Broken gear change cable - ???

Blink · 12th August 2020, 15:44

I broke the end of this thing trying to disconnect it from the gearbox bracket.

I've now got the whole mechanism off the car and the other end of the cable has the same type of pesky oint.

Does anyone know how to get these ****** things apart without a special tool?

Odd Job · 12th August 2020, 16:02

Get a couple of open ended spanners.
Sit one on top of the other with the knuckle in the open end of the spanner. ( I hope this is making sense )
Then carefully use a screw driver to lever one of the spanners up so it lifts the knuckle off the ball. Or, sometimes you can lever one spanner against the other to do the same thing.
The spanners should be large enough only to clear the size of ball.

I'm at work at the moment so I cant draw a sketch to explain better.

Blink · 13th August 2020, 00:51

Like this? (The red lines are the spanners, the blue circle is the screwdriver)

Blink · 13th August 2020, 14:06

I got the short cable off using a pair of long nose pliers and levering against them with a screwdriver. It just about worked, but only just.

The other cable is a different kettle of fish because the knuckle is pointing directly upwards and there's no room to get pliers under the cable rod. Here it is.

I'll try a pair of grips and yank it straight up - brute force this time.

Btw, I notice Rave's section on this stops short - it only covers removing the cable & selector box from the car as one piece. It doesn't show how they separated the cables from the knuckles - probably because no-one at MGR ever did it. If dealership mechanics ever had a problem cable I bet they'd throw the whole lot away and put a new pre-assembled unit on, probably at a cost of several hundred quid a go.

Odd Job · 13th August 2020, 14:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blink

Like this? (The red lines are the spanners, the blue circle is the screwdriver)

Just like that!

I knew there was something I should of done last night!

Many thanks for the post and pic!
I've used this method many times on all sorts of cars, some you only need one spanner as the gap isn't that big. Sometimes you can lever the top spanner against the bottom spanner no screw driver needed.
Just nice and gentle and you wont break anything!

Blink · 13th August 2020, 14:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blink

I'll try a pair of grips and yank it straight up - brute force this time.

Grips didn't work. Brake spanner levered under the rod did (in less than 5 seconds). That told the damn thing.

Lever these off with a screwdriver (more brute force

) and the cables are off.

Blink · 13th August 2020, 15:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Odd Job

Just like that!

I knew there was something I should of done last night!

Many thanks for the post and pic!
I've used this method many times on all sorts of cars, some you only need one spanner as the gap isn't that big. Sometimes you can lever the top spanner against the bottom spanner no screw driver needed.
Just nice and gentle and you wont break anything!

Your spanners must be thinner than mine - I could only get one 6mm open ended under the knuckle. I used long nose pliers instead because they're easier to hold while levering against them with a screwdriver.

The other knuckle came off with a brake flare spanner (fat angled head) and a lot of force.

PS. I've had enough with the nice and gentle approach on this car - I'm out for revenge now.

All of this has happened because access to the joints on the gearbox is so awful I couldn't get a spanner onto one of them correctly and it broke the bush. While that was happening the sleeve on my overalls ripped the gaiter on the other cable - so now I have to replace both cables and no-one knows the correct part numbers for the Mk1. £80-£90 down the drain and 2 days wasted (plus refitting). Hence the revenge comment.

Blink · 13th August 2020, 15:24

PPS. Anyway, thanks for the advice Richard.

Odd Job · 13th August 2020, 16:00

Glad you got it sorted.

Popping them back together I'd use some pipe grips with a rag wrapped around it so the jaws don't bite into it.

Blink · 14th August 2020, 10:53

I haven't actually got it sorted though. My cables are from a 2002 Mk1 75. They're 115cm long and 126cm long and both of them need replacing.
Rimmers have one cable in stock (ULS100140) which is 118cm long and the partner for it was ULS100150, which is NLA.

Apparently, MGR changed the selector box at some point (possibly chassis 4D307061) but I don't know the part number for it. I don't know the part number for my Mk1 selector box either.

Rimmers have two cables which should fit the later selector box - ULS000021 and ULS000031 - but they're £114.00 and £113.40 respectively. DMGRS have a similar pair (maybe) for £94.00 but I'd still have to buy the later box from somewhere without knowing a part number. Endon have a box for £191.14 (UKD000200) but I don't know if it's the early type or the late type - and I can't afford it anyway. So one silly cable joint on the gearbox has started an avalanche which is going to cost me a fortune.

