Crossed Cables

[Tiramisu]

I am having a crossed cable problem. When I push in the clutch its like pushing on the gas. Its an on again off again problem that is kinda dangerous at times. I need some help as to exactly where to look as everything looks normal.

[paulhagedorn]

Take out the center cushion and the tray and take off the black cover, should be black. It is an inspection plate for the center tunnel that houses the clutch cable, accelerator cable, and shift bar. Most likely you will need a mirror of some sort to look in the tunnel...but that is where your problem should be.

Paul

[Tiramisu]

Thanks Paul. I will take a look in the tunnel first thing tomorrow. Another thing is that the clutch pedal spring seems to be broken and is just spinning on the shaft. I will replace that as well..not sure if that was aiding in the prob.

[HMeeder]

Just a thought, but the peddle cluster may be binding up as well. The brake MC is right next to it and sometimes brake fluid can get on the nylon bushings and cause them to decay and bind up. There are brass bushing sets to replace them here on the Pelican site and a nifty tech article on the rebuild procedure.

Check the tunnel first though!

Motor On!



------------------
Herb
'72 1.7 Tangerine 'Teen
'74 2.0 Red Rustmobile

[Peter_Hinkle]

I would pull up the pedal board and check to see if the accelerator cable is catching on the clutch rod at the very fron of the tunnel where the accel. cable snaps on to the ball socket I have had this problem on two different cars. If you lay down on the drivers side floor and push in the clutch with your left hand, you will see the accel. pedal move down.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

This one is something of a 914 classic. Particularly if it starts happening shortly after you replace the clutch or throttle cable. Usually the cause is that the two cables are wrapped around each other in the center tunnel. You may be able to unwrap them from the front end, without pulling them out--depends on exactly how and where they're wrapped. You might also need to take one or the other cable out.

The "helper" spring on the pedal cluster is there to always keep a little bit of tension on the clutch cable. If there is no tension, there is the possibility that the cable can come off of the pulley back on the transmission. This will result in no clutch action at all (if it comes all the way off), or a jammed clutch cable (if it comes partway out and sticks). Either way, not something you really want to happen.

If the spring is intact, you should be able to pry the ends into the correct places without disassembling the cluster. Otherwise, it's time to drive out the roll pin and try, try, try to wiggle that $&&@(!@! clutch pedal off of the cross-shaft.

Some people like the bronze pedal bushings, I opted for stock plastic. I feel that it gives me a built-in warning for leaking brake fluid. (Squeeeeak, squeeak!) Do not use the roll pin that is supplied in the bronze bushing kit, it is poor quality and can easily fail. I know several people who had it fail shortly after installing the bronze bushing kit, and at least one local pro mechanic calls those particular pins "junk".

--DD

[Tiramisu]

Peter..thats exactly what was wrong..the throttle cable right at the ball end was hung up on the clutch pedal fork bolt. What did you do you fix this problem permantely? Thanks.