AUII Clutch/firewall

antilooped · 15-02-2006, 07:47 PM

Hey there,

Well my cruise control went out of action today, got the best of me so i crawled under the dash and had a look. Ive just bought it (au2 xr6 man) and the racv tester said that it had a really havy clutch, but ive been noticing its actually very hard to get it into gear and jumps out a bit too. The clutch has definetely got worse in the month ive had the car (so much it hurts my knees to clutch). I took some photos... found there is a crack around the firewall hole where the clutch goes thru, and the clutch cable is rubbing on the sleeve as it goes thru the hole. There is about 3cm of give pulling the pedal back to the driver, this seems to be the problem not engaging my cruise control switch. Please see picture below.

Does anyone know where i would take this to get fixed (south east melbourne) and how much it would cost?

thanks guys!

Best regards Shannon.

XR6-VCT-2000 · 15-02-2006, 08:34 PM

mate, even if u havent got a welder , i'de be personally looking at strengthening the setup with maybe like a nice thick steel checker plate welded or bolted over where that huge opening is ( all the part that is silver in the pic ), and drill a few small holes in the plate to allow the cables to pass through, would strengthen it heaps. If u can't do it yourself, i'm sure any small workshop or garage could fix the problem for you , it's a common thing with alot of manuals in all sorts of different model cars, an easy fix if you have a welder , a mig weld will do ;) ..gl

lv619 · 15-02-2006, 11:51 PM

Looks like the previous owner had a go at repairing it with some black tar/glue?? lol

Anyway, it's a common problem with the falcons (right up to the BA range) to have strength issues at the firewall where the clutch cable comes thru. Similar thing happened with my au a few months after i got it. Give a few transmission/panel shops a call and get a few quotes. All they will need to do is weld up a support plate or whatever to the affected area to help strengthen where the clutch cable comes thru.

Oh yeah, get it fixed asap before even bigger cracks/holes appear...

loxxr6 · 16-02-2006, 04:09 PM

It can be expensive to fix depending on the split.

I had this same problem where the firewall split and after a short drive changing gears was like doing so without putting the clutch in, it was terrible. I got quoted everything from $150 to $1500+ to fix it depending on whether or not they needed to remove my dash.

I ended up having a local guy weld it up. Actually, he's meant to be making reinforcement brackets for cars with this prob... He's in NSW tho. Give Mark from ITS Performance a call on 0415 727 951 and maybe he can help you out with the brackets.

This same crack in the firewall can also lead to your car leaking when it rains. It sucks.

Jake F6 · 16-02-2006, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loxxr6

This same crack in the firewall can also lead to your car leaking when it rains. It sucks.

Actually they are two seperate issues - I have had both :jab:

The leak is cause by a crack in the scuttle panel!

cArSiK · 16-02-2006, 05:14 PM

Im amazed this problem still occurs with modern falcons. I had this problem with my ED and would have thought the "all new bodied" AU would have had substantial strengthening in this area..

James

XR6-VCT-2000 · 16-02-2006, 05:43 PM

man this has been happenin since back in the days with old cars that were manuals / seen it happen heaps , and yes the problem should of been rectified years ago on all cars/models where it was happening.. Personally i think a thick re-inforcement plate around that part of the firewall behind the clutch should be standard on all manuals / all anyway.

loxxr6 · 17-02-2006, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Actually they are two seperate issues - I have had both

The leak is cause by a crack in the scuttle panel!

I stand corrected.

I checked the notes I took on this (and an old thread) and you're right.

antilooped · 21-02-2006, 04:23 PM

Well ive been hunting quotes, one guy in hallam said he's done lots of them and said $1200 just to fix the crack, about 5 others wouldnt even touch it coz of safety issues, i have found one guy in dandy (stud road panels) who was great enough to make some calls to ford and some engineers and came up with the only sensible thing to do is yank the dash out, cut a large section of the firewall out, put a thick piece back in, then replace the pedal box (clutch and brake). He said $880. Plus he suggested that ill need a new clutch + cable which my mate mechanic said about $425 to do.

He also said that the pins in the brake pedal box are coming loose and will need a fix.

The problem is so bad i cant get the car into gear 1 stationary and the clutch pedal is 3 cm from touching the cruise control switch so i cant use that either!

Mate this ИИИИes me off, ive had the car for a month and a half, paid 17g's for it, had racv + thoughrough roadworthy done and ive got problems already! My faith in the build quality of fords is really pitiful at the moment.

sickxr · 22-02-2006, 06:31 PM

I have the same promblem.... it makes me wanna rip my manual out and change it to a auto!

The Monty · 22-02-2006, 06:46 PM

I had water leak on my foot around a really fast sharp corner when I had aircon on. It has only happened once though

sickxr · 23-02-2006, 10:58 AM

Mine is booked in at metro ford on tuesday with the same promblem. I will let u's know how it goes

R0bb0 · 23-02-2006, 11:09 PM

Would this be covered under the 12 months Used Car Warrenty I got when I bought the car?

xd5.8l · 24-02-2006, 07:42 AM

I reckon the main problem is that people put to much travel into their clutch pedals and therefor bugger their firewalls. My clutch just starts to engage/release half way. I also lubricate my cable fairly frequently.

loxxr6 · 25-02-2006, 02:53 PM

Quote:

The problem is so bad i cant get the car into gear 1 stationary and the clutch pedal is 3 cm from touching the cruise control switch so i cant use that either!

Exactly the same problem I had. Its a bastard. I had heard that there were recalls by Ford to get this fixed with a special plate but when I spoke to my local Ford dealer they denied it (weird considering another forum member had his prob fixed by Ford).