Hot Rod Forum banner

clutch problem 93 cobra mustang?

4K views 21 replies 7 participants last post by  snids53 
#1 ·
i will try this again. i had articulated quite a nice post and right before i went to post it my son hit some buttons on the laptop and it disappeared. this post wont be as time consuming as now i am angry and sick of typing.

After much research I THINK I have a clutch problem. Before i tear into it and spend some money i wanted to get some expert advice from some of the genius on this site. Im even sure that many of you have had this exact issue with a 93 cobra...possibly.

the car is making a vibrational noise with some chatter...i thought it was the speedo or instrument panel at first...but i think its the clutch. sometimes its noticeable when accelerating, very noticeable when decelerating speed without the clutch being depressed. when i feel the clutch pedal as the noise is being made the pedal is vibrating. no noise when sitting and idling, no noise when clutch pedal is depressed (even if i just press the pedal just a little the noise stops).

car has always seemed to shift really well, sometimes it takes a little finesse to get into reverse.

im guessing the clutch disc, pressure plate, possibly flywheel, pilot bearing, and self adjusting mechanism might need replaced. is this a replace one part replace the whole deal type thing?

Am i even on the right track...maybe its the tranny (God i hope not), maybe its something else.

if it is the clutch i was looking at FRPP King cobra or centerforce's dual friction clutch.

Thanks for any and all information.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Well I'm no genius but I'll give it a shot. T5's aren't the best transmissions in the world, however the 92 and 93 are probably some of the best ones that were built. I'd like to know how many miles are on the car, but from what it sounds like you've got either a bad pressure plate or disc. A pilot bearing can sometimes cause some similar symptoms, but you stated that it makes no noise when the clutch is depressed so I don't think thats your issue. One thing you can try is get the car up to 30-40 mph and note your rpms, press the clutch in to disengage the trans, while holding the clutch rev the engine up to the rpms where they were when the trans was engaged and quickly let the clutch out. If you feel the trans slip or vibrate its a pretty good indicator that the clutch is shot. If it grabs tight and the car jerks a little your clutch is fine. I would probably do this in 3rd gear since 2nd is usually the weakest link in the t5 and this test is a little stressful on the trans.
 
#6 ·
Clutch problem?

Check the cable First they stretch!!!
If it's the oem cable I'd replace it because they are junk!
This would be a great place to start even if you need more than a cable. If you plan on putting a heavier clutch in the future make sure you put in a cable thats ment for that extra presure ;) Maybe do it any way since the OEM ones will NOT last :nono:
I think SNIDS is on the right track with the king cobra centre force clutch especially if your going to let her go once in a while :thumbup:
:pimp:

snids53 said:
i will try this again. i had articulated quite a nice post and right before i went to post it my son hit some buttons on the laptop and it disappeared. this post wont be as time consuming as now i am angry and sick of typing.

After much research I THINK I have a clutch problem. Before i tear into it and spend some money i wanted to get some expert advice from some of the genius on this site. Im even sure that many of you have had this exact issue with a 93 cobra...possibly.

the car is making a vibrational noise with some chatter...i thought it was the speedo or instrument panel at first...but i think its the clutch. sometimes its noticeable when accelerating, very noticeable when decelerating speed without the clutch being depressed. when i feel the clutch pedal as the noise is being made the pedal is vibrating. no noise when sitting and idling, no noise when clutch pedal is depressed (even if i just press the pedal just a little the noise stops).

car has always seemed to shift really well, sometimes it takes a little finesse to get into reverse.

im guessing the clutch disc, pressure plate, possibly flywheel, pilot bearing, and self adjusting mechanism might need replaced. is this a replace one part replace the whole deal type thing?

Am i even on the right track...maybe its the tranny (God i hope not), maybe its something else.

if it is the clutch i was looking at FRPP King cobra or centerforce's dual friction clutch.

Thanks for any and all information.
 
#8 ·
My son had a "93" GT Mustang that we put (4) T-5 transmissions in. The T-5 transmissions are not built to withstand the abuse a 17 year old puts them through I guess. His Mustang developed a bad vibration at idle. Come to find out it was the factory harmonic balancer. The rubber bonding had seperated almost to the point of coming apart.
 
