So I let my friend drive my 88 while I was cleaning up my SL, and I get a call like 5 minute later that the car will only engage first. So he limps it back to the garage and I take the bolt off transmission end of the shift cable and this just pulls right out
Looking inside it looks like there is some rust on the steel cable.
I don't know anything about cables, Fiero's are the only vehicle I own with them. Do you repair them when they fail like this or just replace?
NAPA has a listing for a doorman 5speed 88 shift cable, but they only list one shift cable for the car and it says it is 70", I remember reading there was some shenanigan over shift cables a long time ago but I don't remember. Is a 70" cable the correct one for the shift cable (forwards and backwards motion). It was like $53 at napa but I have to pay $9 freight. Still not too bad for a new part if its the right one.
These are the ones I'm using, they are a lot more expensive, but the nutsuckers swear by them, I can't remember why to be honest with you. It should be noted that his cable has withstood my engine bay heat, which is probably one of the highest around.
Cool thanks, hopefully some others will chime in too. Those cables look pretty nice, but its a stock car that sees maybe 3k miles a year, and now that I have the SL its seeing even less, so a cheaper option would be the way I'd go if it exists, but if the doorman ones are total crap, I'll go RD.
That's funny, I got off the phone with California Push and Pull and Roger Thelin 15 minutes ago - we were talking about cables.
Rodney's got some cables on sale for $60.00 at the moment, they're tight because of a manufacturing fluke but they're cheap (they're on the front page). Rodney used to get all of his cables exclusively from California Push and pull, which was supplying extremely nice spiral wound cables that had an inch of adjustability on each end. He stopped "drop shipping" from them to supply non-spiral bound non-adjustable cables instead for those who are lazy and do not understand how nice having the adjustable ends can be for fine tuning the shifter. I've been ordering directly from California for years since. I just quoted two select cables from there for $70.00 a pop - bang up deal. I would have asked about the shift cable if I'd opened RFT before I called. I know the shift cable they supply is a great deal heavier and if I remember correctly a bit more expensive than their select cable. Call and ask, don't waste your money on anything from a local store.
Rodney's cable is going to look the closest to OEM and be stronger than OEM - which I know your '88 is a stocker because of it's intrinsic value. The California shift cable's probably going to cost the same, but it's going to come with adjustable ends and a beefcake cable construction. TL;DR - OEM Look: Rodney | Kick ass product: California Push and Pull
Emc209i wrote:That's funny, I got off the phone with California Push and Pull and Roger Thelin 15 minutes ago - we were talking about cables.
Rodney's got some cables on sale for $60.00 at the moment, they're tight because of a manufacturing fluke but they're cheap (they're on the front page). Rodney used to get all of his cables exclusively from California Push and pull, which was supplying extremely nice spiral wound cables that had an inch of adjustability on each end. He stopped "drop shipping" from them to supply non-spiral bound non-adjustable cables instead for those who are lazy and do not understand how nice having the adjustable ends can be for fine tuning the shifter. I've been ordering directly from California for years since. I just quoted two select cables from there for $70.00 a pop - bang up deal. I would have asked about the shift cable if I'd opened RFT before I called. I know the shift cable they supply is a great deal heavier and if I remember correctly a bit more expensive than their select cable. Call and ask, don't waste your money on anything from a local store.
Rodney's cable is going to look the closest to OEM and be stronger than OEM - which I know your '88 is a stocker because of it's intrinsic value. The California shift cable's probably going to cost the same, but it's going to come with adjustable ends and a beefcake cable construction. TL;DR - OEM Look: Rodney | Kick ass product: California Push and Pull
Just noticed my first link was to a picture rather than the Push-Pull website, I edited the post.
I'm not sure what the part number is Will, I always just call, specify Fiero, then transmission type - Getrag, Muncie 4, Isuzu, and they ask for a mailing address and take a card number. Package arrives shortly with nice cables inside.
I suppose while we're on the subject I'll share what I dug up today - sorry in advance if going off topic seems inappropriate. I was asking the guys at push pull if they could lengthen the sections past the barrel adjusters (round aluminum cylinders which anchor the cables), so that I could use a second Getrag "select cable" as the "shift cable" with a 5 speed shifter without modifying the steel angle bracket on the shifter base - it's about an inch too short. He explained to me that they were having the pieces pre-manufactured and assembling the cables there. He could draw up a new design, but it would be expensive to set up the tooling, however, completely feasible. Lengthening the cable between the two barrels would of course be very easy to do and would only cost a few dollars more for additional length. This of course will not solve space constraints past the barrel adjusters - such as I have - but is nice to know if any of us are in need of additional length for routing. I'm going to call back tomorrow to see about lengthening a "shift cable" and changing the barrel adjuster to the smaller sized barrel that's used on the "select cable". It would only take me a second to adjust the angle brackets on the shifter so that I could use two select cables, but the plan is to design something they can catalog "F23" so I can direct traffic to them and have a source for cables that are correctly sized and fitted for the F23 transaxle without having to modify the shifter - plug and play.
