Im not a virgin anymore. I just broke my first clutch cable

[quartermilecamel]

Went to work last friday, got out of the garage, went to grab 1st and bam, clutch goes to the floor!! Unless you have broken one before, weird oh crap things immediately go through your mind I guess one shouldnt reuse the bowden tube as I couldnt get the new cable through it. Installed new cable and bowden tube from bustoration and all is good now. Thanks to the samba and the many thread reads on stuff breaking, I remembered what the hell made my pedal go south.
_________________
Waiting for santa to drop off funky green. I can wish can't I????

[flemcadiddlehopper]

How far did you have to limp it home with no clutch?

Gordo.
_________________
Everybody Dies....Some Never Live.

Retrograde Garage. Vintage Aircooled, and others.

[quartermilecamel]

Sorry, no horrid detailed "I ran this stop light, blew that stop sign" to report. I simply backed it out of the garage, went to grab 1st. 1st push of pedal gave the pop but pedal still up. Feeling the oh shit what was that, naw had to be my imagination, pushed it again and it let go. Sat in bus for a good minute staring at pedal until cable broke came to mind. Put it in 1st, hit the key, drove it back in garage, shut off key with brake. Had I been 5 or 10 minutes out from the house I would have speed shifted it to work because she would not have had enough time to pick me up and take me the rest of the way to work. Funny thing is, My cable was broke when I bought the bus from the furniture store outside of Minot AFB. Still never experienced a cable actually snapping. I maybe adjusted the cable once over its life and that was it. I thought these cables went more slower than that Like maybe the pedal travel increases a lot to where you run out of adjustment at the wing nut. I guess not............SUPRIZE.
_________________
Waiting for santa to drop off funky green. I can wish can't I????

[flemcadiddlehopper]

The clutch cable "snapping" is a little strong a word. Mine just went out of adjustment again and again until no clutch.
Now a throttle cable snapping, that's an experience. Try driving home like that. Set the idle screws up just enough not to blow up at a light, but fast enough that you are able to get going. Fun...These things didn't happen in Little Miss Sunshine.

Gordo.
_________________
Everybody Dies....Some Never Live.

Retrograde Garage. Vintage Aircooled, and others.

[cdennisg]

The last bowden tube I installed was brand new, with a bustoration sticker stuck over another company's sticker, and it cracked during installation. I hate crappy parts. I would have mentioned it to Ronnie, but I got it as a replacement for one that I gave a friend when he needed to get his bus going in short order.
_________________
Confusious say it takes it takes two wipes to know you need three, but it takes three wipes to know it only needed two.

[Eric&Barb]

Congrats!!!!

QMC did you inspect the forward clutch bracket that the front end of the cable attaches to? That hole for the pin gets worn out into a long slot and can snap at any time when worn enough.
_________________
In Stereo, Where Available!

[Don66bus]

I remember changing a cable while lying in the gutter at night, Vancouver rain coursing down the hill and over me, as my passenger was asking "Are you almost finished?". When it was up and running, she said "Do you always swear like that when you are working on the truck?"

I still do from time to time. I have yet to achieve equanimity under those sort of conditions.

[Eric&Barb]

[VWAdam]

When I got the hang of driving a stick, the next thing my dad taught me was how to roll start because "You'll have to do it one day" After that was mastered, he taught me how to shift without the clutch because "one day your clutch cable is going to break and you'll have to drive it home like this"


In those respects, my father truly knew best.
_________________
All he needed was a wheel in his hand and four on the road.

'59 Euro Beetle ragtop
'63 Standard Microbus

Come to my show! www.volksjam.com

Looking for badge/sticker/frame from Western Motors in Great Falls, Montana

[Don66bus]

I have driven several vehicles without a clutch, including a 40 mile stint on logging roads with a loaded 3 ton truck. That rainy night in Vancouver, though, I was facing 10 miles of rush hour traffic and 100 miles of freeway to home. It was safer, but wetter, to spend an hour lying on the road and put in a new cable.

[plane_ben]

I've experience three broken clutch cables on three different VWs. One beetle, one bus, and lastly my shorty SC. The first two I changed on the spot, the shorty, because of the shortened nature of the cable and the lowered staus, I had to drive it home. Kicked into neutral for stopping, once stopped turn off engine and put in first, then cranked the stater to get rolling and speed shift. Worked this all out in my mind in about half a block from the first light I would need to stop at. Caught green lights all the way home (about 7-9 miles) and didn't have to stop until I pulled into my driveway.
_________________
I'm at the age were "fuck off", "fuck you", and "fuck it" answer most questions.

[Eric&Barb]

Definitely being good at timing the traffic lights helps!

Longest was about 400 miles when towing a KG with our 63 SC, when the clutch disc exploded going from the Siskiyou Mountains to Seattle.

Busiest was in rush hour traffic in Los Angeles, did about 20 miles on that trip.
_________________
In Stereo, Where Available!

[cdennisg]

I've only had to go clutch-less a few times, and for short distances, thankfully. But it definitely is a tricky and valuable skill to have in your quiver.
_________________
Confusious say it takes it takes two wipes to know you need three, but it takes three wipes to know it only needed two.

[rustfree1967bug]

Had the exact same thing happen in my '74 bus right after i left work one day. Drove the 10 miles home with no clutch.
_________________
'70 ghia
'69 ghia
'65 singlecab
'66 sunroof beetle
'74 bus
'67 so-42


IDA's...well... they talk dirty -MURZI

[quartermilecamel]

[quartermilecamel]

Ive done no clutch shifting before and its not easy, but not in my bus. Id have to practice that since the rpms are higher than other vehicles. Id guess keep rpms lower and shift soon, just like shifting at lower rpms when cold will make 2nd gear easier to find with cold trans oil. Id bet theres a thread on it too somewhere. If only everett would put the retna search scan software in place so that one could interface with search to find exactly what they want in no time.
_________________
Waiting for santa to drop off funky green. I can wish can't I????

[plane_ben]

Speed shifting is just that. Speedy. Accelarate, let off gas to unload tranny gears, and pop the shifter to the next gear. Easy-peasy.
_________________
I'm at the age were "fuck off", "fuck you", and "fuck it" answer most questions.

[cdennisg]

[Eric&Barb]

[runderwood]

The small pin that connects the cable to the pedal broke on me a couple weeks ago. Did a roadside repair by using a small bolt in place of the pin - with two nuts on the one side locked together so that they can't come undone. Is a bolt as strong as that little stock pin thing? Am I OK driving the bus this way??

I'm going to have to try this speed shifting thing. Never done it, and would have really helped me out. When it broke on me, it was without warning, miles from home. I ended up fixing it right where it broke. I can sorta see getting gears to mesh once moving, but not understanding how you handle a dead stop... turn off engine, but in first, and crank while moving the bus? Doesn't that kill the battery instantly?
_________________
61 DD Panel