• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

240 M46 Clutch Cable Firewall Tearout

quillc

yv1a.com
Joined
Aug 19, 2008
Location
Kitsap, Wa
Is your clutch pedal mysteriously sinking? Does it engage right off the floor? Have you adjusted the cable to the very limit of its travel and it doesn't seem to make any difference?

You have likely suffered the dreaded clutch cable firewall tearout. If you look a the pictures at the beginning of the video, you will see the tear. The corner of the plate that bolts into the firewall has a tendency to tear out on high mileage cars due to it flexing every time you push in the clutch. This can be reduced/prevented by installing a bolt in the top corner of the plate through the firewall itself. That way, you don't have what amounts to a lever arm bending on the plate. With the extra bolt, the clutch cable is supported on both sides.

In my case, I welded up the crack after excavating a bit. I suspect that it will crack again at some point in the future, but will last much longer with the extra bolt than it otherwise would have.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D9JTBJ7i0n0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Great fix for a common issue on the manual cars. Especially with the clutch cable in the picture which don't operate as smoothly as the original cables did.
 
Great fix for a common issue on the manual cars. Especially with the clutch cable in the picture which don't operate as smoothly as the original cables did.

Thanks!

The 'spacers' in there consist of:
1. 5/8" washer betweent the bushing and the firewall. This is cut to fit in place.
2. 1/2" washers between the cable and the firewall.

The 5/8" washer just helps spread the load out from the cable.

The 1/2" washers are intended to give a bit of adjustability to the cable.

The cable is a OE Volvo cable (not aftermarket). It appears to be a little longer than the old school metal jacket cables, so you end up with very little adjustment left down on the bellhousing. With this setup, I should easily have enough adjustment remaining for clutch wear.
 
Those cables are just the same as the aftermarket ones even though they are from Volvo. They don't have a teflon liner on the cable itself so those designs function but are not as long lasting nor as smooth as the metal covered cable. But I am glad that at least something is offered.

When you mention that there is very little adjustment left. The early version of those types of cable didn't have enough adjustment to install the end of the cable onto the clutch arm unless you compressed the clutch arm. I read of people using a large C clamp to compress the arm so they could engage the end of the cable. Good times with aftermarket parts.
 
Damn, on my car i could easily operate the clutch pedal even with my hands. Healthy stock NA dogdish setup with original cable. I dont think it would ever tear the firewall when its light like this...

Dry pivot points, dry cable, old and worn out clutch disk and pp? Just like my donor car with a flat flywheel setup which has a hard clutch pedal...
 
on my car i could easily operate the clutch pedal even with my hands.

So could(can) I. All of the force that the clutch exerts is placed on that cable where it passes through the firewall. My clutch is a stock (NA car) Sachs clutch on the stock flat flywheel.
 
I've only seen torn out firewall damage with cars using those newer type clutch cables. I have never seen that happen with the old metal covered cables that were original type.

Although when the clutch system areas that need grease get dry the clutch becomes heavier. The guide tube for the throwout bearing, the splines on the input shaft, and the pivot for the throwout bearing arm when greased with a high temp grease give you a very light pedal for many miles/years.
 
I've only seen torn out firewall damage with cars using those newer type clutch cables. I have never seen that happen with the old metal covered cables that were original type.

Although when the clutch system areas that need grease get dry the clutch becomes heavier. The guide tube for the throwout bearing, the splines on the input shaft, and the pivot for the throwout bearing arm when greased with a high temp grease give you a very light pedal for many miles/years.

I had the old style cable in there. Twas worn through the lining.

The new cable feels fine and cycles easily. I've got two of these cars and the new vs old cable feels the same.

The issue is that this location is where the all of the force gets transferred and without another fastener in that area, you have quite a bending moment. I went and looked at my other car (with a buttery smooth original cable) and it flexes exactly the same.

As stated before, I put a lot of miles (many in traffic) on this car, so the clutch gets cycled substantially more than most.
 
Back
Top