Can it be fixed? Fresh Push/Pull Cable Sheath Detached From Tube On Dash (1 Viewer)

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Biscuit

Mars Rover Driver Emeritus
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My Fresh air push/pull cable sheath has pulled out of the tube that is used to hold the cable to the dash. Originally the plastic coated metal sheath was crimped inside the metal tube that holds the cable assembly to the dash. This seems to be a common failure point. :bang:

Has anyone been able to repair this connection? I have searched and only found Mudders buying used cables that will likely fail in the same manner. There is a dwindling supply of these cables, so I would prefer to repair the cable if possible.

The only repair options I can think of at the moment are:
  • Figure out how to remove the knob (if it is even possible), disassemble the cable, widen the tube to undo the crimping, and recrimp the sheath in place. This would be prone the original failure mode.
  • Sleeving the tube and sheath with a larger diameter tube then crimping and/or JB welding both ends to hold it in place
  • Cutting off the knob, drilling it out, and buing an aftermarket cable to attach it to, provided I can find one with a detachable knob

Any thoughts on which would be the best approach to try first?
 
Haven't done it on a cruiser, but have repaired others by soldering. Trick is to keep the solder out of the middle. Usually I pull out the knob and wire, solder the sheath and tube together. Then take a long bit the same diameter as the wire and clean-out where I soldered. Reinstall the wire. If the end connection is coiled you have to cut it to get the wire out. Overlape the coil with the wire and solder back together when finished.
 
I see SOR sells a repro part. I need one also and Since you can't get OEM anymore I plan to use theirs and try to mount my original knob to it.
 
So I may have figured out a quick and cheap solution.

The cable sheath is spiral cut metal with a plastic coating. The plastic coating after being under pressure from the crimped metal tube has an imprint of where the crimp was. I used an exacto knife to cut the plastic coating off the metal sheath in the aera that was crimped and removed the plastic.

Next I made sure the cable could freely move in the sheath. After some liberal use of WD40, I had it freely moving. I then used white lithium grease inside the tube that mounts to the dash. To make sure there was free play of the pull knob and rod, make sure the keying flat spot on the threads is at the bottom with respect to the text on the pull knob.

I then put the exposed metal sheath into the tube, and used a bench vise to crimp the tube onto the metal sheath. I then checked to ensure that the cable was freely moving, and it was.

I didn't take pictures this time, but will try to when I rebuild the other Fresh cable I have.
 
Had a similar problem with mine where the brass crimp sleeve split around the wire sheeth. I ended up just finding a nut that would fit around the brass crimp sleeve and was tight enough to crimp the split sleeve. Worked great and cost nothing!
 

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