Broken Clutch Pedal Assembly support bracket

[MaelstromOC]

Alright guys, I was pulling into a friend's driveway the other day, pushed my clutch in and heard a loud snap. The clutch is now halfway to the floor at its highest point, if that.

I got onto the floorboard to check the clutch pedal and pushrod out and found this metal bracket has snapped. Any insight as to what caused this would be appreciated. I've been told it was possibly a heavy clutch. I don't know what type of clutch is in the car as I've never had to replace it since buying it around two years ago.

8877

[DocWalt]

Make sure your clutch booster works (the black cylinder that the broken bracket bolts to) but otherwise probably just fatigue or an overly heavy clutch.

[MaelstromOC]

Pretty sure it doesn't as the previous owner apparently "crimped" the hard line on the firewall that runs to it :( I didn't know something like that could cause that bracket to snap though.

[DocWalt]

I wouldn't say it's normal for the bracket to snap, but fatigue failure can certainly set in after years of a stiff clutch and no assist making the pedal force weaker. The location of the booster is well engineered, takes the load off of the pedal and pedal bracket.

[MaelstromOC]

Thank you for the input Doc. I think I'll try to find a hard line to swap and get the booster back. It never really bothered me, plus I liked the feel of the clutch honestly, but I don't want to be replacing that bracket again just because of that. Plus, I'm sure my left leg will thank me haha.

I don't know why someone would cut the hardline on the firewall and crimp it the way that they did. It's literally cut right before the bend near the brake booster that heads south down the firewall.

[DocWalt]

Maybe they wanted better clutch feel? I've driven cars with or without the booster and removes a little bit of feel but it makes the pedal a lot easier to use :)

[Chris@Rvengeperformance]

Can you post a pic of your crimped line? I removed most of the line from behind the engine as well, but my booster still works because I'm still feeding it. The one line just goes to the vacuum tank and therefore really does nothing. The spec 4+ I have with the booster working is lighter than the one in my 4 banger ranger. hard to get used to after using rps and act clutches for years.

[MaelstromOC]

I'll have to go get a better picture of it. I think I may have been mistaken about which line is crimped off though. Maybe you guys can help me out here. I hate to seem like I don't know what I'm talking about, but I'm trying to learn!

Here's a picture of the crimped hard line. Unfortunately, it makes it difficult for me to tell which line it is on the firewall. I'll have to return to my buddy's house and get another picture, but comparing it to the clutch vacuum booster hoses diagram, I'm unsure.

http://puu.sh/oA59c/fb20c6c965.jpg

Another picture showing the actual booster hose I believe (top-most hardline.) Pretty sure I was completely mistaken, but I'm looking for a diagram of the hard lines right now because I'd still like to know what it was.

http://puu.sh/oA5fm/32e10c6bdf.jpg

[DocWalt]

Pretty sure that's the clutch vacuum line that runs over to the vacuum reservoir. It should still work without that line... But it looks like the vacuum line off of the intake manifold is capped off for some reason. That line has a check valve i it, so make sure that's still there if you go to hook up that line.

[Hans@GZP]

They will snap there if the bolt that goes through the top of the clutch pedal assembly is no long there. It's a bolt that goes straight up. If it's not there, it puts stress on the bottom of the clutch pedal assembly.

[MaelstromOC]

They will snap there if the bolt that goes through the top of the clutch pedal assembly is no long there. It's a bolt that goes straight up. If it's not there, it puts stress on the bottom of the clutch pedal assembly.

This is what I was afraid of. I read a long while back about that bolt backing out over time causing shift issues because some of the travel distance of the clutch was just moving the assembly a bit rather than going into actually disengaging the clutch. I'll check that out ASAP as well as that disconnected line.

Thank you guys!

[MaelstromOC]

So what Hanz said was actually a problem. Although the bolt hadn't backed out and was still there, the entire assembly has slid toward the firewall putting everything slightly out of whack. I discovered this after putting the new bracket in place. I didn't want to just tighten it down without checking to see why it seemed to be resting about a half inch off of the clutch booster. Taking a look at that top bolt appears as though it rests within a slot (which I found odd) and the entire assembly is probably about an inch out of place. There's also a ton of lubrication on a lot of the pivot points and such. It looked like there was actually some between the bolt and the top of the assembly that may have allowed it to slip back from vibrations/jolting. I'm going to drop the clutch pedal to get to that bolt and reset everything and hopefully that'll keep this from happening again.

I am still investigating my clutch booster though. I'm thinking that check valve is stuck. A buddy here has a 1st gen and I crawled under his dash to compare how everything looked compared to mine (to verify that top bolt being out of whack). He has hit clutch booster bypassed and it still feels easier to push in than mine does.

Regardless, thanks for all the ideas guys. I really appreciate it! I know this has taken me forever to really deal with lol, but I think I'm about there finally.

[Hans@GZP]

Clutch type can cause a heavy pedal. Try pulling off one of the bell housing breathers to try to get a look at the pressure plate of the clutch. If it's yellow (ACT), then that explains the heavy pedal.

[MaelstromOC]

Little update here:

I finally managed to get the entire clutch pedal assembly moved back into place and bolted down properly. After adjusting the clutch, the car had never shifted better the entire time I've owned it. However... after less than a day of driving, I went to leave, pushed the clutch to the floor to crank the car and pop. The entire assembly popped right back out of place yet again.

Is there any reason why there could be so much excessive force applied that it makes the entire assembly shift like that? I seriously tightened the shit out of that bolt up top, but now I'm basically right back where I started after only a day >.< I know that people delete their boosters (basically) so I don't see how that would manage to cause a problem like this.