broken firewall :(

2002au · 16-06-2013, 04:41 PM

my manual xr6 just done what a lot of other au's seem to do. broken firewall around the clutch cable.

do ford still make a firewall reinforcement? (ill check tomorrow if you guys arnt sure)

how much am I looking at to fix this? I do all the work on my car myself. but with this sort of job and working flat out this is such a pain in the butt. so ill have to go to a bodyshop etc

thanks guys

uniacidz · 16-06-2013, 04:54 PM

You can make a clutch cable firewall support bracket. Been done on lots of E-Series and AU Series due to the clutch cracking the firewall.

Is recommended to weld the firewall crack then install the firewall reinforcement plate.

As far as availability of this plate, from memory, guys had to fabricate themselves. Unsure of a factory one is available

Guys at fordmods were doing them, and Fiend in NZ was making some up a while back.
Pic and thread below

http://www.fordmods.com/ford-x-serie...e-t105543.html

And ford forums
http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11285021

2002au · 17-06-2013, 07:14 PM

thanks mate, got the car towed today to a workshop. there removing the brake master cyl and welding in a new section. with a strong clutch cable plate. really sucks right now, the car was going soo well.

wonder when this usually happens? car has 160,000kms on it and im the second owner. has always had a heavy clutch so im guessing something had to let go.

EATHSV · 17-06-2013, 07:43 PM

Same issue as my ED and no the part is no longer stocked at Ford or Rare Spares. Easier to make one.

2002au · 17-06-2013, 08:38 PM

yeah the workshop owner said they no longer make one so hes making one up.

seen the ed on gumtree! would love to own it as a project

mik · 17-06-2013, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2002au

thanks mate, got the car towed today to a workshop. there removing the brake master cyl and welding in a new section. with a strong clutch cable plate. really sucks right now, the car was going soo well.

wonder when this usually happens? car has 160,000kms on it and im the second owner. has always had a heavy clutch so im guessing something had to let go.

when these things come out of the factory as rule the clutch is very light and there is not much stress on the firewall, as they get a bit long in the tooth parts wear/ the cables loose their lubrication and there is more friction involved, and even more so with a beefier clutch, add a bit of age and the extra pedal pressure/stress to operate the clutch it flexes and stresses the firewall, failure is the end result. .

uniacidz · 17-06-2013, 10:23 PM

I heard about a fair few E-Series firewalls breaking down due to the clutches and a couple AU Series as well.

Just wear and tear really.

To be honest, bit silly of Ford to not think that things like this in the future wont happen and reinforce it from the get go.
Similar situation on my old EL XR6, boot strut plate near seat is only spot welded. Bloody stupid.

/end rant

2002au · 18-06-2013, 06:35 PM

im guessing if its holds out for the warranty period, they don't care. really sucks because this shouldn't happen.

got a phone call from the workshop the xr6 is at this morning, they removed the master cyl and were about to start on the car. hoping it all goes smoothly