Gear Linkage Cables

woodbine · 2021-03-25 18:09:24

Going to change the gear cables on my 2004 Scudo 2.0 Jtd/HDi this weekend. Had a bit of a panic when I pulled the lower central dash cover off to have a look at the cables. Found 3 cables in there. Thought I had bought the wrong new cables, though they are genuine Fiat parts.

Fear not, appears the extra cable in the middle that's thinner than the other two operates the reverse gear gate when you move the reverse ring upwards that's below the gear knob. After lifting the stick gaiter, it seems that the middle/third cable easily unclips from where it terminates in the side of the ring on the stick. So just unclip the cable end from ring, release from the two clips lower down the stick and pull the cable downwards so it can be pulled out of the rubber floor bung when the 2 main cables are detached.

All seems easy to do, but dash is a bit fiddly. I think the heater controls will be a bit of a pain, must be careful not to break anything. Swapping the cable looks ok. Two metal clips holding cable to brackets below stick, and looks like same again on top of gearbox. Then just pop all 4 ends off, remembering which cables go to which connections.

Re. the grey plastic clip that goes on the engine side/outside of the rubber floor bung - I'm assuming you leave this attached to the bung and just push the whole lot in from inside? Or is it better to take the grey clip off, insert bung in hole in floor, then attach clip to engine side/outside of bung from underneath van?

Last edited by woodbine (2021-03-25 18:11:54)

kenbw2 · 2021-03-25 19:41:53

woodbine wrote:

the reverse gear gate when you move the reverse ring upwards that's below the gear knob

The what-now? Neither my DW8 or XUD had this. Is this a Fiat thing or a 2.0 thing?

JohnDragonMan · 2021-03-25 21:53:27

its a HDI/DW10 thing... mine has it. i bought new gear linkage cables that never had this 3rd smaller cable for selecting reverse.. so i had to use my old one with the new cables. no problem.

woodbine · 2021-03-25 21:58:00

kenbw2 wrote:

woodbine wrote:
the reverse gear gate when you move the reverse ring upwards that's below the gear knob

The what-now? Neither my DW8 or XUD had this. Is this a Fiat thing or a 2.0 thing?

Yes, there's a ring between top of gear stick gaiter and bottom of knob. You lift it until it meets bottom of knob then it will allow stick to go hard left and forward into reverse. No lift ring, no get reverse! wink

Must be a 2.0 thing, though I've never owned or driven a 1.9 so can't confirm. Different gearboxes - the 2.0 is ML5C gearbox. So I suppose there will be other differences.

What stops a 1.9 stick from going into reverse by mistake? Or are 1.9 owners much more skillful drivers, and don't need safety features that us cack-handed 2.0 owners need, to save us from ourselves? smile

Last edited by woodbine (2021-03-25 21:59:05)

woodbine · 2021-03-25 22:04:40

JohnDragonMan wrote:

its a HDI/DW10 thing... mine has it. i bought new gear linkage cables that never had this 3rd smaller cable for selecting reverse.. so i had to use my old one with the new cables. no problem.

I'm guessing the smaller reverse cable never wears out John, so isn't included with new gear cables - not even the Fiat part. Must be available as a seperate item.

kenbw2 · 2021-03-25 22:05:29

woodbine wrote:

What stops a 1.9 stick from going into reverse by mistake? Or are 1.9 owners much more skillful drivers, and don't need safety features that us cack-handed 2.0 owners need, to save us from ourselves?

Reverse on the 1.9s is bottom-right, after 5th gear. I'd like to claim it's skill, but the fear of god of destroying my gearbox is probably the more effective deterrent!

Except for that one time I came back from a holiday having spent a week driving a car with 6 gears. I very nearly engaged reverse at 50mph =/

Last edited by kenbw2 (2021-03-25 22:07:41)

woodbine · 2021-03-25 22:14:38

kenbw2 wrote:

woodbine wrote:
What stops a 1.9 stick from going into reverse by mistake? Or are 1.9 owners much more skillful drivers, and don't need safety features that us cack-handed 2.0 owners need, to save us from ourselves?
Reverse on the 1.9s is bottom-right, after 5th gear. I'd like to claim it's skill, but the fear of god of destroying my gearbox is probably the more effective deterrent!
Except for that one time I came back from a holiday having spent a week driving a car with 6 gears. I very nearly engaged reverse at 50mph =/

So no system to stop you going into reverse by mistake?

With all the cars I've owned over the years, there was always some method to stop you going straight into reverse, whether it was a lift ring, or push the whole knob and stick downwards, or lift the whole lot up.

Last edited by woodbine (2021-03-25 22:21:13)

kenbw2 · 2021-03-25 22:17:16

woodbine wrote:

So no system to stop you going into reverse by mistake?

Literally nothing. I dare say you'd have to fight to get past the grinding. Probably? I'm not about to try it tongue

Zippypilot · 2021-03-26 00:49:24

I have a new cable replacement too, it would have been fitted by now if it wasn't for the van deciding it wants other things fixed first. I did have a problem with the gear selection, it would go into reverse when selecting first easily, then it failed leaving only 2nd and 4th gears, this transpired to be one of the cable ends on the gearbox side, jumping off the retaining bracket, this was fixed with a replacement metal 'clip' that holds the round cable end to the bracket mount on the gearbox. I will find out what part the clip is if anyone needs them for the cable change as they don't come with them.

woodbine · 2021-03-26 15:17:21

Zippypilot wrote:

I have a new cable replacement too, it would have been fitted by now if it wasn't for the van deciding it wants other things fixed first.