#10 ·
CQNRQY said:
Check the cable First they stretch!!!
If it's the oem cable I'd replace it because they are junk!
This would be a great place to start even if you need more than a cable. If you plan on putting a heavier clutch in the future make sure you put in a cable thats ment for that extra presure ;) Maybe do it any way since the OEM ones will NOT last :nono:
I think SNIDS is on the right track with the king cobra centre force clutch especially if your going to let her go once in a while :thumbup:
:pimp:
thanks for your time and info! appreciate your two cents worth!
 
#12 ·
S10 Racer said:
My son had a "93" GT Mustang that we put (4) T-5 transmissions in. The T-5 transmissions are not built to withstand the abuse a 17 year old puts them through I guess. His Mustang developed a bad vibration at idle. Come to find out it was the factory harmonic balancer. The rubber bonding had seperated almost to the point of coming apart.

whoa didnt even think of that...would that be something you can just eyeball and tell if its bad??? would that make the clutch pedal vibrate? would i have to yank the engine to replace that or maybe just the radiator?

thanks for your time and info!
 
#14 ·
Sounds like your throw out bearing is riding on the clutch all the time. A stretched cable or out of adjustment can cause this. Not sure what those have for adjustment. Some of the Mustangs had a funky setup under the dash. A worn clutch will also cause the pressure plate fingers to extend a bit more and this could also cause contact between the fingers and the bearing.
Do not attempt to put grease on anything. Most throw out bearings are sealed and the grease is just going to end up on the clutch disk, flywheel and pressure plate and cause more issues.
 
#15 ·
snids53 said:
whoa didnt even think of that...would that be something you can just eyeball and tell if its bad??? would that make the clutch pedal vibrate? would i have to yank the engine to replace that or maybe just the radiator?

thanks for your time and info!
It depends on how bad it is. The way we could tell was to start the motor and watch the balancer. It was actually "wobbling" which led me to think it was bad. Even if you can't see a wobble, it can still be bad. When we got ours off, we compared it to the new one and noticed that the timing marks were different. This was caused by the rubber allowing the outer hub to slip on the inner hub. I have heard this is quite common on this Mustangs. You can replace it with the motor in the car. I can't remember if we had to remove the radiator or not but it was only like a 1-1/2 hour job. If the harmonic balancer is bad, it will make everything vibrate. Keep us posted.
 
#16 ·
T-bucket23 said:
Sounds like your throw out bearing is riding on the clutch all the time. A stretched cable or out of adjustment can cause this. Not sure what those have for adjustment. Some of the Mustangs had a funky setup under the dash. A worn clutch will also cause the pressure plate fingers to extend a bit more and this could also cause contact between the fingers and the bearing.
Do not attempt to put grease on anything. Most throw out bearings are sealed and the grease is just going to end up on the clutch disk, flywheel and pressure plate and cause more issues.

thanks for the information! it has a self adjusting clutch mechanism...im going to take a crack at 'er soon.
 
#17 ·
S10 Racer said:
It depends on how bad it is. The way we could tell was to start the motor and watch the balancer. It was actually "wobbling" which led me to think it was bad. Even if you can't see a wobble, it can still be bad. When we got ours off, we compared it to the new one and noticed that the timing marks were different. This was caused by the rubber allowing the outer hub to slip on the inner hub. I have heard this is quite common on this Mustangs. You can replace it with the motor in the car. I can't remember if we had to remove the radiator or not but it was only like a 1-1/2 hour job. If the harmonic balancer is bad, it will make everything vibrate. Keep us posted.

will do...thanks for the follow up info...im hoping its something somewhat easy like the balancer!
 
#22 ·
Fixed...i think...

well i promised i would get back to all of you when i got around to working on the stang.

i replaced the clutch cable and quadrant with an after market performance piece. i don't know if i fixed the root problem of the vibration but i fixed the symptom. no more chattering noise. i still think i might take a peak at the pressure plate, disc, throwout bearing, and flywheel...im sure they could use some attention.

about the upgrade. i don't like the fact that the performance after market upgrade doesn't use the stock spring to return the pedal faster...i liked the feel of the stocker. also...i didn't remove the steering wheel, dash, or drivers seat like different directions from manuals and parts suppliers had suggested. im a pretty decent sized guy and if i didn't need to remove those things most people wouldn't need to.

otherwise the swap is pretty easy. if anybody has any follow up questions let me know. THANKS for all your help! i will report back down the road if i find out the problem is still deeper...which im a little worried it is but working great right now.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top