Clutch Cable Routing With Rh 4 Into 1 Manifold

[Guest Ant]

I first heard of this from someone at the Derby area meet up last summer. Can't remember who it was, but thanks to you! I mentioned it on here a couple of times but nobody seemed to know much about it.

 

With the RH 4 into 1 manifold fitted the Sierra clutch cable has to go between the 2nd and 3rd exhaust runners in order to have a smooth route from the pedal box down to the bell-housing. This means it gets very hot and the nylon covering on the cable melts when the engine is warm. When cooling the nylon sets again and glues the cable to the outer, hence when the car is just started again the clutch has a very stiff and notchy feel to it. This has been bugging me for some time now, and when I took the cable off yesterday I'm surprised it worked at all. It was so tight I couldn't move it without a vice and a pair of pliers!

 

The solution is to fit the cable from a transit. After several trips to my local ford dealers I finally got one which was close enough to do the job. It's originally from a "early 90's dohc transit" and the Ford finish code is F6177410. Part number 88VB-7K653-AA. This cable is about 18 inches longer than the Sierra item, has the same end fittings, and allows the whole thing to be routed around the front of the manifold and down the back of the alternator before going underneath to the bell housing.

 

One modification was required when fitting it. Compared to the Sierra cable, the inner cable relative to the outer sheath is about 2 inches shorter, hence at first it wouldn't reach onto the half moon wheel on the pedal box, even when the wheel is rotated to its limit. The solution to this is to remove about 2 inches from the outer sheath. This is simple enough to do. Un-crimp the fitting at the pedal box end, cut back the outer plastic, then the spiral metal rings, then the red plastic liner, and then put the end fitting back on again using a small jubilee clip to hold it in place.

 

The whole job took about 1/2 hour to do, and the clutch is now vastly improved as a result!

 

Ant

[Guest Andy Rathbone]

that sounds like a great solution, but what was wrong with insulating the cable against the heat?

i used 3 jubilee clips, some mesh and rockwool. i guess its just another solution to one of the many problems we have.

 

keep on building

[Guest Ant]

You can insulate it against the heat, and I have put a bit of insulation around the new one in one place, but seeing how the old cable needed replacing anyway I'd rather fit this one than another Sierra one

 

Ant

[Guest Andy Rathbone]

ahh well if its knackered already you might as well replace, just thought you started with a good cable, duuuuuhhh i will catch up in a bit.

[Guest Ant]

The original one became knackered very quickly after putting it in the 2B. The nylon melts and when the engine cools down it bonds itself to the liner, so whenever the engine is cold the clutch was stiff and notchy.

 

Ant

[Guest Ant]

Here's a photo of the new cable routing. As you can see I've put some heat insulating material where it passes the manifold, but its at least 3 times as far away now than it was when the Sierra cable went between the runners.

 

(Ok, so it's another excuse to play with my camera )

[Guest Ant]

A quick follow-up to this topic. Good news and bad. Anyone in Le Mans will already have heard this tale numerous times so feel free to skip it.

 

Bad news: The first thing my 2B did on arrival in Le Mans was for the modification to the clutch cable outer end stop to break. At the gearbox end I had turned some of the plastic off in a lathe to make it a snug fit into the bell housing. It now appears that I turned off too much! However this was easy to fix. I simply fitted a small jubilee clip onto the cable outer at the appropriate place to act as a new end stop. Here's the fix:

 

 

And the good news: Not only did this fix last out the rest of the journey, but the routing of the cable away from the manifold (the whole idea in the first place) has proved very sucessful. After nearly 1500 miles of hot weather driving the cable is just as free moving as when it was new.

 

I'm now thinking of replacing the jubilee clip with a proper end stop turned up from aluminium or brass, though it seems fine how it is so maybe I won't.

 

Ant