Why is my clutch so hard to push in?

[black beauty]

I just bought a 91 ford festiva 5 speed manual. The last festy I had was a 5 speed also and the clutch was very easy to push in. But on this one it is quite abit harder and it makes a squeekin noise when pushing it in, like the cable is binding up. The guy said it has a new clutch in it but who knows. He said thats why its so hard....any thoughts would be great. Thanks

[Ford Fester]

My 93 is the same way. Sometimes it shutters too. I was thinking oil on the ceramic from a leaking rear seal is the shutter and the throwout bearing is causing the hard pedal. I checked linkage and. It all look good. Anyones .02 would help.

[Zanzer]

I just installed a new clutch in my 93 and it's no harder to work the pedal than the one with 208k on it.

I'd say unhook the cable from the lever on the transmission and see how hard it is to work by hand. That would give you a good indication of cable quality as far as if it's binding or dragging. Maybe you could use a cable oiler like used for motorcycle cables to lubricate it. Or make a homemade one using a piece of hose slid over the end of the cable and then filled with oil and hung up overnight to allow the oil to penetrate the cable and sheath. The other 3 contact areas would be where the lever goes through the bellhousing and attaches to the clutch fork. There's typically plastic bushings in this IIRC so they could possibly be worn or the shaft could be binding there. After that you have where the fork pushes on the throw-out bearing and finally where the throw-out bearing rides on the output shaft bearing retainer. I've seen this area get galled and cause a stiff pedal. The problem is you can't really see the condition of these areas without removing either the engine or transmission.

When I replace a clutch I always apply anti-seize to the shaft, fork tips, and bearing retainer.

Oil contamination on the disc could cause a shudder. Another big cause of this is not getting the flywheel resurfaced when replacing the clutch.

[kartracer46]

^x2 on the cable. I have had some success Pulling them off and soaking them with WD-40 or PB and then working White Lithium grease into them. If not, new ones aren't all that badly priced. I think they can be purchased for less than $30 at the mc parts stores.

[nitrofarm]

I just bought a 91 ford festiva 5 speed manual. The last festy I had was a 5 speed also and the clutch was very easy to push in. But on this one it is quite abit harder and it makes a squeekin noise when pushing it in, like the cable is binding up. The guy said it has a new clutch in it but who knows. He said thats why its so hard....any thoughts would be great. Thanks

Man the car looks sweet.I love green- Very nice car Bro

[WmWatt]

I get rusted cables a lot on old bicycles. Drip lots of penetrating oil in at the end. It helps to bend the cable back and forth as the oil is working it's way down. When the cable is moving okay in the housing drip lubricating oil down the end. If you can pull the cable out of the housing and grease it that's even better. I don't know if that's possible with a Festiva clutch cable.

[stevewl1164]

I LOVE the color! AND the black wheels!

[WmWatt]

It's florescent, glows in the dark, right?

[kellen302]

It's like them poison dart frogs, it's brightly colored, therefore it should be called Venom, Poison or Bret Michaels, lol

[91mcnasty]

^x2 on this lol