Gear Selector Cable Fix Without Replacement?

[nigelbb]

I have a 1997 Ford Galaxy. We live in the South of France so it is a LHD. Driving back from the shops the other day the gear change went 'mushy' but my wife managed to get it into 3rd & crept home slipping the clutch to keep up revs & prevent stalling. Luckily it was only a mile we had to travel.

 

After research through the forum the finger pointed at the selector mechanism or cables. I now have removed enough stuff inside the engine compartment to see that the gear selector (blue) cable has popped off the ball socket but am not sure how to proceed. I have tried popping it back on but it comes off again straight away. The workshop manual discussion of removal/refitting just talks about unclipping the cables from the ball heads & clipping them back on. I have clipped & unclipped the good (black) cable & there is a satisfying 'click' when it goes home so I presume that the socket at the end of the blue cable has become worn & will no longer stay in place. If it is worn & needs replacement it looks like a hell of a job to fit & involves removing both front seats!

 

If anyone has any suggestions of a fix that doesn't involve totally replacing the gear selector cables I would be very grateful. I have been contemplating gaffer tape or a large cable tie as an emergency repair. Perhaps there is some way to crimp up the socket back onto the ball joint?

 

Any thoughts?

 

Cheers

 

Nigel

Edited July 1, 2008 by nigelbb

[veedyf]

either tie a cable tie round it or if you can fit 1 in there ...a jubilee clip

[mk2vr6]

ptf tape around the ball to increase its diameter or super glue in the socket to decrease its size! IIRC? both methods have been suggested and tried on other forums with some form of success!

[f0ster]

I have a 1997 Ford Galaxy. We live in the South of France so it is a LHD. Driving back from the shops the other day the gear change went 'mushy' but my wife managed to get it into 3rd & crept home slipping the clutch to keep up revs & prevent stalling. Luckily it was only a mile we had to travel.

 

After research through the forum the finger pointed at the selector mechanism or cables. I now have removed enough stuff inside the engine compartment to see that the gear selector (blue) cable has popped off the ball socket but am not sure how to proceed. I have tried popping it back on but it comes off again straight away. The workshop manual discussion of removal/refitting just talks about unclipping the cables from the ball heads & clipping them back on. I have clipped & unclipped the good (black) cable & there is a satisfying 'click' when it goes home so I presume that the socket at the end of the blue cable has become worn & will no longer stay in place. If it is worn & needs replacement it looks like a hell of a job to fit & involves removing both front seats!

 

If anyone has any suggestions of a fix that doesn't involve totally replacing the gear selector cables I would be very grateful. I have been contemplating gaffer tape or a large cable tie as an emergency repair. Perhaps there is some way to crimp up the socket back onto the ball joint?

 

Any thoughts?

 

Cheers

 

Nigel

 

hello

I had the same problem towing a caravan, the car got stuck in third with the gear lever slopping about, the ball joint on the box was worn

and so the socket on the end of the cable would not stay in place, I did a temp repair on site from below the car by tying the cable across too

one side which stopped it from popping off, when I got back I gained access to the end of the cable, I then drilled a small hole in each side of

the metal cup that the cable ball joint sets in to, I then put a long piece of piano wire through the two holes and above the cable socket end, thus holding it in place,

[nigelbb]

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

I don't think that PTFE tape or superglue would work as the problem is that because of wear there is now no lip to the socket to preevnt the ball falling out. I have got a cable tie on at the moment which seems to work well at least as a temporary repair. The piano wire trick is an excellent idea that hadn't occurred to me.

 

However at the insistence of SWMBO I have agreed to perform a pukka repair & replace the cables. She didn't fancy the idea of the cable tie snapping at some future date & stranding her. I still have the car in piece so it seems daft to put it back together as is with the cable tie repair & then dismantle it all again at a later date to do the definitive repair. The local Ford parts place will have the new cable in stock in a couple of days which gives me time to remove the old cable in preparation for replacement. The price is 117 Euros (approx 93 pounds) plus VAT.

[nigelbb]

Just thought that I would provide an update on how I got on.

 

Inside the car the job is straightforward but a bit time-consuming as you need to remove the front seats, central console & a bunch of other stuff to remove the carpet to then get at the cables where they pass through the hole in the floor towards the engine. The workshop manual details exactly what order things need to be removed & replaces. Refer to it, I tried to do it from memory a couple of times & wound up having to remove stuff before I could reassemble in the correct order.

 

Under the bonnet I had removed more than was required in my eagerness to get at the selector assembly before I read the workshop manual or even this forum. So I had removed the big bolts holding the battery tray & then realised that they were also holding the gear box & engine to the body. I wondered why they were so big. It did make access a little easier but luckily no damage was done & I was able to get a trolly jack underneath & lift the gearbox up enough to be able to get the bolts back in & then tightened up.

 

The new cable (pictured below the old one) is a subtly different design to the original which has much wider metalised corrugated cardboard heat protection sleeves. I had removed the old cable before I got the new one & practised replacing it & found it bloody difficult whereas the new one slipped in a treat. There is also a piece of thick rubber on the new cable where it rubs against the strut that supports the instrument cluster so presumably it has been found that the cable can rub & wear at this point.

 

The gear change now is fine. I hadn't noticed it as being a problem beforehand so the failure came out of the blue but at least my wife is happy & I feel more confident & motivated to doing some other little jobs on the car instead of paying a fortune at the Ford garage. So all in all it was worthwhile. I only wish that I had thought of replacing the worn reversing light switch when I did have the extra access provided by removing the battery tray. While I got away with inadvertently removing the mounting bolts through ignorance I am not so keen on deliberately removing the tray to gain access rather than suffering cuts, bruises & scratches to my hand while wriggling it through the pipes & cables.

[Simon Burke]

I have a '98 Alhambra 110TDi.....

I had the same kind of problem, but one added one... Where the cables join onto the top of the gearbox, that had split, so I could get no gears at all....So, I removed the battery, the plastic holder for the coolant bottle and the fuel filter... With these things moved out of the way, I could see right into the place I needed.... I used a load of jubilee clips to hold the big black plastic sections to the metal frame attached to the gearbox.. So, when someone is in the car, they can change gears and I can see whats happening.. No slop at all....

 

Oh, and where the ball joint clicks in.... If you put a jubilee clip either side of the rubber wheel and put it over the flat plastic piece that clicks into the balljoint, that will be a permenant fix.... Gearchanges will be a little bit stiffer, but all gears are accessable...

 

Hope this helps someone..

S..