1996 NG900 Clutch not disengaging.
Discussion
First post, in search of solutions.
So last week I went to a relatives shop to get my handbrake adjusted, everything went well until I left, some 100m from the shop the 24 year old clutch cable decided to snap off the lever on the housing. Called for help and we got it changed on the gas station parking lot, and the clutch has been an entire headache since.
On my way home every gear change was a cage match and putting it in reverse to back into my lot sounded like the car was hit by field artillery, it was heard even all the way at my house which is a good 20-30m away and the car's parked in an open garage.
Couple days later I went to try and fix the issue, essentially just taking the cable off everything in the engine bay and tried to use the adjustment screw in the cable, of course to no avail as the adjuster is as tight as it gets and the problem is with disengaging. Put everything back in and worked like a dream.
One thing I made a note of however is that the rubber damper on the original sleeve around the cable itself that goes into a clip next to the strut tower is a good 5cm/2 inches lower towards the engine than on the replacement part. I have considered just swapping the new cable into the old sleeve to see if that makes any difference, but at this point I am highly skeptical.
So this morning took my brother to school and the problems returned as the tranny got warmer. By the time we got there momentarily completely lost all gears, shutt the engine to take a look at the clutch cable - nothing changed there - and eventually managed to snake it in fourth, then first and somehow limped home using (sort of) all gears 1-4, every change now finding some way to correctly twist the shifter and help with a bit of throttle between.
At home had to wait a bit to get the key out because it even refused to go in reverse engine off initially, now after some time the gears again row beautifully with the engine off. However when on absolutely nothing works without resistance and the car lurches forward when the clutch is fully depressed and slightly push into first.
So now I'm desperate to find a way to fix the issue without touching the innards of anything as that gets ludicrously expensive for a budget of 300€ and a monthly income of considerably less than that on a car that was 850€ of the dealership, one I'm trying to sell as MeChAnIcAlLy BuLlEtPrOoF which it was two weeks prior.
I have taken a look at many threads, nearly all focusing on OG900s or hydraulic clutch GMs including
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0f...
https://www.saabcentral.com/threads/clutch-wont-di...
https://www.saablink.net/forum/car-problems-ng900-...
Any help is certainly appreciated, fixes for peanuts at least doubly so!
So last week I went to a relatives shop to get my handbrake adjusted, everything went well until I left, some 100m from the shop the 24 year old clutch cable decided to snap off the lever on the housing. Called for help and we got it changed on the gas station parking lot, and the clutch has been an entire headache since.
On my way home every gear change was a cage match and putting it in reverse to back into my lot sounded like the car was hit by field artillery, it was heard even all the way at my house which is a good 20-30m away and the car's parked in an open garage.
Couple days later I went to try and fix the issue, essentially just taking the cable off everything in the engine bay and tried to use the adjustment screw in the cable, of course to no avail as the adjuster is as tight as it gets and the problem is with disengaging. Put everything back in and worked like a dream.
One thing I made a note of however is that the rubber damper on the original sleeve around the cable itself that goes into a clip next to the strut tower is a good 5cm/2 inches lower towards the engine than on the replacement part. I have considered just swapping the new cable into the old sleeve to see if that makes any difference, but at this point I am highly skeptical.
So this morning took my brother to school and the problems returned as the tranny got warmer. By the time we got there momentarily completely lost all gears, shutt the engine to take a look at the clutch cable - nothing changed there - and eventually managed to snake it in fourth, then first and somehow limped home using (sort of) all gears 1-4, every change now finding some way to correctly twist the shifter and help with a bit of throttle between.
At home had to wait a bit to get the key out because it even refused to go in reverse engine off initially, now after some time the gears again row beautifully with the engine off. However when on absolutely nothing works without resistance and the car lurches forward when the clutch is fully depressed and slightly push into first.
So now I'm desperate to find a way to fix the issue without touching the innards of anything as that gets ludicrously expensive for a budget of 300€ and a monthly income of considerably less than that on a car that was 850€ of the dealership, one I'm trying to sell as MeChAnIcAlLy BuLlEtPrOoF which it was two weeks prior.
I have taken a look at many threads, nearly all focusing on OG900s or hydraulic clutch GMs including
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0f...
https://www.saabcentral.com/threads/clutch-wont-di...
https://www.saablink.net/forum/car-problems-ng900-...
Any help is certainly appreciated, fixes for peanuts at least doubly so!
the self adjuster on the saab cable is notorious for either not adjusting or adjusting when unnecessary. Always gives the problems that you describe.
manual adjustments are made by turning the plastic nut on the box end of the cable
you should be able to set the (self ) adjustment on the cable by releasing the tension on the cable and pulling/releasing the spring a few times - you should hear a noticeable click when it adjusts. easiest way to release the tension is to have someone depress the pedal and hold it down whilst you do the spring pull thing. alternatively, push the connector on the selector back towards the bulkhead to give some slack in the cable and do the spring thing at the same time.
did hear of someone who was sold the wrong cable - somehow it was too short but this was years ago and i've no real memory of the details.
you can swap the pedal assembly with that from a Mk 2/3 Astra or a cavalier of the same age. the vauxhall set up is a lot nicer in use and much more robust. also considerably less £ when the cable needs changing again (it will).
it is possible to retrofit the hydraulic set up from the 98 on and 9-3 but it's box out and labour intensive.
or, buy a 98 on vehicle
manual adjustments are made by turning the plastic nut on the box end of the cable
you should be able to set the (self ) adjustment on the cable by releasing the tension on the cable and pulling/releasing the spring a few times - you should hear a noticeable click when it adjusts. easiest way to release the tension is to have someone depress the pedal and hold it down whilst you do the spring pull thing. alternatively, push the connector on the selector back towards the bulkhead to give some slack in the cable and do the spring thing at the same time.
did hear of someone who was sold the wrong cable - somehow it was too short but this was years ago and i've no real memory of the details.
you can swap the pedal assembly with that from a Mk 2/3 Astra or a cavalier of the same age. the vauxhall set up is a lot nicer in use and much more robust. also considerably less £ when the cable needs changing again (it will).
it is possible to retrofit the hydraulic set up from the 98 on and 9-3 but it's box out and labour intensive.
or, buy a 98 on vehicle
I suppose I'll try to take one more look at the cable if some kind of spring can be found. What really gets me the most is how I've seemingly made the cable as short as it gets already and the issue gives the idea that it is still too long.
I've also taken a look at what symptoms individual parts failures have and I'm almost certain the throw out bearing has been running out of gas for virtually all of the past year I've had it and I would not be shocked to find it and other bits devastated after the clutch slammed shut (fortunately in neutral) when the old cable snapped. Something else I found out is the arm the cable attaches into has some 2 inches of play back and forth, and you can clearly feel it slightly grabbing/grinding against something in the housing as you move it.
I've also taken a look at what symptoms individual parts failures have and I'm almost certain the throw out bearing has been running out of gas for virtually all of the past year I've had it and I would not be shocked to find it and other bits devastated after the clutch slammed shut (fortunately in neutral) when the old cable snapped. Something else I found out is the arm the cable attaches into has some 2 inches of play back and forth, and you can clearly feel it slightly grabbing/grinding against something in the housing as you move it.
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