Fiat 850 Clutch Cable or Spring?

[kmead]

I would relook at what is happening in the tunnel, it sounds like when you get to full throw on the pedal that the bellcrank is bending back and releasing the clutch as you reach the end of travel. You had mentioned the car was on the lift when you checked last time and couldn’t see exactly what was going on.

Any side motion or forward back deflection could have a big effect on clutch action.

 

[FR85]

I would relook at what is happening in the tunnel, it sounds like when you get to full throw on the pedal that the bellcrank is bending back and releasing the clutch as you reach the end of travel. You had mentioned the car was on the lift when you checked last time and couldn’t see exactly what was going on.

Any side motion or forward back deflection could have a big effect on clutch action.

I have looked through all linkages in the tunnel, from what I can see all looks normal, there doesn't seem to be any additional play and while I think the clutch was over pulling I'm actually thrilled with the pedal set up now, both height, feel and smoothness.

 

[Jeff Stich]

The need to frequently adjust the clutch cable, combined with a rising clutch pedal height, would have me looking for a breaking/fraying clutch cable, particularly the section of cable normally hidden within the cable housing between the center tunnel rear plate & the bracket on the side of the trans. As strands of the cable weaken &/or break, it allows the rest of the cable to unwind (untwist) & lengthen, thus the need for readjustment to take up the (new) slack.

A frayed clutch cable can also have one or multiple strands of wire bunching up inside the cable housing & snagging on the interior of the housing. When the wire(s) snag, it will cause increased drag (effort) on the pedal &/or simply bind up & not allow full motion of the cable.

The simple way to check for fraying of the cable within the housing is to disconnect both ends of the cable from the bellcrank & throwout lever, tie a sturdy rope or cable to the front eyelet of the cable, then pull the rear eyelet as far back as possible (it should be a couple feet - about the length of the center tunnel). Disconnecting the cable housing from the trans bracket may make things easier, but take note to keep the front end of the housing in full contact with the center tunnel end plate, otherwise you won't be able to see/inspect the part of the cable that's normally within the housing, which is the whole purpose of this job. If no damage is found, this is a good opportunity to lube the cable before pulling it forward (using the rope**) & putting everything else back into place.

(**The purpose of temporarily installing/using the rope is to keep the front eyelet of the clutch cable from getting caught on/behind the e-brake assembly, the heater supply tubes/brackets or the battery cable inside the center tunnel as the clutch cable is moved forward & back into place after inspection. It can be a real PITA to blindly push that cable forward by itself from under the car, only to have it snag on various objects in the tunnel. Using a guide rope makes the task a lot easier to do).

 

[FR85]

Thanks Jeff,

I took all the steps you mentioned, I actually used a bungee cord to hold the cable from fully pulling through the tunnel when inspecting it, it allowed enough give to get a lot of the cable out of its sleeve for inspection and I'm happy to say it looked intact. Fed some grease onto the cable when it was going back in to reduce friction and I oiled every linkage I could find.
I suspect it was changed at some point prior to me getting the car as (10 years and 3000 miles ago) as the interior elements towards the front end were quite fresh looking with little dust or weathering. I know they are inside but they just had a fresh appearance in comparison to the rest of what was in the tunnel.
I'm going to order another cable and have it on the shelf or indeed in the car in the event off.....

Brought it out for another 20 km spin tonight and it's holding up quite nicely.
I suspect the fork may have a twist in it, gut feeling.

I have a 903 engine there that I'm going to look at doing rings and bearings in and when I eventually slot that into the hole everything in there will be done.
Looking at the pressure plate and on FD Ricambi, there are two different clutch kits listed and the one installed looks to be an 850tt clutch, whatever that is. Have attached both options and the one for €212 is what's present. Is one better over the other or?

Thanks and keep safe and well!

Gav

 

[dnudelman]

I would consider getting my existing pressure plate and clutch disc rebuild for a fraction of that cost. Add new T/O bearing.

 

[Jeff Stich]

I suspect the fork may have a twist in it, gut feeling.

If you have the flywheel cover removed, you might check that both of the "fingers" on the back of the throwout bearing arm are intact (this forked "spring" is riveted to the back of the arm, & holds the arm onto the pivot ball that is attached to the bellhousing). Sometimes one of the fingers will crack &/or fall away, so the arm doesn't pivot correctly when the clutch cable gets pulled, or the arm can be pulled sideways or completely off of the pivot & get caught on/in the back of the pressure plate.

Looking at the pressure plate and on FD Ricambi, there are two different clutch kits listed and the one installed looks to be an 850tt clutch, whatever that is. Have attached both options and the one for €212 is what's present. Is one better over the other or? Thanks and keep safe and well! Gav

In the "850tt" description, the "tt" part is an abbreviation of "tutti tipi", which translates to "all types". The clutch pressure plate in your first photo is the old style, the one on the right is the "newer" style, both work just fine.