clutch pedal shear pin

[radcon]

I've been wondering why my car has been shifting harder and harder the past week. About four or five months ago, the shifting got worse and worse until I could barely get it into gear. Would adjust the clutch and everything would be good for a couple days, then I would have to adjust it again. Did this about four times. Couldn't figure out what was going on until the local shop told me to check the shear pin on the clutch pedal. Evidently, the pin would shear a little bit, I would adjust the freeplay, the pin would shear a little more, and on and on. By the time I discovered the problem, the pin had completely sheared and the only thing that was making the car driveable was the jagged edge of the sheared pin that was digging into the clutch pedal shaft and allowing me to operate the clutch somewhat. So I replaced the shear pin. Problem solved, or so I thought. The shifting has been getting worse the past week or so, so I adjusted the clutch yesterday. Just for fun, I thought I'd take a look at the shear pin. Sure enough, it's about ready to shear again. Is this a really common problem? I can't believe there's enough stress on the pin to make it shear every couple of months. Does anyone have any good fixes for this problem, such as using a solid pin instead of the hollow shear pin? Looking for some help, so this doesn't become a repeat problem. Thanks.

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'80 Targa

[This message has been edited by radcon (edited 06-02-2001).]

[Early_S_Man]

Well, you probably need a new clutch cable, and your horseshoe helper spring may be bad, too! See the Pelican tech. article.
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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

[This message has been edited by Early_S_Man (edited 06-02-2001).]

[john walker's workshop]

did you use the factory pin, or a cheapie from the hardware store? the oem style is way tougher. as the disc thins out, the pedal pressure increases. enough to start wearing clutch release parts.

[radcon]

Just went down to a local parts place and bought a new pedal cluster rebuild kit(decided if I have to replace the pin, I can just as well replace the bushings too) and the helper spring. Will put it in tomorrow and see if that makes a difference in the amount of pedal effort.

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'80 Targa

[FRED/LI]

The original roll pin is heavier, with more layers than the local hardware store variety. My C2 sheared the original, I used a replacement and it sheared too. The hole had worn so there is a little wiggle and it promoted the wear and failure. So..we drilled out to 1/4 inch and used a hardened steel bolt with nyloc nut. Problem solved.

[Kurt B]

My guess is you're wasting your time Radcon. I rebuilt mine to absolutely no difference. My clutch is still sort of hard, but not too bad. The rebuild probabably had only a placebo effect.

I've noticed changing not only the clutch cable adjustment, but the clutch screw adjustment that controls the actual force applied to the clutch lever itself (see bentley) helps greatly.
What happened in my case was the force curved of the spring in the cluster and the clutch spring were misaligned. That spring in your cluster must be apply its max force when the clutch spring is applying its max force. I'll bet thats your problem (screw is on the clutch arm beneath the car)


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Kurt B
(smashed)1984 Carrera Cabriolet
911 Page
carrera_cabriolet@yahoo.com

[Jdub]

I can only half-agree with Kurt: I think that rebuilding the pedal 'box will at least take the nylon bearing friction out of the equation. I was amazed at the difference, but then I went ahead and replace both the clutch cable and the helper spring, being careful to adjust as per the manual, including the clutch lever throw that you limit by way of the rubber stop in the wood cover.

Let us know how the bush on the clutch pedal shaft looks when you pull it from the center tunnel. This is the small round bush that keeps the trunnion pin from grinding on the "ear" of the clutch pedal shaft, rightside of the pedal cluster proper. Mine was gone...

Jw