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Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:00 pm

Two days ago my accelerator cable broke while in traffic. I managed to idle down the street for 3 blocks til I found a parking lot. I have an automatic trans so I hooked a couple of tywraps together to hold the throttle open a bit so I could get home. Crawled under and checked the front connection and it was ok. The cable broke at the back where it connects to the trans bracket. I tried to get the socket off the ball but no way. The manual shows some kind of a clip but mine doesn't look like that at all. Can anyone give me a little insight on how they connect together? Or even better - come apart?

Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:26 pm

Pop it off the ball at the trans arm with a flat bladed screwdriver.

Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:30 pm

I've tried that several times. This is how I understood it should come off. I've sprayed it liberally with remove-all and it now spins freely on the ball. I guess I'll wait until the new one arrives so I can see what it looks like.

Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:35 pm

The inside of the socket on the end of that cable is so full of rust and other corrosive item's that the "Removall" ( where did this product come from?) won't touch it.
I've heated them up with a torch several times in the past to break them loose.

Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:44 pm

It's actually called Releasall. It's a product made in Canada since 1923. It's non flammable, non toxic, non chlorinated, non ozone depleting, and biodegradable. There's more but I won't bore you with more details.

Sun Jun 29, 2008 8:22 pm

This is probably why it isn't releasing at all.

It doesn't have anything in it that's bad to breath, bad for the enviroment, bad for the water,--no petroleum distilates, fuel oil, kerosine, 30w oil, or anything to break something loose.

Don't spoil it, Kroil it.

Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:08 am

I went in there to pry mine off with a screwdriver two weekends ago, and the link just fell off the ball. I had hit it with PB Blaster a month or so earlier- this may have caused the plastic to swell.

puravidadon- The metal clip is inside the plastic ball.

Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:48 am

OilNBolts - mine is made of metal. No clip is evident, although it's hard to see laying on your back with dirt falling in your eyes. :) There's not much space to maneuver in that area with all the hoses and pipes etc..

Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:15 am

The original sockets on the end of the cables were metal--
The new/improved replacements are plastic sockets with a snap ring moulded right into the plastic.

There is no metal clip in the plastic socket.

I have a brand new one right in front of me, direct from VW.

Take a needle nose vice grip, open it up a little, and use it as a pickle fork to pop off the metal socket off of the trans stud--heat it up if you have to.

An angled needle nose plier's would work too--

It's not that difficult to get it off using a little ingenuity.

Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:44 pm

Well TK, I resemble that remark about using a little ingenuity. I'm not short on that. While I waited for my new cable to arrive from Van Cafe I used my ingenuity to crimp a new piece of cable in a loop onto the old cable. Hooked the loop around the ball and socket and it worked fine.

When the new cable arrived I was surprised to find a small bag of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies in the box with the cable. Love those guys at Van Cafe!

Spent another hour under the van trying to get the socket off. The new one is exactly the same as the old. It is made of metal and has a spring clip inside. Perhaps I didn't get all the dirt out of the old one and the spring couldn't expand to release the socket. Got tired of skinning my knuckles and filling my eyes with dirt so I took it to a local shop and had them remove the socket and install the new cable.

This is the best upgrade that I have done since setting the timing properly. I can keep up with traffic! The new cable works so smoothly. The old one was rusty and it was very hard to accelerate because the cable wouldn't move quickly. I am a happy camper.

BTW this all happened in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I've been visiting family there for the last 3 weeks. The shop here has been great. I had some work done by them last summer and I have no complaints. I'll add their name to the Roadhaus, Repair Shop Review website here: http://www.roadhaus.com/shops.php