Is This the Hill Holder or Clutch Cable?

[JazzBass]

Hi all,

 

In my saga to keep learning how to drive a stick, I had an issue with the hill holder holding on more than I like.

 

So I decide to try and adjust it myself. I trace what I see as the hill holder (in the 2nd pic) up to where the firewall is and I adjust the bolt with the lock and adjustment nut. (Pic 1)

 

My Haynes manual says nothing about the location of where you adjust the hill holder. Just has a diagram of what it looks like.

 

So I snapped a few pics. I adjusted it, but the clutch pedal felt REALLY DIFFERENT. So much so, that I tightened it back up a bit.

 

So I just need to know if this is indeed where I adjust the hill holder or did I just adjust my clutch pedal?

 

Thanks!

JB

[cohophysh]

Hi all,

 

In my saga to keep learning how to drive a stick, I had an issue with the hill holder holding on more than I like.

 

So I decide to try and adjust it myself. I trace what I see as the hill holder (in the 2nd pic) up to where the firewall is and I adjust the bolt with the lock and adjustment nut. (Pic 1)

 

My Haynes manual says nothing about the location of where you adjust the hill holder. Just has a diagram of what it looks like.

 

So I snapped a few pics. I adjusted it, but the clutch pedal felt REALLY DIFFERENT. So much so, that I tightened it back up a bit.

 

So I just need to know if this is indeed where I adjust the hill holder or did I just adjust my clutch pedal?

 

Thanks!

JB

 

what you adjusted is the clutch

[cohophysh]

not sure what the other pic is but I think it may be the hill holder spring

Edited March 5, 2011 by cohophysh

[JazzBass]

Argh! I figured that's what I did!

 

Well, I think I need to give it another turn or so, but I have an easier clutch than I did before. Not too sure I like that.

 

So, that being the case, where do I adjust the hill holder?

 

Thanks again!

JB

[lostinthe202]

Yes, it looks like you adjusted the clutch cable. The black metal bar that the cable in your first pic is connected to is called the clutch fork. This is what the cable uses to actuate the rest of the clutch mechanism. There are two nuts visible in front of the clutch fork in your first pic. The bigger of these two, the one closer to the fork, is the one that you would have adjusted that changed the feel of your clutch. The second nut is used to lock the larger nut in place so that it doesn't change its position over time.

 

To get your clutch back to where it was you need to reverse whatever you did. Did your adjustment loosen or tighten the clutch fork? Put another way, did whatever adjustment you made make the black metal bar connected to the cable in your first pic wiggle more or less? My guess, since you were thinking the hill holder was too tight, is that you loosened that larger nut so that there was more wiggle.

 

If that's the case, what you did was cause the "engagement point" to move closer to the floor meaning that as you let out the clutch, the engine starts to grab much closer to the floor.

 

To get it back to where you want to be, you want that metal bar to have only just the slightest amount of back and forth wiggle. By that I mean, that you want it to move about 1/8 of an inch back and forth along the direction of travel of the cable. For reference, 1/8th of an inch is about about half the thickness of a CD case.

 

Good luck!

 

Will-

[JazzBass]

Yes, it looks like you adjusted the clutch cable. The black metal bar that the cable in your first pic is connected to is called the clutch fork. This is what the cable uses to actuate the rest of the clutch mechanism. There are two nuts visible in front of the clutch fork in your first pic. The bigger of these two, the one closer to the fork, is the one that you would have adjusted that changed the feel of your clutch. The second nut is used to lock the larger nut in place so that it doesn't change its position over time.

 

To get your clutch back to where it was you need to reverse whatever you did. Did your adjustment loosen or tighten the clutch fork? Put another way, did whatever adjustment you made make the black metal bar connected to the cable in your first pic wiggle more or less? My guess, since you were thinking the hill holder was too tight, is that you loosened that larger nut so that there was more wiggle.

 

If that's the case, what you did was cause the "engagement point" to move closer to the floor meaning that as you let out the clutch, the engine starts to grab much closer to the floor.

 

To get it back to where you want to be, you want that metal bar to have only just the slightest amount of back and forth wiggle. By that I mean, that you want it to move about 1/8 of an inch back and forth along the direction of travel of the cable. For reference, 1/8th of an inch is about about half the thickness of a CD case.

 

Good luck!

 

Will-

 

Thanks Will! Yep, I loosened the adjustment nut so I need to tighten it up a little bit. Thanks for the 1/8 of an inch reference. I'll head out right now and try and get it adjusted correctly.

 

So I guess I just need to figure out where to adjust the hill holder now, which I have no idea if it's close to where the 'valve' is (close to the big spring in the second pic).

 

Oh well, I want to get the clutch engagement point correct first then I'll worry about the hill holder.

 

Live and learn eh?

JB

 

(Fast-forward 30 mins)

 

Alright! I got it back to where it should be/where I want it (1/8 inch of play at the cable).

 

Thanks again

JB

Edited March 5, 2011 by JazzBass
Did the job

[subie94]

if i remember correctly,the hill holder cable attached to same bracket the clutch cable is (just going opposite direction of clutch cable using the hole below the clutch cable,the cable end is somewhat in the blue circle..)

 

..i haven't had to adjust one so i am not sure how..i just disconnected mine cause holder was binding up causing brakes to heat up..

Edited March 5, 2011 by subie94

[lostinthe202]

Unfortunately I can't help you with adjusting the hill holder as the first thing I did when I bought my Subaru was to unhook it. I found it to be a pain when I was parallel parking as it wouldn't let me "drift" back a bit if I was parking on a slope. In fact, when I first bought the car I didn't even know it existed. I remember discovering it for the first time on a hill start. I'm so used to having to overcome the additional inertia of the car rolling back for a sec before the clutch engages that I almost ran into the car in front of me! For all I know mine could have been out of adjustment as well, but I'd been driving 15 years without one at that point so I really didn't miss it.

 

I would imagine that the hill holder cable adjusts in a similar way to the clutch cable, but whether you need to tighten or loosen it, i have no idea. Try using the "advanced" search option and do a search for "adjusting the hill holder" or some such phrase. Remember to sort your results by relevancy and also remember that if you find a post that has some information but not all of it, at the bottom of the screen will be links to "similar posts" which might have the info you're looking for.

 

Good luck!

 

Will-

[MilesFox]

if i remember correctly,the hill holder cable attached to same bracket the clutch cable is (just going opposite direction of clutch cable using the hole below the clutch cable,the cable end is somewhat in the blue circle..)

 

..i haven't had to adjust one so i am not sure how..i just disconnected mine cause holder was binding up causing brakes to heat up..

 

 

you dont want this too tight. it should only be tight enough to take the slack out of the bushing. Adjust it properly and get used to the pedal feel. Otherwise, too high or too stiff a paeal(too tight a cable) will ruin the pressure plate.

 

If it is much diferent than what you have been used to before you had the clutch replaced, this was probably due to the original clutch being too tight and slipping to a degree.

 

1. adjust the clutch cable to take the slack out of the fork

2. adjust another 1-3 turns for your desired pedal

3.then adjust the hill holder