Yes, same here. First it was time to do the cam belt, plus aux belt and it's tensioners. Then did the ac. Next it was a driveshaft rubber gaiter. After that, the clutch went. Then couple of weeks later the oil seal on the other driveshaft started leaking where it enters gearbox.

Finally I've got around to the cables. I'm hoping to reuse those clips that hold the cables to gearbox bracket and also there's 2 of them holding other end to bracket below gear stick. Will make sure I remove clips carefully so not to damage them.

Last edited by woodbine (2021-03-26 15:18:59)

vaz2121 · 2021-03-27 09:38:00

kenbw2 wrote:

Except for that one time I came back from a holiday having spent a week driving a car with 6 gears. I very nearly engaged reverse at 50mph =/

I quite happily enjoyed driving a diesel Fabia VRS on one particular occasion ...........
Going on a couple of little errands .......
I used all 5 gears and behaved myself.......

I then took it back to the owner who had to leave it behind at the yard.........
He decided to let me drive back to the yard so I could get dropped off and .........

On route that's when he announced it had a 6 speed gear box............
And was I not going to change into top..................

woodbine · 2021-03-28 21:50:03

Managed to change my cables today. It's a longer and fiddlier job than I thought, with a reasonable amount of dashboard removal required. Basically all the dash, apart from the large top piece. It pays to take your time, be methodical and make a note of how things come apart and how the cables are routed - 2 cables for the 1.9s and and extra, thinner cable for the 2.0s that operates the reverse gear gate. Long, skinny arms are also a big help (luckily both of mine fulfil this criteria) as access is quite tight, especially for the brackets at the rear of the gearbox where the metal ends of the cable outer sheaths are held in with metal clips.

Some tips for others attempting this job -

RUBBER FLOOR BUNG - The rubber bung that seals the hole in the floor where the cables pass through is a bit of a pain to both remove the old one and install the new one. To remove the old one, it's best to go underneath van and unclip the grey or white oval plastic retainer clip that holds the bung firmly in the hole in the floor. The clip has a snap together bit on one side, get a screwdriver in to pop the snap together apart, then remove the plastic clip. Then you can go back inside van and the bung will come out easily.

When installing the new cable's bung leave the plastic clip in place on the rubber bung and make sure the snap together bit on one side of clip is closed. I put a bit of washing up liquid to act as lubricant on the bung's plastic clip on top and bottom where the two tabs are that hold bung tight in floor hole. Then I pushed the bung in most of the way, but it's difficult to get it in the whole way so that the plastic clip's tabs snap in. I found that if I held the head end of a claw hammer in the palm of my hand and used the end of the handle to push the bung in several different places, I could get enough pressure to get the bung and it's plastic locator clip to push fully home and snap into place.

METAL OUTER SHEATH END 'C' CLIPS - GEARBOX END

These are a bit of a pig due to limited access for hands and tools, but with a bit of time and patience they will reward you by finally dropping out onto the ground. There are two 'C' shaped spring clips that locate the bulbous metal ends of the cable's outer sheath onto a bracket at the rear/top of gearbox. To remove I found it easier to work under the bonnet and use small screwdrivers, a small drift/punch and a hammer to tap them downwards.

To reinstall, I fould it is much easier to work from underneath van. Make sure the metal part of end of sheath is pushed fully home into the hole of the bracket with one hand while pushing the 'C' clip upwards into groove of metal part of end sheath. Once started you can tap the clip upwards with small hammer or pair of pliers until the botton of clip is level with bottom of bracket. The clip will then need pushing upwards a bit further before it is fully home. I found the only sensible way of doing this was with a long, large flat-bladed screwdriver - with tip of screwdriver held against bottom of 'C' clip then tapped upwards with hammer. This should get the clip fully located.

The bung and 'C' clips on gearbox end of cable were the parts I found most difficult and time consuming. Rest is quite straightforward. Hope this helps anyone else tackling their gear cables.

Last edited by woodbine (2021-03-28 22:06:15)

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#1 2021-03-25 18:09:24

Gear Linkage Cables

#2 2021-03-25 19:41:53

Re: Gear Linkage Cables

#3 2021-03-25 21:53:27

Re: Gear Linkage Cables

#4 2021-03-25 21:58:00

Re: Gear Linkage Cables

#5 2021-03-25 22:04:40

Re: Gear Linkage Cables

#6 2021-03-25 22:05:29

Re: Gear Linkage Cables

#7 2021-03-25 22:14:38

Re: Gear Linkage Cables

#8 2021-03-25 22:17:16

Re: Gear Linkage Cables

#9 2021-03-26 00:49:24

Re: Gear Linkage Cables

#10 2021-03-26 15:17:21

Re: Gear Linkage Cables

#11 2021-03-27 09:38:00

Re: Gear Linkage Cables

#12 2021-03-28 21:50:03

Re: Gear Linkage Cables

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