Clutch cable replacement

did you come right boet?
Where in South Africa are you situated?

 

Hello fellow Copenistas, thought I would enlighten you as to a recent maintenance adventure. For a while the clutch seemed heavier than it really should be, indeed it seemed to stiffen up during long drives, so after a bit of fiddling investigation I decided it was most likely the clutch cable rather than the clutch itself.

After a replacement clutch cable (part number 31340-97403) arrived – yes, easy enough to order here in Australia but a couple weeks wait while it came from Japan – I then figured, can’t be too hard to fit. Just like a motor bike clutch cable only thicker. A read of the manual – thanks to Copenworld for having them on the website – revealed step 3-1-2 “OPERATION BEFORE REMOVAL - 1. Remove the instrument panel assembly. Refer to Page I2-221.” That seemed a bit extreme, so I decided to have a crack at it without removing the dash.

A few hours later with drivers seat removed and me upside down in the foot well and a bit frustrated by lack of access, I bit the bullet and decided to remove the dash. A few hours later after that (steering wheel off, airbags removed with battery disconnected, dash out) I had the cable replaced, although it was still difficult to get the old one out and the new one installed given the small fitment hole in the firewall right behind the aircon / heater fan unit which would not move much out of the way due to the structural bracing tubing running across the car behind the dash. Ouch. A trick to getting the cable through the firewall hole was to unscrew the plastic adjusting nut all the way off the end of the cable outer thread, thus providing more play / freedom to enable the cable outer to come through the hole then using some sideways angle to get the adjusting nut through the hole separately (bend the inner cable to do this). Install new cable using the same approach with the adjusting nut off the end of the thread, push it through the hole separately first.

Anyways ….. it all went back together in a couple hours as I knew where things went by then. So, although the clutch cable itself was easy to fit at each end, the job itself was far lengthier than the part alone due to access issues. So if you need to do it, it can be done but beware the lengthy extraneous work. And of course be careful with airbags, you must treat them with respect and follow correct procedures to avoid them being triggered which would be a real nasty surprise.

BTW the clutch is super light now, problem solved. Enjoyed that first drive, it felt like a new car.

 

Great report ... my clutch has gone very heavy recently. I'm at 130k km and I think it's the cable needs adjusting. If I put it in 5th gear and handbrake it ... it still stalls ... so that's good enough for me to have a go at adjusting rather than replacing.

Where? How? is the access to the adjustable end of the cable? Is it in the footwell or the clutch end? Sorry ... I haven't been under there in about 8 years and can't remember.

Pics would be great if you have them so I know what I'm looking at.

Cheers
Andre

 

From memory, the adjustable end of the cable is just above the clutch pedal / part of the clutch pedal assembly.

This is in contrast to the throttle cable, which is adjusted as part of the intake

 

The adjustment for the clutch cable is at the engine end, not at the cabin pedal end. You can get to it quite easily from above, just follow the clutch cable from the firewall to where it attaches to the engine clutch lever. There is a round plastic adjuster 'nut' on the threaded end of the cable in the engine bay where it attaches to a fixed mount, see my photo in the post above of that end of the cable (note that in the photo I have bent the cable 90 degrees sideways to show how I manoeuvred it through the firewall when removing/replacing the cable). Just take some pressure off the cable by pushing the clutch lever a little at the engine end then adjust the threaded plastic nut, it will rotate and self-position with a detent every 1/4 turn or so. Maybe you need a little WD40 on the thread beforehand if it is hard to turn. Correct free travel adjustment is 10 to 30 mm (upper surface of pedal pad), you must have some free travel so that the clutch is not held engaged slightly by an overly-tight cable.

Having said the above, if after cable adjustment the clutch is 'stiff' or 'heavy' then cable adjustment alone is unlikely to help. This was the issue with my car, the underlying issue was a worn / slightly corroded inner cable which did not slide easily therefore needed to be replaced. If free travel is fine and the clutch engages fully, and you then have clutch slippage, then it is likely a clutch issue. If the clutch does not slip but it is 'stiff' to use then I would suspect you need a new cable like my car did, replacing the cable made a heck of a difference.

 

My cable had been telling me for about a year that it was unhappy. It was very stiff until it finally broke with 140k on the clock. One hell of a job to replace it with the odd plastic locating bit broken in removing dash components. The pillar plastic covers are to be removed as well and they are clipped in with 2 locating clips. Must find some very good plastic glue or have it somehow welded. Having removed the dashboard it is still difficult to withdraw the cable since it appears to have been installed before any dash items including air con ducting was fitted. The manual is really not much help at all other than removing the air bag components. Anyway all good fun.

