1977 308 clutch grabbing LOW

You mean it engages and releases at really low pedal? I can't think of anything that is failing mechanically to cause that issue.


The clutch isn't hard to do at all, as long as you have the proper sockets for the ring nuts.

Doug

 

Check your clutch cable ends. When they fail, they fray. This in essence lengthens the cable making it less effective at releasing the clutch. If left alone it will soon not even let you engage a gear when the engine is running - or get your stuck on the road unable to safely stop or start.

 

(Assuming that you still have the stock 1977 clutch linkage set-up and haven't been "updated") One way to monitor this is to make sure it is adjusted per the 308GT4 WSM (holes aligned), and then see if the adjustment is way out-of-whack when a problem occurs (so invent a time machine and then do that ). Another thing to do is make sure the cable is still "on" the pulleys and the pulleys are rotating well (i.e., the cable is not sliding and "sawing" into the pulley -- since the pulley is plastic, the cable slides on it pretty easily).

 

Yes, doing the clutch adjustment and checking the pulley is a LR wheel liner out thing (and Andy's good suggestion to make sure that the cable itself is still OK is a prerequisite before worrying about anything else). The pulley the cable rides on is item 20 here:

https://www.ferrariparts.co.uk/diagram/ferrari/308-gtb-gts-carburetor/020-clutch-operating-control

Here's a good photo someone posted before to illustrate the text description given on page D7:
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Sorry for not being clear. What I am saying is that the clutch cables are made of stranded metal wire that is twisted in a spiral over the course of its entire length. It runs from your clutch pedal all the way to the clutch linkage by the bellhousing. What happens to these (when I bought my '77 308 30 years ago mine was already starting to fray) is that the individual wires that make up this stranded cable break. One breaks, then another, and so on. Eventually, so many of them break that they allow the spiral pattern to unwind and essentially make the cable not only weaker, but longer. This is why I made the suggestion - because your car is acting like the cable has gotten longer.

So I am not talking about the clevis ends - I am only talking about the cable itself. In my case, and probably in most cases, the cable starts fraying at its ends and not somewhere else (although that isn't a guarantee). If you poke your head into the drivers footwell with a good flashlight you should see the very end of the cable. Same goes for the adjustable linkage end. Steve's suggestion to establish a baseline adjustment makes sense too.

 

The pulley is on the left frame rail as the clutch cable exits the passenger compartment and enters the engine area (see pic, mine is removed and placed about an inch aft)... it's a good & easy idea from Steve to check this. When my cable failed, it was at the clutch (vs. pedal) end.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

In some ways I'm no benchmark but in others I'm the poster boy. I've had my 308 for longer than some FChat members have been alive. In 1986 I set up the distributors, set up the Webers, replaced the clutch cable and adjusted the clutch. I have NEVER had to disturb any of them through hundreds of track miles or thousands of street miles. Granted, I need to look at those points now because the idle has changed. But that's been after 35 years - and its off topic.

My point is that if you have to adjust your clutch, something changed. You will change belts on a 308 four or five times before you need to look at the clutch adjustment (unless you really punish your clutch or someone else has) IMO