In engine bay remove air filter box by undoing large jubilee clip then lift out air filter box complete. Pull out drivers side plastic tray inside the air box (under where the air intakes are on the bonnet). To get this tray out remove the seal. Then undo & remove the 3x 10mm nuts that hold the coolant expansion bottle cradle onto the bulkhead side panel. Remove the large rubber band from the expansion bottle and lif the bottle forward so the cradle can be lifted out and removed to allow access to where the clutch cable goes into the cable guide tube towards the pedal. Then follow the cable across the bulkhead and release the 2x clips holding it to the bulkhead. Now for the tricky bit, you need to get some large pipe grips (blue point do a set - available from your snap on van - they visit local garages so call a garage to get the phone number). These grips can be used to activate the clutch by hand, allowing the cable to be extracted from the gearbox lever. Next job in the engine bay is to pull out the cable rubber end from the gearbox bracket. Now work inside the car and undo & remove the 10mm nut holding the plastic wiring loom guide that fixes above the pedals. This is to allow it to be moved so you can get your hand up behind the clutch pedal and unhook the cable from the top of the pedal,. Use a torch to see what you're doing, and remember there's a spring loaded clip to prevent the cable coming off on its own - but you can manually get the cable end off as long as the clutch pedal isn't pressed down at all. Lastly, back in the engine bay, put your hand down past the place where the expansion bottle was moved from and pull forcefully down on the cable to release it from the tube it fits into.
Replacement is reverse of removal, but note the new cable has a locking device to mean that refitting doesn't need the clutch lever on the gearbox moving as was done to remove the old cable. Do not remove the locking device until the cable has been fitted, but these often snap during fitting as the design is pretty rubbish so use your large pipe grips to depress clutch lever if this occurs. Just remember order of refitting: 1 - fit cable into guide tube on bulkhead, 2 - fit end of cable onto pedal then refit 10mm wiring loom guide bracket, 3 - route clutch cable to gearbox as it was routed before. 4 - get gearbox cable end (the outer part) fixed into bracket on gearbox. To do this simply remove the rubber bung part from the cable outer to allow it to push into gearbox bracket, then press cable outer back into bung. 5 - refit cable to the two bulkhead brackets. 6 - Fit end of cable onto clutch lever on gearbox. 7 - Remove locking device from cable, 8 - refit ancilliaries (expansion bottle & bracket, air filter). That's it!
MC, August 2010