I then called Thelin. Great character to chat with. He's still suggesting people either buy his modified shaft and change the pivot geometry of the select mechanism with his kit, or route cables all the way around the drivetrain above the muffler - cables would end up being about twice as long as a Getrag select cable. I explained to him that I didn't want to do that, and several people had been coming in from the front of the transmission and using the stock Getrag select cables and stock shift mechanism and shaft. He asked if I had any experience with his shaft conversion, I explained to him I had third party experience and thought the stock mechanism was both ideally compact and less complicated than changing the select pivot geometry. He was really interested, but was having a hard time visualizing what I was talking about over the phone. I plan on showing him what I come up with. I've got a slick idea down on paper for using a 1st class lever for selection rather than using a 2nd class lever like FieroFiend and schmoken did - should reduce select effort and range of motion a great deal. Thelin tried sending me to Rodney for cables, he said that Rodney would lengthen or shorten cables for a few bucks extra also - noted.
Hopefully, tomorrow I'll have the cable solution I'm after.
I had used Rodney's Getrag Select cable since 2005 and ordered 2 new ones for my F40 swap. The new cables are slightly different, but still good cables. The big thing to keep in mind is the ball stud on the old cables were spring loaded and you could easily pop them off and use these cables on the transmissions with the built in ball stud on the shifter (F40 and others). His new style cables will not come with the old style end with the removable ball stud, unless you ask him to install the older style ends.
For my swap I increased the actual cable travel on the select cable by trimming an inner sleeve/stop by about 1/4". Here is how the cable bottoms out limiting overall travel:
Just trim it slightly with a tubing cutter:
The cable on the left in this picture was modified to increase the travel and you can see the shorter inner sleeve:
You can also extend the cable from the transmission bracket to the shift linkage with just a simple threaded sleeve between the cable and the ball stud end (the ball stud is just threaded onto the end of the cable shaft).
I looked over the CPP cables from '08, and it doesn't look like I could trim the sleeve of the cable like you have; the end turns into a hex where it was soldered/crimped onto the threaded portion of the cable. If I removed any more material, I'm afraid I would expose the core and the hex walls might hang on the inner sleeve as the cable was operated.
Picture:
I'm taking the shift cable apart right now. Looks like what I want CPP to do will be a cinch. Oh.. the CPP ball cup uses a c clip retainer inside the cup.
I think the CPP cables are the ones that WCF sells; they look 100% identical. The only one I ever had failed (got sticky) after a couple years. The seals on the ends don't hold up very well and it seems it got moisture in it -- a partial autopsy revealed that it was all rusted up inside.
I'm using Rodney's cables now and they work just like OEM... they'll last another 15 years. I'm not worried.
Maybe CPP's materials have improved since I got mine (2002 or 2003).
The Getrag select cable is in kind of a weird state. The middle is lower than either end, which lets it trap moisture inside the housing. Some of the denizens of PFiffle have figured out how to lubricate it with paraffin to make it last longer.
The Getrag shift cable never seems to have problems. I think this is due at least in part to the fact that it's used with the end pointing down and the mid-section higher than the end so it can't trap moisture, even if the seal fails. The Getrag select cables used for the F40 swap should be the same way.
Series8217 wrote:Maybe CPP's materials have improved since I got mine (2002 or 2003).
They have, the cables I've been taking measurements on have been to hell and back since 2008, and they still work very well. The Fiero Store (Not Rodney) buys from CPP also.
The Dark Side of Will wrote:The Getrag select cable is in kind of a weird state. The middle is lower than either end, which lets it trap moisture inside the housing. Some of the denizens of PFiffle have figured out how to lubricate it with paraffin to make it last longer.
I hadn't thought about that. It makes sense. Good reason to have a good seal on there.
I'll have to look into the paraffin trick when I get my car back on the road. Luckily I have a garage to store it in so I don't think it's going to rust up in storage... plus the Rodney cable has the OEM-style bellow boot which pretty much entirely excludes moisture. I would bet that adding a similar boot to the CPP cables would make them last at least as long.
Finally got around to working on the 88 again. Trying to return it to stock. I ended up getting the Rodney cable, I'll put in sometime this coming week.
I got the cable in the car, but I am having an issue with connecting the cable to the arm on the transmission. The rodney bolt on the end keeps the cable too close to the bracket and the end of the cable hits the bracket and it won't let you move the cable once its bolted down. I could space it up with washers, didn't know if anyone else encountered this.
