my97cobra

I dropped my 97 cobra off at a shop on Thursday to have the clutch replaced. They said it should only take a couple hours. Try 6 hours. That's 3 x's a couple. I wanted to do it myself but just didn't have the time. Any idea how long it should take a knowledgeable repair shop? To top it off I picked the car off and now the clutch pedal makes a bad rattling noise when it's not pushed in. As soo as you lightly put your foot on the pedal it goes away. Any suggestions as to what is wrong? The clutch pedal is hard to push when it get's near the floor and you have to push it all the way to the floor for it work. You let out even the slightest bit and it is pulling. I took it back and was told to drive it over the weekend to see if it goes away. I'm not driving it and it's going back Monday.

945LSTANG

im not sure how to respond to this. what exactly are you looking to have answered?

dirtydave289

do you have a firewall adjuster?

my97cobra

Two things actually. Since I'v never done a clutch on a mustang does it take 6 hrs? even for a qualified repair shop? I supplied all the parts. Second ... any idea/suggestions why the clutch pedal rattles now/ It didn't do that before replacing the clutch. It was making a noise which I assumed and turns out was right was the throw out bearing.

my97cobra

I should know if there is a firewall adjuster but don't. If it came standard with the 97 cobra then I guess there is one. When it stops raining I'm going out to look.

dirtydave289

Did they replace the cable? My pedal was real stiff but I had an adjustable cable that was stretching/ended up snapping. New OEM cable, lots easier to push, still close to floor. Went from lfp firewall adjuster to UPR (i know, i know, upr lol, they make good adjusters) and got it off the floor and right where it should be. Used to rattle before adjusting it, now it doesn't. I'd say get an adjuster and see what happens..cheap ~$40 or so

my97cobra

I finally found the problem. The repair shop installed the throwout bearing wrong. On the clutch release lever there are retainer fingers that have to be on the inside of the throwout bearing sleeve not the outside. If they are on the outside like mine are the release lever will wobble causing the clutch pedal to rattle and push the throwout bearing tight againt the pressure plate fingers. Now it's time to fight with the repair shop that did the work. They said the problem was probably due to the quadrant. NOT. I ordered the aftermarket quadrant and cable adjuster but decided to take a closer look at it myself last night. I'm glad I did. So....for anyone with clutch pedal rattles take a look at how the throwout bearing is installed.