lower clutch cable adjustment wont loosen

[kidmerc]

Hey all. I read the previous posts on adjusting your clutch. My bike was having a hard time finding neutral once warm and stopped at a light and sometimes didnt want to shift into 4th or 5th gear. Upon reading the step by step in the post I went out to adjust my clutch cable. (I reread it today after adjusting last night and realized that farther down in the post it says to loosen the cable at the lever first, i failed to do that). So tonight I went out and I loosened the cable at the lever on the handle bar and then removed the small cover to reveal the 12mm nut and philips head screw. I placed a 12mm box end wrench onto the nut and tried to loosen when I noticed that A.) it wouldnt turn and B.) the whole assembly shifted to the left as I tried to loosen it. I am guessing that something inside the assembly behind that nylon washer is broken and not holding the rod in place for me to loosen the nut? Is this something that can be harmful? I rode the bike today and it seemed to shift fine. Definitely better than before I botched the adjustment. Now I am afraid that if I ride tomorrow I will break a cable or worse on the way to work.

 

[littlebill31]

It will turn like that and spring back. It's working the clutch. Does the assembly turn? Or does it move around freely? I use a socket to loosen it when tough. If you pull the clutch lever in you can see it move. When the nut frees it will spring back hard, so I usually don't lossen the lever until the nut is loose, so the cable doesn't pop off inside.

 

[jayel]

squeeze and hold the hand lever when loosening that nut, takes the spring fly back out of the operation

 

[kidmerc]

Littlebill: the assembly doesnt turn it moves towards the front of the bike, so I guess it more or less slides ahead to the left.

 

[kidmerc]

Jayel I will give that a try. How hard should it be to turn the nut, last night it turned really easily, did I maybe overtighten it last night?

 

[littlebill31]

I think you just over tightened it.

 

[kidmerc]

So if I put a socket on there and lean on it a bit I "shouldnt" break anything?

 

[littlebill31]

No, no, no, I never said that. It could break, but if you spray some lube on it, just a touch, then try it, it should come loose. If you have to stand on it then something is wrong. Use your internal torque wrench.

 

[xjwmx]

The lock nut on that thing can be hard to loosen. I removed the two Phillips that hold the gear on, took the gear out of the plastic and put it on an electric stove burner for about 10 min. That freed it up enough to loosen. Used a big gob of antiseize when putting it back.

 

[tbone1980]

I am having this same exact issue. I will have to try the heating method because there was no way I was getting it to turn last night even with a socket.

 

[5twins]

If you've never had it loose, the parts can be good and stuck. The screw and nut are just plain steel and can get all rusty. I've had to take really stubborn ones out of the case, gently clamp them in a vice, and use a small impact on the nut. As mentioned, anti-seize the heck out of the parts once you do get them out. Also, don't tighten the nut super tight after your adjustment, just tight enough to hold.

 

[kidmerc]

Thanks for the info guys. I got home from work and in about 5 minutes had it loosened. I sprayed a little bit of PB Blaster on it, waited for a minute or two, squeezed the clutch lever and applied GENTLE pressure and it popped free. Went about adjusting my clutch as per the posts I had read. Everything sems to be A.O.K. This site is awesome and so are you all for all your info and willingness to help. Thanks again!!!

 

[littlebill31]

PB Blaster is da bomb. No fooling, I couldn't get my grips on so I sprayed PB Blaster in them (as suggested by a friend) to help slide them on. The next day they were glued solid, as my friend said they would be. When I changed them I had to cut them off. Current grips were installed the same way.

 

[tbone1980]

I also was able to get mine free tonight by letting it soak in 10w-40 and then I heated it up by laying an old soldering gun on it. After letting it heat for about 5 minutes I was able to put it in a vise and then loosen it with a socket wrench.