Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2007 17:56:04 -0900
Reply-To: Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET>
Subject: Re: speedometer cable installation question
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Bowden housing, I won't ask. . . well, Bowden housing was intact until I tried removing the old cable. That's when it tore off inside the spindle hole. There is now about 4 or 5 inch piece of it stuck in that hole. I figured pulling the dust cap off would be the way to go, as getting in from the other side would be a real challenge for sure. I do have the one-piece cable, and I did order the insert sleeve per Bentley. I'm not even certain where the EGR box is, but it's been bypassed for a long time, and a $30 cable compared to $90 worth of cables was a no-brainer for me. I will pop off the dust cap, and see if I can get this old piece of plastic sheathing, err.. bowden housing out of there. Thanks for the tip Jim!
Best,
Troy
----- Original Message -----
From: Old Volks Home
To: Troy
Cc: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 4:39 PM
Subject: Re: speedometer cable installation question
Are you sure the sheathing (often called the "bowden housing") of the cable has torn off? That's some pretty heavy duty sheathing which rarely comes apart. But if it is coming apart, the lower cable will have to be replaced.
Having just changed out a cable this weekend, here ya go:
To remove the dust cap, first remove the "E" Clip off the cable end (some models may have a tiny cotter pin through a hole in the end of the cable - mine did). Now take a pair of large channel lock pliers and open to the widest setting to grab and "wiggle" the dust cap off. Some are easy, some can be real tight. Once the dust cap is off, you can now pull the cable and it's sheathing through the hole in the spindle from just inside the backing plate (the opposite end of the spindle). There will be some resistance between the sheathing and the hole's tube sealing sleeve. Take your time.
Now before replacing the cable, there's that hole sealing sleeve I mentioned above (If you have ETKA, See Item 9, Illustration 149-05). This sealing sleeve (111 957 855 B) is necessary to keep the cable sheathing from "flopping" around when the wheel is rolling along and allows a tight seal to the spindle on the inside, opposite the outer end. This same sealing sleeve is used on all VWs where the speedo cable is attached to the front wheel (Airhead/VWG makes them, so they're easy to find from them, Bus Depot, CIP1, etc.). So if your's is missing or torn up, replace it - it's essentially a piece of tubing just under an inch long with a grommet style lip on one end - the lip goes on the outside of the hole on the inside of the spindle. Pushing the cable and it's sheathing back through there takes a bit of effort and patience.
The reason for replacing my cable was I got tired of stripped out gears on the EGR/OXS Box requiring two cables. I have replaced both my Vanagons' cables with the Diesel style - just one long cable from the spindle to the speedo head (251 957 803 E). Works just fine for me :-)
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