1996 Mustang Clutch Snapped. Help!

[darkhorse96]

I was driving home from my friends house and I heard a breaking sound when I pressed to clutch to change gears. I had the car towed home and now the clutch pedal is just hanging loose and so I can't start the car.

I had changed the clutch and cable and throwout bearing about 4 years ago and I have not abused the new one at all. My question is does anyone know if this problem is with the clutch itself or if the problem is with the clutch pedal?

Also, is there a way I can start the car without the clutch pedal? Because I am considering selling it, but I would like to show potential buyers that the car does start and run.

 

[joshjwc9]

Yep, the cable snapped. Order one from Maximum Motorsports and their firewall adjuster and quadrant.

About an hour of your time, and some simple installation instruction reading and it'll be good to go.

Avoid all other brands except for stock Ford and Maximum Motorsports.

 

[darkhorse96]

Is there a way I can start it without the clutch?

 

[Caboose302]

Shouldn't be an issue starting it. It's just a switch down on the clutch pedal that needs to be depressed to engage the starter. I guess you could bypass the clutch switch just make sure it's in neutral.

 

[Bob Hughes]

You can still push the pedal in to engage the switch just be sure it's in neutral as the car would launch if in gear when it fires

 

[COramprat]

Heck. you can drive it without the clutch. Just not fun in traffic. I drove 75 miles from work with a snapped cable.

 

[Mattstang04]

I wouldn't go selling the car over it. As noted earlier, you can change it out along with a firewall adjuster and a quadrant in about an hour. Might cost you $225 to $250 to get the good stuff through Maximum Motorsports (and that is who you need to get the cable from, regardless of the other components). Be on the road again with a better clutch pedal feel and control than factory.

 

[darkhorse96]

Can anyone tell me what RPM I should be switching gears, in order to drive without the clutch? I used up all my AAA free towing so I want to drive it to the mechanic.

 

[Mattstang04]

When floating the gears you need to get a feel for pulling the shifter out of one gear and putting just enough pressure that the next gear kind of sucks it in. This usually occurs when the engine rpm matches the rpm of the transmission in the next gear. Best bet for trying it out is rev it high in each gear and give it plenty of time to fall (get sucked) into gear. Not to mention, if you have to come to a stop you'll be killing the engine and using the starter with the shifter in 1st gear to get going again. Your starter and battery are going to hate you.

I have never done it on my car but a long time ago my dad's 90 Dodge Dakota with a 4 banger required it.

 

[flstang65]

Use an OEM Ford cable ONLY

 

[COramprat]

Keep in mind you will have to be facing fwd and no obstacles anywhere near you. You will have to start in gear. Once you get rolling just pull it out of each gear and hold at the gate of the next until it pops in. If you have to come to a stop, pull it out of gear into neutral and kill the car when you com to a stop. Put it in 1st and start the process over again.

I was lucky that 70 of my 75 miles home the second time was Interstate but I've had to do this twice now. The 1st time was moderate traffic and a pain but I was fairly close to home.

 

[SyberSaint]

+1 for using a OEM Ford Clutch cable...

 

[Rusty67]

Forget driving it to a mechanic... just fix it yourself. This is such an easy thing to swap out....