Clutch pedal does not fully return - Omega Spring?
 

The car shifts fine except for some occasional 2nd and 3rd gear 'notchi-ness'.
I adjusted the clutch cable a while ago and the pedal throw seems to have decreased and the pedal doesn't return to full height. The clutch pedal pin is fine (replaced with cluster bushings a couple of years ago).

There is about 180,000 miles on the car, the clutch cable is not original but I do not know when it was replaced. The Omega spring is not broken and seems to have plenty of "spring" in it. I've got the clutch arm shaft off - came off easily so I don't think that was sticking with corrosion.

I'm thinking of replacing the clutch cable. Would a tired or stretched cable cause my problem? The clutch action is not heavy so I think my Omega spring is okay(?). Do these get 'tired' as well? The clutch itself was replaced about 24,000 miles ago.

There has been a lot cable adjustment threads recently, I've searched, but can't seem to find a resolution to this type of problem.

Yes, a tired or slowly fraying cable COULD cause these symptoms. If it's original or you don't know how old it is, replace it.

Sounds as if you have already checked all other possible causes.

Yes. When mine was at it's worst, I pulled it off and replaced it. It was nearly 50% of the way through. :eek: The last trip I took was at night through the BFE country before a race I was crewing. I took another car the next day since rain was predicted. Sure was glad it didn't snap out there.

My cable failed a couple years ago (about 8,000 miles ago), so its pretty new. I just reinstalled my trans/eng, and after adjusting the clutch cable per spec, I had the same problem - it doesn't always (sometimes it will) return that last little bit of pedal travel - it's the same movement that results in the gap between the release lever and the change lever (0.2 mm). Today I re-checked the cable movement and it was off, so re-adjusted again to spec (1.2, 1.0 mm) and it seems to be better now. I was also wondering about that omega spring (believed to be original, 165k), but we'll see if this works now.

I would start by replacing the cable, then follow the procedure in Wayne's 101 book exactly. The heavy clutch is probably a bad cable, a tired pressure plate or a dry release tube. Cables don't last very long. I assume the pp was replaced with the clutch.

The omega spring sometimes crack or wear at the pivot point.

Well, I just pulled the cable and it looks like it is in pretty good shape, it's the same length laying next to the new replacement cable. I'm going to put the new one in anyway since I have no idea how long the old one had been in there.

If that is not it... do the omega springs get old and tired..? There are no cracks in it

Thanks for the responses..

You need to bring the pedal higher by adjusting the 15mm nuts on the cover tube where the fixture is bolted to the trans. Thats your adjustment, moving the adjustment of the nuts to the rear raises the pedal.
Bruce

Flat6pac,

I did that initially, but the pedal had 'sunk' down a little and lost some of its height.

Looking closer at my Omega spring, there is a groove worn into the pivot point (the 'U') where it rotates on the little shaft. I think the little pivot shaft is finding it's way into that groove and holding in that spot. Enough to close the 1mm gap. I'm going to try and smooth it out for now but a new spring may be in my future.

Probably a silly question, but when did you last adjust the clutch? It gets that way when it's in need of adjustment.

Mike

Clutch was last adjusted about a month ago. Before that - years.

Update: New clutch cable works great, pedal feel is very nice. My 2nd and 3rd gear are much easier to engage. I should have done this years ago!

Cool. Glad to hear it's back to normal.