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TinCanFab Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2006 Posts: 2743 Location: Waterford, California
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 4:31 pm Post subject: Heater cable wont budge! |
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I searched and found no info... I cannot get my old heater cable out. The passenger side tube is empty. The driver side has a broken end sticking out inside the cab by about 1/4". At the rear, no cable is coming out of the tube. I have used needle nose vise grips and tried rotating the cable, it just spins back to it's original position like a spring under tension. I can push the cable into the tube about 1/8" inch, than it feels bottomed out. I can pull extremely hard towards the dash and it doesn't budge whatsoever.
Has anyone had this problem? I'm thinking right below the valve area, it has been over twisted and coiled up inside the tube. Am I going to have to cut open the tube underneath? _________________ Check out my truck brought back from the dead... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=420762&highlight=sprayed+blood
They're never really ever finished 58 rag build...
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=658092 |
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abritinthebay Samba Member
Joined: May 31, 2012 Posts: 294 Location: San Francisco, USA
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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photos might help |
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TinCanFab Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2006 Posts: 2743 Location: Waterford, California
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MrBusCo Samba Member
Joined: February 13, 2007 Posts: 1561 Location: stoughton, WI
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 5:14 pm Post subject: |
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Id try to get some leverage in there. Maybe put a piece of 2x4 against the seat stand and use a long screwdriver or prybar against it and then pry up against a vise-grip holding the cable, that is if it is out of the tube at all. _________________ Josh The Bus Guy formerly known as JOGR
BlazeCutUSA.com MrBusCo.com |
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TinCanFab Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2006 Posts: 2743 Location: Waterford, California
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BarryL Samba Member
Joined: November 01, 2004 Posts: 14216 Location: Casa de Oro, California
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 7:00 pm Post subject: |
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Before you get savage I'd investigate a tad bit more. Can you straighten a coat hanger real straight and try to put it in from the rear until you feel it hit the broken end? Maybe chuck up the coat hanger is a slow drill motor and go in slow. All this will tell you is that in fact there is an end in there.
Can you see the entire tube? Is it crushed anywhere? I don't see how the cable would be twisted. The knob turns but that only activates and in-out puller thingy. Can you blow air from the front and see it come out the back dusty-rusty? Can you pour/squirt penetrant down there and let it do a soak?
Still you have to grab the cable somehow. So, once you determine if and where it ends you might try your tubing cutter idea to the rear. |
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exciter Samba Member
Joined: March 27, 2008 Posts: 644 Location: NW OHIO
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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I would try BarrL idea. Weve run across several plugged and stuck cables and tubes . What i usually do is squirt as much PB Blaster or what ever penetrating oil you have and let it soak for as long as possible and sometimes for days and keep adding fluid every so often. Then I use an 1/8" tig welding filler rod thats 36" long. I grind a point on the end then take a pair of pliers and come in about 3/8" from the point and bend it maybe 25 degrees? And chuck that baby in a hand drill and run it up the tube from the back. time and time again and it usually does the trick to loosen it up. Obviously this would only work if the blockage is no more than 36" from the back and i have noticed its usually in the bend close to the torsion housing.
Good luck and i hope you get her out. _________________ Joe
419-236-9781 |
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Tyler 5447 Samba Member
Joined: May 26, 2002 Posts: 416 Location: Burns, WY
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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I always had really good luck with tons of PB blaster on both ends. Then I would use a rubber tipped air nozzle with the air regulated down to about 10psi on the back side to see if anything came out. Put a rag over the whole in the cab so you don't have PB blaster blown every where. If 10 lbs didn't do anything I would slowly ramp the air pressure up. I also used to have a really narrow but stiff fish tape that worked really good at knocking stuff loose in cable tubes. I had a friend that modified the cable from a pipe snake to fit in the tube before and ran it in his drill. That worked on an accelerator cable that was really stuck. |
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crukab Samba Chef
Joined: December 13, 2002 Posts: 6114 Location: Vermont
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 4:05 am Post subject: |
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Tyler 5447 wrote: |
I had a friend that modified the cable from a pipe snake to fit in the tube before and ran it in his drill. That worked on an accelerator cable that was really stuck. |
This ^^^^^^^^^^^^
I thought someone once told me that Electricians have a pipe snake they use for stuck wires ?? _________________ Tom
My Pops:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=604100&highlight=
I know you will always be with me, rest in peace with no more pain. 8/13/14.....
In the yard right now:
'51 Dodge 5 window truck
'65 Bug
'66 Singlecab
'82 Rabbit Truck Diesel from CALI
'86 Doublecab W/T
'91 Vanagon carat/wolfsbrg.Tiico
'88 Dodge Ram pickup
'11 Jetta Wagon |
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TinCanFab Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2006 Posts: 2743 Location: Waterford, California
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will63 Samba Member
Joined: October 30, 2005 Posts: 42 Location: Bern, Switzerland
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 11:41 am Post subject: |
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Tyler 5447 wrote: |
I always had really good luck with tons of PB blaster on both ends. ... |
+1
Had the same problem. With a ton of PB blaster or similar and quite some time + patience I got my heater cable out.
Good luck!
-will _________________ Wish list: Dove blue double cab |
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Mortimer Bondurant Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2010 Posts: 40 Location: The Channeled Scablands
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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I didn't have a stuck cable but both left and right sides of the cable were absent and both tubes were clogged with rust. I put clear plastic tubes on the rear ends of the tubes and elevated them up higher than the front ends then filled them with parts cleaner and let them soak for days. Then I got a cable similar to one side of the heater cable itself and bent the end over about a half inch. Then I fed that cable up each tube from the rear while my son spun the cable's other end with a drill. Eventually we were able to ream both tubes out and feed a new heater cable through. Not your situation, but I'll bet it's rust that's got your cable stuck. So, I would recommend days of soaking. Maybe a dilute solution of Navel (sp?) Jelly would work too. Good luck and just keep going at it. |
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CPO_05 Samba Member
Joined: October 13, 2011 Posts: 137 Location: Lakeside, CA (San Diego)
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Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 6:32 am Post subject: |
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I had the same issue, tried everything everyone here had said. Finally took a really close look at the tubes and found that one of them had a slight dent in it which wouldn't allow the end of the cable to pass through. I ended up cutting that small portion out (about a half inch) and replacing it with a small piece of fule line and some clamps. The new cable went through with ease and I have had no issues iwth it. |
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TinCanFab Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2006 Posts: 2743 Location: Waterford, California
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Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 9:01 am Post subject: |
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CPO_05 wrote: |
I had the same issue, tried everything everyone here had said. Finally took a really close look at the tubes and found that one of them had a slight dent in it which wouldn't allow the end of the cable to pass through. I ended up cutting that small portion out (about a half inch) and replacing it with a small piece of fule line and some clamps. The new cable went through with ease and I have had no issues iwth it. |
I'm going to check really close when I get a chance. I know there are no major kinks since I've been under this truck quite a bit. _________________ Check out my truck brought back from the dead... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=420762&highlight=sprayed+blood
They're never really ever finished 58 rag build...
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=658092 |
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