Transmission Control Cable Hard to Move

[rpell1@msn.com]

Hi all,
My shifter cable is really hard to move. Before going ahead to change the cable, I noticed that spraying the cable with cable/chain spray at the transmission end did loosen it a little. So, I went out and bought a cable luber, thinking that was all I needed. Surprise! When I practically disassembled my helm, I found that the ends of the control cables had a fork fitting that descended a good 3" down the pedestal and would not accommodate my lube tool, or any of my fingers. When I looked at the tranny end, I saw that this was the way to pressure lube the cable. Unfortunately, my fingers, wrists and arms are not made of rubber and there was no way to get any kind of tool in the connected end on the shifter on the tranny. So, unless I'm missing something on how to remove any one side of the cable for lubing, is my only other choice having someone change the cable for me?

 

[Ward H]

Hi Ralph,
I did the same thing and found the same issue.
What I ended up doing was bending a wire that I could hold at the top of the pedestal with the bottom end against the cable where it goes into the cable housing. I then dribbled lube down the wire onto the cable.
I'd put some lube on, work the cable, put some lube on, work the cable repeating several times.

If I were to do it again I think I will try a bendable straw with the bottom against the cable and spray the lube in the top.

Getting the lube on the cable really helped both the throttle and shifter.

I also found part of the shift pivot/crank was rubbing on the inside of the pedestal frame. I had to loosen the inside lever and move it away from the frame a bit. That also really smoothed out the shifting.

I would try all that before changing out the cable.

Good luck with it.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

I don’t understand - can you not pull the center wire out (almost but not completely) of the outer shroud?
It sounds like you want to remove the entire cable but I may not understand. It should be a simple matter of marking the inner cable close to its terminus so you don’t pull it completely out.

 

[rpell1@msn.com]

BOTH ends not accessible. Never wanted to remove it; just lube it from an end,

 

[rpell1@msn.com]

Thanks Ward. I will definitely try both. I knew I couldn't be the only one with this problem. Happy Sailing.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

BOTH ends not accessible. Never wanted to remove it; just lube it from an end,

Let us know if/how that works.