Just to add to the fun, my cables have green & white numbers on them, which doesn't really help - they also have heatshields, which the red & white Mk2 cables don't have.

What a mess.

12th August 2020, 15:44	#1
Blink Posted a thing or two Rover 75 Saloon Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Under the car Posts: 1,840 Thanks: 210 Thanked 244 Times in 221 Posts	Broken gear change cable - ??? I broke the end of this thing trying to disconnect it from the gearbox bracket. I've now got the whole mechanism off the car and the other end of the cable has the same type of pesky oint. Does anyone know how to get these ****** things apart without a special tool?

12th August 2020, 16:02	#2
Odd Job Gets stuck in MG ZT 2.0 cdti Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Derby Posts: 909 Thanks: 298 Thanked 191 Times in 149 Posts	Get a couple of open ended spanners. Sit one on top of the other with the knuckle in the open end of the spanner. ( I hope this is making sense ) Then carefully use a screw driver to lever one of the spanners up so it lifts the knuckle off the ball. Or, sometimes you can lever one spanner against the other to do the same thing. The spanners should be large enough only to clear the size of ball. I'm at work at the moment so I cant draw a sketch to explain better. __________________ ….And the latest thing to break is..... ### MG STANDS FOR "MY GREMLIN" !!!

13th August 2020, 16:00	#9
Odd Job Gets stuck in MG ZT 2.0 cdti Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Derby Posts: 909 Thanks: 298 Thanked 191 Times in 149 Posts	Glad you got it sorted. Popping them back together I'd use some pipe grips with a rag wrapped around it so the jaws don't bite into it. __________________ ….And the latest thing to break is..... ### MG STANDS FOR "MY GREMLIN" !!!

13th August 2020, 00:51	#3
Blink Posted a thing or two Rover 75 Saloon Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Under the car Posts: 1,840 Thanks: 210 Thanked 244 Times in 221 Posts	Like this? (The red lines are the spanners, the blue circle is the screwdriver)

13th August 2020, 14:06	#4
Blink Posted a thing or two Rover 75 Saloon Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Under the car Posts: 1,840 Thanks: 210 Thanked 244 Times in 221 Posts	I got the short cable off using a pair of long nose pliers and levering against them with a screwdriver. It just about worked, but only just. The other cable is a different kettle of fish because the knuckle is pointing directly upwards and there's no room to get pliers under the cable rod. Here it is. I'll try a pair of grips and yank it straight up - brute force this time. Btw, I notice Rave's section on this stops short - it only covers removing the cable & selector box from the car as one piece. It doesn't show how they separated the cables from the knuckles - probably because no-one at MGR ever did it. If dealership mechanics ever had a problem cable I bet they'd throw the whole lot away and put a new pre-assembled unit on, probably at a cost of several hundred quid a go.

13th August 2020, 15:24	#8
Blink Posted a thing or two Rover 75 Saloon Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Under the car Posts: 1,840 Thanks: 210 Thanked 244 Times in 221 Posts	PPS. Anyway, thanks for the advice Richard.

14th August 2020, 10:53	#10
Blink Posted a thing or two Rover 75 Saloon Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Under the car Posts: 1,840 Thanks: 210 Thanked 244 Times in 221 Posts	I haven't actually got it sorted though. My cables are from a 2002 Mk1 75. They're 115cm long and 126cm long and both of them need replacing. Rimmers have one cable in stock (ULS100140) which is 118cm long and the partner for it was ULS100150, which is NLA. Apparently, MGR changed the selector box at some point (possibly chassis 4D307061) but I don't know the part number for it. I don't know the part number for my Mk1 selector box either. Rimmers have two cables which should fit the later selector box - ULS000021 and ULS000031 - but they're £114.00 and £113.40 respectively. DMGRS have a similar pair (maybe) for £94.00 but I'd still have to buy the later box from somewhere without knowing a part number. Endon have a box for £191.14 (UKD000200) but I don't know if it's the early type or the late type - and I can't afford it anyway. So one silly cable joint on the gearbox has started an avalanche which is going to cost me a fortune. Just to add to the fun, my cables have green & white numbers on them, which doesn't really help - they also have heatshields, which the red & white Mk2 cables don't have. What a mess.