Sharan 1.8 Carat Gear Change Cables

[antells]

Hi 1st posting so be gentle.
We have a 1999 Sharan 1.8 turbo Petrol.
We lost side selection on the gear stick so could only select 3rd or 4th. After successful recovery and investigation we discovered that the plastic ball joint at the gearbox end of one of the selector cables had broken off. Access to change appears to be a major problem.
Can anyone offer advice on changing the cable end/whole cable please.
Regards
antells

[Tick]

Sorry - can't offer direct advice but am experiencing similar problem where the plastic cable end keeps jumping off the ball - any advice anyone can offer on replacing appreciated.

[kenney]

Hi I take it that, it is the gearbox end of the cables that you are talking about.I have seen this done.Drill a hole through the center of the ball and the center of the cable, 4mm and put a long screw with a self locking nut through both, with washers,tighten the nut to the extent it holds the cable in place and at the same time allows the selector to move freely.The alternative (renew cables) expensive job!

[antells]

Hi 1st posting so be gentle.
We have a 1999 Sharan 1.8 turbo Petrol.
We lost side selection on the gear stick so could only select 3rd or 4th. After successful recovery and investigation we discovered that the plastic ball joint at the gearbox end of one of the selector cables had broken off. Access to change appears to be a major problem.
Can anyone offer advice on changing the cable end/whole cable please.
Regards
antells

Completed the job now - the thought of the job is more frightening than it actually is when you get to it. If you do it yourself not too expensive either. New cable assembly (they come as a pair with bulkhead mounting brkt (and can not be disassembled) cost just under £50 - from a main agent, I don't think I got any discount. Keep calm now the process sounds much worse than it is Estimated time to complete for a DIY = 4-5 hours with assistance for about 0.5 -1 hour : -

1. Inside of the car.
1.1. Remove both front seats. (ours are heated seats but he cable just unplugs from the floor brkt.
1.2. Remove covers from the rear of the centre ducting centre warm air duct - inc hand brake.
1.3. Remove the gear stick assembly and disconnect the cable end (note their adjustment position so that the new cable can be set the same)
1.4. Chock vehicle and remove the two hand brake securing bolts (this enables it to move enough to facilitate the removal of the centre air duct.
1.5. Remove plastic securing nuts and slide the centre duct backwards.
1.6. This will now give good access to the Cable assembly bulk head brkt. - remove the two securing nuts.

2. Under the bonnet
2.1. Remove Battery
2.2. Support the gearbox by jacking or chocking
2.3. Remove Battery Tray (gearbox will drop if not supported)
2.4. Lever ball joints off of balls on both cables
2.5. Remove each cable from their support brkt (squeeze the top clip and lift out - I found this easier if the cable position was 'wiggled' as the cable is under a side tension which makes it hard to lift out - the second cable came out easy if was wiggled as pulled.
2.6. Tie a length of cord to each cable end long enough to go through the bulk head and enable the new cables to be pulled back through.
2.7. NOTE THE ROUTE OF THE CABLES (which side of pipes, brkts, heat shields etc)

3. Removal of old cables - two man job
3.1. With some one each end of the cable assembly pull the assembly back into the inside of the car. The most difficult bit being the passage of the large cable ends through the bulkhead hole. It requires more 'wiggle' but the cables can be slid on the bulkhead brkt to enable the ends to pass through one at a time.

4. Installation of new cables - two man job
4.1. Remove the pull cords from the old cable and fit to new assembly.
4.2. Pull new cable assembly in - again passage through the bulkhead is tricky, but just have a little patience and don't force anything. Carefully ensure the route is as the old one came out.

5. Under the bonnet
5.1. Check to ensure the cables are aligned with the correct ball joint (the balls are a different size, so if one just drops on and off of the ball they are the wrong way around.
5.2. Clip cables back into their mtg brkt (on top of gearbox)
5.3. Push cable end over ball joint - sounds easy but they are tight - access makes it difficult but we used a small 'G' clamp for the horizontal ball and a wooden hammer handle to push down on the vertical ball end.

6. In the car
6.1. Basically just put it all back together in reverse of how it came out.
6.2. Set up the cable lengths - personally clipping the cable end in their plastic adjusters in the same position as the old ones came out worked for us - but if all gears cannot be engaged (travel lengths are wrong and can be adjusted repositioning of the cable end in the adjustment sleeve.

I hope I have not overlooked anything, I am writing this after the event.

[antells]

Thanks for taking the time to advise - but we managed to fathom out the cable change - which you will see from our posting was not a quick job - but I happy its not going to sring off in the middle of a motorway gear change.

[Ayrshore]

I know it's an old post, but I just wanted to say thanks for this info - it's hard to find and has saved me a whole bunch of time this afternoon.

and when I actually click "Thanks" it says "Warning: array_merge() [function.array-merge]: Argument #2 is not an array in [path]/post_thanks.php on line 57"