My original blog post which has images.
I finally finished replacing the clutch cable on my brothers pug106, it's not technically difficult just incredibly fiddly but still best done as a two man job to keep up morale as it took us 4 days. The worst thing is the Haynes manual only considers it a one spanner/novice job! Some people have had luck in doing this in 5 minutes some took hours and many clutch cables. Here's some information and a guide which might make the process easier for you...
The clutch is basically a disc which in the default state is pressed up against the engine flywheel by strong springs, when you put your foot on the clutch it pivots and pulls the clutch cable up and this moves the clutch release lever and moves the clutch away from the flywheel. Disconnecting the engine from the gear box and allowing you to change gears without matching rev speed to gear-road speed.
You don't need it, say if you are in the outback without one start the car in first using the starter motor (or a rolling start) then to change gear slip into neutral let the revs fall the slide into higher gear and visa versa for down changing.
To get access to it first remove the battery, disconnect it's leads undo the retaining flap. Then also remove the 3 nuts(+washers) holding the plate to further improve access. To remove the cable form the release lever pull it back then slide it out there is a gap for the cable it's self to go through. and tug it out of the mounting bracket old cables where the rubber is vulcanised can be hard to remove cause it doesn't squeeze through as easily.
There is a shallow groove to guide the cable through the bulkhead. Push as much of the clutch cable up into the cockpit by pressing on the end so the inner cable moves into the tube. From inside the car in the foot well attach a STRONG wire to the head of the cable. Remove it form all the mounting brackets around the engine (if any) then tug it out of the grove if fits through in the bulkhead. Now you have a guide wire to help you replace the cable. THIS IS VERY USEFUL!
It's quite useful to also remove the driver seat to gain better access to the foot well and the top of the peddle which is very poor. The seat is secured by 4 star bolts on the rails, two at the front and two at the rear. Also there is a cable attacked to the bottom of the seat you should undo. Slide the seat back and lay it flat the undo the front bolts and lay it forwards and slide the seat forwards and undo the rear bolts. It should now lift out. To replace it first fix the outside(door side) bolts and the inside ones because of the way the mechanism works.
Grease the top of the new cable and attach it to the guide wire, now with one person inside the footwell on their backs and one person in the engine compartment feeding the cable through the bulkhead groove slowly work it in this took us AGES, it's luck of the draw if your first time works, wiht the driver seat in place (how we did it) you quickly develop back problems so remove it from the begining!
Once you get it through you just need to hook it on, this is also fiddly but the best way to do it is to feed alot of it through then lying on your front (only possible if the seat has been removed) put your hand high up over the clutch pedal and literally just hook it on. It's worth spending some time learning the anatomy of the clutch pedal before you try so you know what needs to be done.
If you manage to get it on then return to the engine compartment and hook it into the mount and back onto the release lever. I used a spanner to gain leverage to push the release lever so that I could hook it back up, then go for a test drive!
Notes:
#Oh! And we used a auto adjusting clutch cable but if you have a manual one you need to remove slack to ensure the hook is securely attached to the pedal.
#Make a note of the proper routing of the cable it can block gear changes if it impenges on the linkages.
I finally finished replacing the clutch cable on my brothers pug106, it's not technically difficult just incredibly fiddly but still best done as a two man job to keep up morale as it took us 4 days. The worst thing is the Haynes manual only considers it a one spanner/novice job! Some people have had luck in doing this in 5 minutes some took hours and many clutch cables. Here's some information and a guide which might make the process easier for you...
The clutch is basically a disc which in the default state is pressed up against the engine flywheel by strong springs, when you put your foot on the clutch it pivots and pulls the clutch cable up and this moves the clutch release lever and moves the clutch away from the flywheel. Disconnecting the engine from the gear box and allowing you to change gears without matching rev speed to gear-road speed.
You don't need it, say if you are in the outback without one start the car in first using the starter motor (or a rolling start) then to change gear slip into neutral let the revs fall the slide into higher gear and visa versa for down changing.
To get access to it first remove the battery, disconnect it's leads undo the retaining flap. Then also remove the 3 nuts(+washers) holding the plate to further improve access. To remove the cable form the release lever pull it back then slide it out there is a gap for the cable it's self to go through. and tug it out of the mounting bracket old cables where the rubber is vulcanised can be hard to remove cause it doesn't squeeze through as easily.
There is a shallow groove to guide the cable through the bulkhead. Push as much of the clutch cable up into the cockpit by pressing on the end so the inner cable moves into the tube. From inside the car in the foot well attach a STRONG wire to the head of the cable. Remove it form all the mounting brackets around the engine (if any) then tug it out of the grove if fits through in the bulkhead. Now you have a guide wire to help you replace the cable. THIS IS VERY USEFUL!
It's quite useful to also remove the driver seat to gain better access to the foot well and the top of the peddle which is very poor. The seat is secured by 4 star bolts on the rails, two at the front and two at the rear. Also there is a cable attacked to the bottom of the seat you should undo. Slide the seat back and lay it flat the undo the front bolts and lay it forwards and slide the seat forwards and undo the rear bolts. It should now lift out. To replace it first fix the outside(door side) bolts and the inside ones because of the way the mechanism works.
Grease the top of the new cable and attach it to the guide wire, now with one person inside the footwell on their backs and one person in the engine compartment feeding the cable through the bulkhead groove slowly work it in this took us AGES, it's luck of the draw if your first time works, wiht the driver seat in place (how we did it) you quickly develop back problems so remove it from the begining!
Once you get it through you just need to hook it on, this is also fiddly but the best way to do it is to feed alot of it through then lying on your front (only possible if the seat has been removed) put your hand high up over the clutch pedal and literally just hook it on. It's worth spending some time learning the anatomy of the clutch pedal before you try so you know what needs to be done.
If you manage to get it on then return to the engine compartment and hook it into the mount and back onto the release lever. I used a spanner to gain leverage to push the release lever so that I could hook it back up, then go for a test drive!
Notes:
#Oh! And we used a auto adjusting clutch cable but if you have a manual one you need to remove slack to ensure the hook is securely attached to the pedal.
#Make a note of the proper routing of the cable it can block gear changes if it impenges on the linkages.
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