Hi, so I need to change the choke cable due to someone before me attaching fuse wire to the cable that's in it and not being long enough.. quite how they thought that would work is beyond me, but now with new cable in hand I can somewhat see why they tried it because I simply cannot remove the one that's already there, as in I'm struggling to remove the old one because it won't pull through. What am I doing wrong please?
- Thread starter NickHay
- Start date
Andy McGhee
Enthusiast
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- 1,541
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- Cheltenham
Nick
If your choke cable is this type, and the problem is at the cabin end rather than at the carb, you need to squeeze the arrowed parts to free the cable. They can be fragile in freezing weather!
If your choke cable is this type, and the problem is at the cabin end rather than at the carb, you need to squeeze the arrowed parts to free the cable. They can be fragile in freezing weather!
Thanks Andy, but no its at the carb end, I should have got a picture.. The end looks to have broken off and isn't long enough to reach the mechanism that opens and closes the flap. I've got everything undone inside but scared to pull the whole lot out under the engine with force in case something breaks. The replacement comes with exterior cable casing which is too big so I'd have to pull the old cable through and feed the new one in... just wondering whether this is the right thing to do.
jcarruthers2
Enthusiast
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- 484
Hi Nick
If the cable inner has broken off at the carb end then in theory you should be able to gently pull out the cable inner from inside the car. If it snags when attempting to pull then it might have a kink and I would stop at this stage as the plastic components where they attach to the plastic steering cowl are flimsy. It might be worth checking for kinks along the exposed metal inner at the carb end before attempting this. I personally would take out the whole of the inner and outer together by pressing the tabs indicated by Andy above at the cabin end and disconnecting the warning light cable too. With regards to the carb end, loosen the 8mm spanner size bolts holding the cable in place, pull out the cable inner if still attached. You can re-use the old cable outer if different to the new one, insert the new inner, check for free movement, you could also grease the new inner before fitting for smoother action. Offer up and route the whole cable, fit with the choke flap in the fully open position and make sure the cable inner is at full stretch when you do this, lock the x2 8mm spanner size bolts (avoid over-tightening especially the one which holds the cable outer in place). If you have excess cable inner at the carb end which impedes operation, you can snip it off. Avoid cutting off too much as you need some length at the carb end for future adjustment.
If the cable inner has broken off at the carb end then in theory you should be able to gently pull out the cable inner from inside the car. If it snags when attempting to pull then it might have a kink and I would stop at this stage as the plastic components where they attach to the plastic steering cowl are flimsy. It might be worth checking for kinks along the exposed metal inner at the carb end before attempting this. I personally would take out the whole of the inner and outer together by pressing the tabs indicated by Andy above at the cabin end and disconnecting the warning light cable too. With regards to the carb end, loosen the 8mm spanner size bolts holding the cable in place, pull out the cable inner if still attached. You can re-use the old cable outer if different to the new one, insert the new inner, check for free movement, you could also grease the new inner before fitting for smoother action. Offer up and route the whole cable, fit with the choke flap in the fully open position and make sure the cable inner is at full stretch when you do this, lock the x2 8mm spanner size bolts (avoid over-tightening especially the one which holds the cable outer in place). If you have excess cable inner at the carb end which impedes operation, you can snip it off. Avoid cutting off too much as you need some length at the carb end for future adjustment.
That's great, thank you so much. The cable that I bought from our friends in Germany is too thick so I'm just going to purchase any old cable, an early Mini one looks a good alternative. Was just going to pull the old one out and route the new back in through but now having read your message I'll re-think it. I've discovered recently that the engine starts without the use of the choke which seems a little strange but I remembered that I once had an Escort that did the same and I've also currently got a 67 Galaxie that doesn't need choke but that's all been rebuilt.