*twang* *clunk* ouch! Damn. Anyone done a clutch cable?

[DavidRutherford]

That's sort-of how it went today. Depressed the clutch to change up into 5th, and at about 1/2 pedal travel there was an audible snap, and my foot hit the floor (surprisingly hard!)

It appears the cable has snapped at the pedal end. This is one job I've never done on a BX. Is there anything that needs to be taken into account? Like "it's easier if you remove the entire car before fitting the cable"?

Thankfully, I know my motor factors can get a cable quickly and cheaply as they got one for aerodynamica a couple of weeks ago, which it turns out he didn't need! Damn, I should have kept that!

[ken newbold]

Pedal box out!

1 hour,

Back on the road




Pedal box in, many hours swearing,cussing and skinned knuckles.

[DavidRutherford]

There speaks a man of experience! Ta muchly.

[Aerodynamica]

lol, I was just polishing my spare clutch cable!

enjoy the job!

[Geoffrey Gould]

Hello David I hope that you are well. Pedal box out yes definitely, inspect carefully ( as a man of your calibre would.) I have seen many a bent and split one even to the point of part of the clutch cable bracket that has broken off. They are not that strong. Best of luck,Chris has quite a lot of experience with these!!
Cheers.
Geoff.
You can do the accelerator pedal pivot/bracket at the same time.

[docchevron]

Put stick in A, press loud pedal, ahhh auto's FTW!

Indeed the pedal boxes are pretty cheeselike in construction, welded a suitably hewn F off big penny washer round them before now...

That reminds me, I really must repair the one in the tD soon, thats going a bit, er, bendy.

The other option if you had little hands (I have but I know Davids are actually man sized, unlike mine) is to undo the top engine mount, sling it forward and it's not too bad a job to get down to it, but again, if you have little hands.

[DavidRutherford]

Well, that was an appaling job to do. The BX TD has the most inacessable and ludicrously routed clutch cable I have ever seen. Having had a look at the haynes Book of Lies, it would appear that many other models have a slightly different pedal box and different routing, which might be easier.

In comparison: For the BX I had to remove the engine mounting, the air filter box and all the inlet piping, the pedal box, the coolant tank and numerous clips and guides. Also had to jack up the front of the car so I could get under it. Utter bugger of a job. Took several hours and needed plenty of tools.

The MK2 Cav that I had a clutch cable snap on took me 15 minutes. No dismantling and no tools.

[mountainmanUK]

engine mounting, the air filter box and all the inlet piping, the pedal box, the coolant tank and numerous clips and guides

That's one of the reasons why I changed the clutch cable on Monica while I had the gearbox out to do the clutch! It made the job considerably easier, though it was still a pig of a job squeezing my hands into the tiny gap behind the engine, when connecting the cable to the pedal. Somehow during the procedure, I managed to split the rubber "grommet" type thing that fits in the hole where the cable passes through the bulkhead onto the pedal. Its surprising how much noise now comes through from the engine compartment into the cabin.

I'm surprised with all your BX-perience, David, that this was your "first time"! Still, it proves that you're never too old to be a virgin, eh?

Cheers
Dave

[DavidRutherford]

I'm surprised with all your BX-perience, David, that this was your "first time"

One of those things that you'd never do unless you have to. It's not that common to have a clutch cable fail, so I doubt I'll do one again for a fair time... (I certainly hope not to do another again soon anyway)

[ken newbold]

You'll do it in half the time, next time

[DavidRutherford]

I'll scrap the car next time!

[jonathan_dyane]

I'll scrap the car next time!

No you won't

[ken newbold]

Yeah, I know how you feel, first one I did took me ages, then I had a spate of the damn things going. I changed 4 or 5 in as many weeks, different cars I hasten to add. By the end I'd got it down to about an hour.

[nige!]

it was the P clip bolt that tested me. it was one them sizes that know spanner on this earth fits. Oh and hooking the cable on to the pedal.. oh how i enjoyed that.. and getting the sound deadening rubbers back.. that was a barrel of laughs