020 clutch cable change

This guide is for the 020 gearbox set-up, should cover both the 8v and 16v.

Some of the later models got an automatically adjusting clutch cable, these are a good idea in some cases, or for some people, for the fact that the clutch pedal will always(should*) bite in the same position. And therefore there will be no need to adjust the cable length as with the manual cable as the clutch wears.

But, this self adjusting cable can give trouble, and can slip as the collets wear that grip the cable inside the adjuster.
The self adjust also gives no warning if your clutch is about to go, or going, as it will always bite in the same place everytime. Where-as with the manual cable, it would bite higher and higher as the clutch wears giving you an indication as to when you will need to replace clutch, or if its time to re-adjust things.

In the guide below Im swapping out an auto adjust cable for a manual cable I had, but the guide can be used if you want to re-new a manual cable all the same.

So here it is,

In the bay you will see the clutch cable like so, if you have an auto cable, it will be fatter where it attaches to box, and should still have the white clip as below,



Grab this clip and attach tags to the pins on outer sheath to compress the mechinisim inside, and to allow removal. If this was a manual cable, with a 14mm and 17mm spanner, open the lock nut that you will see later, and screw the threaded shaft back into the black sheath as far as it will go, you may need to use oil/wd40 to loosen things up a bit.

Here it is in the 'parked' position,



Underneath the car you will see the clip holding cable end to clutch release arm, this clip has to be removed,



It slides out to one side,



And comes out and off, along with the metal washer under it,





Up on top again the pressure will now be off the cable and it will pull up,





Its now time to remove the rain tray covering the ecu and the wiper mechanism, remove the rubber seal across bulkhead and prise up the cover clips, remove cover,

Under this you will see where cable enters car and also the grommet where it passes out through bulkhead, remove this grommet from the bulkhead metal,





Working inside the car the cover over pedals needs to come out, a few phillips screws is all that holds it in, dont forget the one at door jamb below fuseboard,





The one at jamb under board,







The cover will now fall down and can be removed,



Get in on your back and find end of clutch cable where it attaches to the top of the clutch pedal, its tight in there, but ok,



You need to unhook the tab off the pedal, as you look at it from the side, hinge the cable up and around clockwise, and off,







From the bay, you can now carefully pull up the cable as its now free off the pedal, pull it up, and out through bulkhead, and out of the bay, its a good idea to inspect the other grommets at this point to see if they're all in place, as you can see, my accelerator grommet was out of place, this leads to possible moisture getting into the cabin and/or noise/smells,





And out, auto on the bottom, manual cable on top, the grommet at the gearbox bracket end is not yet fitted to the manual cable,



If your fitting replacing the auto adjust cable with a second hand manual cable, make sure the adjusting nut, and adjuster is free to turn, if not, oil/wd40 and a few minutes with the 14 and 17mm spanner will free it up,



Thread new cable in through bulkhead and down into hole as before,



Fix in grommet to bulkhead,



Inside the car, press the clutch a bit to give yourself room to hook on cable end again, same as removing it, but in reverse! Dont fit plastic undertray just yet. Make just pedal is in the up position, as it can spring down without the cable being attached to box,

Fit rubber grit grommet to cable stop if its not already on it and fit it into the box 'lug' again, be careful not to push back the free end of cable as it may come off the pedal, if it does, just hook it on again,



Make sure at this point that the adjuster is threaded in to its shortest position, which is also the position it needs to be adjusted to if its a manual cable you are removing, in order to give yourself enough slack to remove clip on clutch release arm,



Working underneath, thread the free end through the hole in arm/rubbers and refit clip,



After doing this, look under dash again to see if the cable is still on pedal correctly, if it is, refit undertray, if it has come off, remove clip on cable end out at the box, hook it on again to pedal, and try again, you should have no problems, but sometimes it can come off,

Thats the cable in, you can now refit the rain tray and ecu cover, along with the up-stand seal, you wont have to go in here again.

Its now time to adjust cable, with one hand catch the cable and pull it up as shown below,



As you can see above mine needs to be adjusted a fair bit, this isn't saying alot for my clutch, but thats for another day, its fine as yet.

Looking at that picture, theres about 40mm between the outer cable stop, and the alloy box bracket. The correct measurement here when the cable is pulled up like this is 10mm. So you need to get turning the adjuster to get this 10mm.

Like so, slacken nut, and thread the adjuster out of black sheath,



Before locking the nut off, slide in two 10mm bolts, or drill bits to double check the clearance gap needed, once your happy, lock off nut with both spanners and remove bolts,



It should then look like this with the bolts/10mm spacers removed,



The purpose of this 10mm is so that there is sufficient clearance between the clutch release bearing/pushrod when the clutch is engaged, you dont want pressure on these or for them to be spinning/contacting when the clutch is not being used while the car is running.

So thats that, a bit long winded for something so simple, but setting the cable is critical so take your time.

I think it feels far better than the other cable and wont let you down like the auto cable could, it also lets you know exactly what's going on with your clutch pending pedal height over time, its a 'mod' Id recommend highly to be honest and have done it on all my cars through the yrs.


Hope this guide helps in some way sometime,

Brian,

 

spot on mate ! , my clutch cable snapped saturday and your guide will be a huge help . only thing is when the cabble snapped i lost the sliding clip and metal washer that sits under it

 

Brian. Brilliant again.

ETKA calls for a thinner rubber piece, between the bottom clip and the lever arm, for a manual cable. I am not too sure now, but seem to remember, that, with a brand new clutch and cable, when converting miss daved's car, I could get the initial clearance with the thick rubber?

Also, your throttle cable end is well jammed into the rubber bush, on the pedal lever?

 

Nope, 4th last picture Johnny, its there, its smaller in diameter than the auto type, It may be a 'motorfactors design' It sits up inside the round plastic cable stop and keeps it around 2-3mm up off box. You can clearly see the grommet/grit guard part of it extending down in the 4th last pic.

As for the accel linkage, but of a twist in it alright, Im finding new surprises on this car everyday, but Ive them nearly all got now. Its the first time I did any real work on it since I got it to be honest.

As for the bushing, thats minor
Plus, It feels wayyyyyy cooler and 'racey' when you can feel ALL engine vibrations through your foot. Lets you know if all is well. My toes can discipher all frequencies after all those years
Pedal stop also missing, I have yet to see a vw one actually, all my cars had either none, or a nut and bolt as a stop. What does one look like?

Dave, I meant to mention that, your correct, thinner under arm stop needed, you'll notice in the refit pics I have used the thinner one Its approx 5mm thick at the edge, where-as the auto cable one is around 20mm thick.

 

Funny you should say that Brian. NWR's VWMS pedal box has a stop fitted! My 87 PB and 86 EV don't. I've bought two. You can have one if you want!

 

Ill swap it for a box of biscuits when I arrive

 

Now that's a good deal! They only cost a few cents each!

 

Im sure a few hrs chatting with yourself will be priceless