operate. You can run a 915 without it, in fact, the factory didn't use it in the early years.

I think it does make the 915 clutch feel nicer, though. It not only makes it easier, the geometry of it is non-linear and it affect feel, as well as ease.

[the]

I think you over-learned your lesson. If nothing is wrong with the omega spring, there's no need to replace it.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by the
I think you over-learned your lesson....

'Ya think?

Maybe you're right. All opinions appreciated though. Thanks to "the".

[Dan in Pasadena]

Just FYI for future searchers that may read this thread: Wayne's Tech Article here advises replacing the Omega spring. I'll discuss with the new Mechanic I am using; I'll be interested to hear his point of view.

Anyone else with experience, I'm all ears.

P.S. Oh and I dodged another small bullet; my car is a '76 so the cable is $28 here. If it were a '77 it would be $75+! Sometimes its good to be lucky.

[JMatta]

I had the clutch go out over 100 miles from home, in my then '86 Carrera. Luckily, it was mostly interstate driving with little stop and go. I started the car in 1st gear and matched my revs to upshift. Not a big problem, just be gentle; don't shove it into gear. When I downshift, I almost always pull the car out of gear without clutching. Achieves the same results as double clutching.

[cab83_750]

Originally posted by the
I think you over-learned your lesson. If nothing is wrong with the omega spring, there's no need to replace it.

Hmmm! In five years, I'm in my 3 omega spring.

[the]

Then something is wrong with the springs you're getting, or your setup. No way you should be going through these springs at the rate of 3 in 5 years. That is in no way normal. These things have lasted decades on most cars.

Experiences differ, but a few years ago I replaced my spring, which was at LEAST 10 years old (I know because I had the car for 10 years and never replaced it). I did so mainly because of the article mentioned above. It made no difference.

It's not a critical part for the operation of the car, it's not particularly inexpensive. I 'spose there's never any harm in replacing any part with a new one, but if there's nothing wrong with it, your clutch operates fine (other than the cable!), then I'd save the money.

[Gunter]

Is there a C-spring in a '76?
I thought they came in after with '77 the first year?

[autobonrun]

In my case, the cable didn't break but the clevis pin sheared in two. I removed the whole assembly and had it rebuilt by the guys at Pelican; one of the additional services they offer.

Something just snapped in my clutch.