 

I had my cable replaced a short while ago after it snapped - it was amazing, felt like a new car at first but then it started getting stiff again. I had the cable adjusted and was back to my brand new car feeling but now it has started to get worse again... is this just a new cable settling in? is it normal to have to adjust it several times after installing a new cable? Also any more info on how to do this would be great as I'd prefer to do it myself rather than keep taking it back to my garage. Somoen told me it's underneath my battery - is that right?

 

Hey everybody,

Removed the dashboard replaced the cable but found a problem you should all know about. My Copen is 2003, small engine.

The clutch cable end bracket (inside the cabin) is poorly designed and they will all suffer from fatigue (see attached pictures). My bracket showed signs of a substantial crack, previous weld repair (somewhat covering the crack and arresting it) but despite the weld repair, it was still fatiguing. I could see that when I depressed the clutch while watching the bracket. I removed the pedal assembly and simply re-built the bracket by doubling it up using a fitted 3mm thick steel (see attached pictures). Took quite some blacksmithing but got a real good fit. Make sure when done, that the cable comes out straight when depressing the clutch pedal, well as straight as possible.

The first pic of the cable not coming out straight but that is mostly due to the missing retainer and the cable not sitting in the correct position. There is a small slot into which the cable end sits (see attached pic). Much like a bayonet type light fitting. I made a better retainer that bolted in so the cable end wont dislodge any more.

The bracket is too thin and when clutch cable becomes stiff, the damn thing is subject to fatigue (bending every time you depress the clutch). You can see the bracket bending if you get underneath, depress the clutch and know where to look. There is no way out other than to beef it up. Mind you there is extra bending if the cable end is not fitted correctly, as mine was from a previous repair, and if the retainer is missing.

Do remove the pedal assembly to weld it up, do not try to do it inside the car. It takes about 20 minutes to remove the assembly.

To get the pedal assembly out you need to disconnect the brake lamp plug, disconnect the clutch cable, unbolt the clutch pivot bolt and remove pedal (springs are a bit tricky). Also you need to remove accelerator pedal, unclip the cable end of accelerator is easy and there is a small retainer on the pivot shaft. (again the spring is a little tricky) You can then manoeuvre the assembly out. Be careful not to lose the 2 small PTFE/nylon bushes that are on the pivot bolts for clutch and the 1 small bush on the accelerator pivot shaft. Its is easier if you try to keep it assembled when you have removed it so you know how it goes back together.

Perhaps easier to take pics before disassembly hope that helps

Cheers

 

Sorry 2004 copen

 

Hi Tictac

Am I right in not being able to find the manual detailing dashboard removal anymore? I'm keen to crack on with clutch cable replacement and want to ensure I disconnect airbag etc. in correct order. Great bit of useful info on your post.
With thanks,

Martin
2009 Copen UK

 

Quite right Martin sorry for delayed response am not always on the site.

There does not appear to be a manual on the sequence of dismantling/removing the dashboard other then make sure the air bags are removed safely.

I thought I might do that but am only an amateur myself.

Although a good couple tips to start with;

Make sure that the roof is in the boot IE: with the top open
Remove seats
Remove centre console although I didnt completely remove that, just disconnected it from the floor pan and moved it out of the way as far as possible. NB I left the electricals connected seemed too difficult
The 2 side plastic trim on the front pillars should be removed because they clip into the dash on each end. They need to be coerced as they also have two clips each that clip into the pillars.

PS any broken clips can be easily plastic welded back on with a soldering iron and some scrap plastic to beef it up.

After I had done the job its perfect except I have 2 nuts left over so its a worry. It does take a long time and I spaced mine out over two months

I wish I took more pictures to assist

Cheers

ED

 

At first glance it looks as if there's no instructions, however the diagram actually has the parts listed in order of removal. Just start with a (fuse box cover), b (panel under steering wheel), ect.
It does show how to remove the centre console fascia and where the bolts/clips are located on the other pieces.

That's in service manual 9842 - I2-22.

 

Thanks Vin yes you are quite correct, sadly we in Aus are used to and need spoon feeding with more detail.

I did find the EA.pdf from the service manual quite useful in as much as it detailed the different types of connector (push, pull, lever) that we may be confronted with.


Either way not a fun job.

Have you done it?? Did you find fatigue on the cable mount inside the cab? My original spot welds had even been broken off.

Cheers

 

I haven't done it no, I'm going to take my dashboard out to wrap it when I can find a few days in a row and some motivation. I might have a look then, not had any problems but while stuff's there to check..