Stiff clutch question

[Rick98Z]

The clutch on my 96 cobra with 82,000 is very stiff. I think it is stock. I have drove friends GM cars before and their clutches were nowhere near as bad. What could be the prob and what should I check? Hitting stop and go traffic is just a nightmare

 

[MustangMatt77]

I just went through this with my neighbors 03 term. He would actually avoid traffic because his clutch was so stiff. Im guessing about 70 pounds + to push in. It got to the point either his seat was going to break or he was going to walk with a limp cause one thigh was bigger than the other.

Turned out to be his stock cable was all gummed up. He tried all types of lubes or graphites to make it slide, but nothing helped.

We just replaced his cable with a new adjustable cable and upgraded quad. Feels like a new clutch cable again.

On a side note, when we got the old one out, he took one end and I took the other with pliers and it was still very hard to pull the braided cable out of the sleeve.

If your going to do this upgrade, its about a 45 min job or less. Very easy. You only need some pliers, screwdriver and a small socket set.

 

[CobraHuck]

Well, A) those cars have hydraulic clutches so the effort is way less than our cable clutches. B)my first guess would be your cable needs to be replaced. Right before mine in my '94 broke, it got really really stiff

 

[CobraHuck]

Oh yeah, make sure you get the cable through Maximum Motorsports, theirs is the only quality one on the market made in the USA. Grab that and the quadrant and it'll be great

 

[Rick98Z]

Thanks guys, I knew I could find an answer here. When I purchased the car I had to drive the car home from florida to maryland and while in florida I was stuck in over an hrs worth stop and go traffic and thought my knee was going to give out lol. I have heard going with the new quadrant adds to the stiffness, maybe i am just paranoid but mine is too stiff now, I am scared to add stiffness lol...This is also the first cobra I have drove so not sure what to compare to...

 

[MustangMatt77]

You can get a hydraulic conversion kit, think they run $150+, but IMO it's just something else that can leak.
Replace your cable at least. I'm not sure about the quad adding stiffness. Maybe stiffness due to the stock quad is plastic and prone to flex, break, crack, warping. The new quad is aluminum.
You can always get the quad later, they don't have to be done at the same time.

 

[Rick98Z]

Thanks for the help, I am still in the process of getting this car tagged in MD as I don't have stock catted mid-pipe to pass inspection. I would love for my wife to drive the car some too, but know there is no way she could work the clutch right now...

 

[MustangMatt77]

I let mine drive once, she tried to move it in the driveway with the e-brake on :bash: she doesn't drive it anymore.

 

[Rick98Z]

Previous owner was taking the mystic to become a drag car but I would love to turn it into a road coarse track car

 

[Sn8kebitten]

You should replace that cable as soon as possible. My stock cable started doing that then one day it got so stiff and gummed up that it wouldn't pull the clutch fork all the way so as I would lightly push the gear shifter up with the pedal fully pressed, the car would start rolling forward lol