Accelerator Cable Fitting

[PhilipC]

It had to break down eventually: my accelerator cable snapped on the way home on Friday. Following the advice of the bible, I had a connector block with me (thanks steve) and got home OK. So far so good...

I've now got the replacement cable sitting in the boot, and had a go at seeing how I'd fit it last night. The engine end's in a bit of a tight spot, isn't it? Damned if I can get a spanner in to losen the adjuster bit. It looks as though I can remove the entire bracket that holds it, though. Seems like this is held on with only 3 bolts, which I can probably get off with a socket set. This would also make the split-pin on the end of the cable itself a doddle, and just seems too tempting to pass up.


So:

1) Is this a Bad Idea, and if so why?
2) Is there a better way? The only other options I've come up with myself would involve extra-strong fingers or removal of the metal grille.

[ray_von]

never actually done it but thought i was going to due to adjuster out of limit had a good look at it and came to the same conclusion as you couldn't see any reason why not and as you say the split pin looks a pig got the adjusterloose with 24mm spanner (i think) other option would be to use 24mm ring spanner with a gap cut in its ring(oh dear!!!)to loop on be careful as its easy to bend something

[GAZ_3884]

1) Is this a Bad Idea, and if so why?
2) Is there a better way? The only other options I've come up with myself would involve extra-strong fingers or removal of the metal grille.

I had a mobile mechanic fit mine and he removed the entire bracket... just make sure to remember where everything goes back on because IIRC there's a couple of other bits that need removing as well.

The other challenge seemed to be feeding the wire through the arch and getting it out at the pedal end - make sure you tie some string to the old cable before pulling it through and then use this to pull the new cable BACK through or you could be fiddling for hours. My guy didn't and I reckon I paid an extra hour's labour for his mistake.

There are loads of posts on this, as I found when mine snapped. Try a search for 'Throttle cable'.

Good luck!

[T88CAN]

Replaced mine had more problems at the pedal end personally had to strip down the accel pedal. I bent the wire grill above the linkage slightly to get better access it went back ok and you cant tell its been touched Tony

[PhilipC]

Thanks. I'm going to try the bracket removal option - but it's good to have a backup plan. I must say, I hadn't really considered having any trouble at the pedal end: it looked rather as though I'd either be able to squeeze the cable through the slot in the accelerator tube or I'd be stuffed. Sort of passfail rather than easyhard

I'll let you know how I get on.

[jtong]

I had mine snap right at the pedal end a while ago. The RAC chappy had to remove the bracket at the engine end to get to the split pin. He then tried threading the new cable through from the engine back to the pedal, which worked fine, except he couldn't get enough space to work in and cut off the excess and crimp at the pedal end. He ended up threading from the pedal end back to the engine bay.

Total elapsed time? about an hour.

[PhilipC]

Thanks all. Cable now fitted. Removal of the bracket is fairly simple, with no cuts, bruises or fatalities (including the car). However, there are four bolts, and the top nearside one had it's lip firmly wedged behind the rubber hose.

The peddal end was the real trouble, as predicted. It should have been simple, but some muppet had closed the slot through which the cable is inserted. Result? I, too, had to remove the pedal and take a screwdriver to it to re-open the slot.

Total time: about 3.5 hrs.
Anger: minimal.
Frustration: average.
Sense of triumph: good.

[hut49]

I think this should be nominated for the Really Useful Thread Award!

It's got a well thought out opening post, some helpful suggestions and then feedback by the original poster with information on how, having received the advice, he fixed the problem and providing additional info from that experience to help anyone with the same problem.

I hope I never need it but this is one thread I have book marked.

Edited to add a smiley!

>> Edited by hut49 on Tuesday 10th June 10:13

[ATG]

If you have a slim sided 24mm spanner, you might be able to loosen the cable adjuster without removing the whole cradle. The only 24mm I've got is an adjustable spanner and it is far too large to fit into the resticted space.

Otherwise you need to undo the four 3/8 inch bolts that hold the cradle onto the plenum. Remove/slacken all the springs first. Three of these bolts are fiddly bastards. You will need to have a normal spanner, a socket spanner with a couple of different length extenders and some imagination to get at all these bolts. Judicious use of masking tape is recommended when it comes to replacing these buggers. If you use the socket plus extender without the ratchet arm, cradling the extender in left hand and reaching through the cradle with finger tips of right hand, you can remove the lower pair of bolts fairly quickly after you've initially loosened them with the ratchet arm. Not as bad as it initally seems once you've tried shoving your fingers in from various different angles.

I found I needed to remove the pedal from the footwell, becoz it transpired that the last pillock to fit the cable had decided to glue the split in the top of the pedal closed. Is it immoral to track down the previous owners of the car and torture them? The pedal pivots round a stud that is bolted onto a bracket in the pedal box. If you manage to dislocate your head and place it in the footwell you'll see that the acclerator pedal's pivot appears to have three nuts along its length. In fact, the centre "nut" is part of the stud itself. To remove the pedal you need to turn this central "nut" anti-clockwise while stopping the passenger-side nut from rotating. The latter can be achieved by putting a spanner on the passenger-side nut. The spanner will balance itself quite happily and jam as soon as you turn the stud. The nut is self-tightening so you'll need to use the spanner until it is almost off. Once the pedal is out you can use a screwdriver to open up the split in the top of the pedal's shaft ready to insert the new cable's hollow wotsit end bit ... or in my case you can mince around with a hacksaw blade trying to remove the glue.

[ian187]

I read this thread recently 'cause my cable has bust too and laughed heartily at the thought of some pillock glueing the pedal end of the cable in.

Then I came to replace my cable and the same pillock has glued MY cable too Arghhhh - not only that but he also glued the rubber gromet to my inner wing and the rubber bit at the pedal end and anything else he could apply glue too.

As a previous poster has mentioned, I think I will track him down and torture him. If anyone else has this experience, please forward me details and I'll hunt them down too - if I'm going to do some prison time for torturing previous TVR owners, I may as well make it worth while.

It also poses the question, why has anyone done this?
Do the cable and gromets etc. just fall out if they're not glued?

[jammyl500]

Date: 09/02/2009
Time: 17:30
Place: Redditch Tip (don't ask.......)
Car: TVR Chimaera 500
What: Yep, accelerator cable broke at the pedal end.......

Thanks to all those who have contributed to this thread over the years I now have a fightling chance of replacing it with fewer tears and less refering to every nut bolt tool and thing as a 'f***king thing'. At least I hope that will be the case when I come to actually do it :-)

I'm in Redditch, a true petrol head (my other cars include a VW Splitty (with a Subaru engine conversion of course!)) and would welcome contact from other true petrol heads in the area.

Best Regards,

Jamie

[schmokin1]

it's probably the factory carpet fitter who is responsible for all these glued up accelerator pedal slots - mine was as well and it was definately carpet glue!