[ddashtrois]

Hey all. About 2 months ago my mechanic installed a new clutch. He also added some kit that makes the clutch a lot lighter so it takes way less pressure to push the pedal. All seemed well. It's the first time I've had the clutch replaced. Within days the car started making a squeeking noise that was obviously in sync with the spinning of the clutch. When I put even the slightest bit of pressure on the clutch the sound goes away. Fast forward 2 months. It's still doing the same thing. I bring the car into my mechanic and after checking it out they tell me that the clutch bearing is bad but luckily it is covered under warranty parts and labor. I'm thinking "great." Then they call me back a little later and tell me that after getting in there they can tell the reason the clutch bearing went bad is because of a bad clutch cable and that if I don't replace the clutch cable for 300 dollars parts and labor that the bearing is going to do the same thing. Are they taking me for a ride and just trying to get some money out of me rather than doing it for free or is this a legitimate reason why the clutch bearing would be going? Also is $300 a fair price to have that replaced? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[WickedSnake00]

I would say that's outrageous. If it was the clutch cable, they should have caught that when installing it (assuming their "lighter pedal mod" didn't have something to do with it...). Second, the cable is maybe $70 for OEM, and is less than half an hour work. Even if they want to bill you for the full hour, that's still going to put them at half what their quote is.

I'd call them out and ask to look at it and be shown exactly what's wrong with this cable.

 

[98SnakeHorse]

The only lighter pedal mod thing out there is the MCLEOD HYDRAULIC CLUTCH CONVERSION KIT, which i highly doubt they provided. The only TOB they should be installing is the ford racing one. Most others if not all develop an early stage squeak and end up failing. Between the TOB and cable you have around $100 in parts. So they are charging you 200ish to replace both.

 

[ddashtrois]

So I called and talked to the owner And asked where he was coming up with the $300 for the replacement of the cable. He says that the part was oem 98 dollars and their computer calls for 1.7 hours of labor on a clutch cable and he said that the problem was that sometimes it was getting stuck when i shift and that the bearing was staying "on" And that's why the bearing was going badd so quick.

He also Was trying to tell me how they already are replacing the Bearing and had to take the whole transmission apart and that was 6 hours and they're not even charging me for that and I told him well isn't the part and labor covered under warranty and he said usually only the part is covered under warranty but that hes taking care of me by not charging me the labor and normally I would have to pay to have them put the new bearing in is that true? Or is he bullshiting me?

 

[WickedSnake00]

That is some incredibly generous book time. For the cable itself for the OEM one I'm seeing anywhere between $50-80. I paid maybe $65 from the stealership. Seems like some hefty padding built in there on top of the already high OEM price. I'd ask him why it wasn't adjusted properly when it was installed. And don't let them tell you "oh it was a worn cable..." Between the self adjuster on the clutch pedal and the fact a stretched cable would cause less engagement, I'd be very skeptical.

I can see the bearing going back if the cable wasn't properly adjusted, or the bearing wasn't properly installed when it went in. Did they specify why they had to take the entire transmission apart? You'd have to really chew things up to have to do that, like have it eat into the input shaft.

 

[ddashtrois]

I can see the bearing going back if the cable wasn't properly adjusted

I'm not sure what a properly adjusted clutch feels Like, but I can tell you this. when I got the car back from having the clutch swapped out the clutch would disengage when I pushed the clutch in about 2" I barely had to push the clutch to shift gears does that sound like an incorrectly calibrated clutch cable to you?

Also, do you think rlthey're doing me a favor by not charging me labor to put the new bearing in? They seem to think so.

 

[98SnakeHorse]

I would recommend getting an adjustable cable kit. One of the first mods I do on these cars.

 

[WickedSnake00]

I'm not sure what a properly adjusted clutch feels Like, but I can tell you this. when I got the car back from having the clutch swapped out the clutch would disengage when I pushed the clutch in about 2" I barely had to push the clutch to shift gears does that sound like an incorrectly calibrated clutch cable to you?

Also, do you think rlthey're doing me a favor by not charging me labor to put the new bearing in? They seem to think so.

It's tougher to quantify as pedal feel, but it sounds like it could be a possibility. It's easiest to tell from under the car- the fork really shouldn't be putting any preload on the pressure plate.

Unless stated otherwise in the paperwork, it's less of a favor and more of an obligation to fix what they should have done right in the first place, which you already paid them for.

I would recommend getting an adjustable cable kit. One of the first mods I do on these cars.

Note on this one; the adjustable cables tend to fail. You're best off going with an OEM cable and an adjuster of some sort, like the firewall ones. I'm pretty happy with my firewall adjuster. And it certainly took me less than 1.7 hours to replace the cable and install the adjuster.

 

[blownstang]

Make sure they only use a Ford bearing. Get an aluminum quadrant and firewall adjuster to properly adjust the clutch.

 

[BA Mustang]

I'm not sure what a properly adjusted clutch feels Like, but I can tell you this. when I got the car back from having the clutch swapped out the clutch would disengage when I pushed the clutch in about 2" I barely had to push the clutch to shift gears does that sound like an incorrectly calibrated clutch cable to you?

Also, do you think rlthey're doing me a favor by not charging me labor to put the new bearing in? They seem to think so.

Mine would disengage about midway.

As the others have said make sure you get the Ford TOB.

 

[ddashtrois]

Ok so I talked to my mechanic tonight. They didn't do a mod to my clutch to make it easier to push he said when they upgraded the clutch there was 3 choices he put in the "racing performance" one and that the springs are a little stronger and that's why its easier to push.

 

[BA Mustang]

He sounds like he is full of it to me.

 

[98SnakeHorse]

"Stronger, racing, performance clutches" tend to cause a heavier pedal feel over stock so not sure what he is getting at there.