Replacing TV Cable

[truekoa]

Hi Guys, I'm in the middle of replacing the Detent cable on my 1984 Silverado. I've secured the top part of the cable in the throttle body bracket but I can't for the life of me get the end that goes into the transmission to fit onto the metal wire coming out of the housing.

I looked online as well as searching the forums here and the other metal wires I've seen are U shaped almost, so once you managed to thread it into the TV cable transmission end you are done and can stuff it back in and bolt it up. However, my metal wire is L shaped, so although I can get it onto the lower part of the L shape, I would need to wiggle it and turn it to make it all the way up the L to secure it before putting it into the housing.

Are there any tricks or special tools to accomplish this? It seems so simple yet I've spent over 2 hours just trying to thread that metal wire into the cable. Is it safe to straighten the bend in the metal wire, feed the TV cable end onto it and bend it on the other end to secure it?

Any advice is appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[truekoa]

any one?

 

[Georgeb]

Please post up some pics if you can

 

[yevgenievich]

I would not bend the line on the transmission side. I always had good luck leaving the top of the cable loose and just working the bottom in first. Other option is to drop the pan and get to it that way.

 

[truekoa]

I would not bend the line on the transmission side. I always had good luck leaving the top of the cable loose and just working the bottom in first. Other option is to drop the pan and get to it that way.

Can you elaborate? I know removing the pan will give me more room, but the housing for the TV cable is higher up than the pan. Is there something behind the pan cover that will help once I get it off?

 

[truekoa]

Can you see this link?
http://www.tvmadeez.com/tvcable_instructions/graphics/step1-1_bg.jpg

Basically, its a metal hook and you have to guide the end of the TV cable onto it like threading a needle.

This is on the passenger side of the transmission, so you can see how much of a struggle it is when the trans installed and there's not much room to work with.

 

[truekoa]

Please post up some pics if you can

Can you see this link?
http://www.tvmadeez.com/tvcable_instructions/graphics/step1-1_bg.jpg

Basically, its a metal hook and you have to guide the end of the TV cable onto it like threading a needle.

This is on the passenger side of the transmission, so you can see how much of a struggle it is when the trans installed and there's not much room to work with.

 

[yevgenievich]

Removing the pan does expose the area where tv connects. It is where that metal hook connects to a cam that engauges the tv.

 

[truekoa]

so I finally figured out why it fought me the entire time...I had the wrong cable!

The replacement cable's metal head that went into the trans housing was much bigger than the one I had removed. I compared the two side by side and the plastic housing on the new cable was drastically bigger in size than my old one.

Anyone have the correct part number I should look for like on rockauto, summit, etc? I tried the local parts stores like Autozone but they didn't have a similar one to my old one.

Thanks!

 

[yevgenievich]

I have a replacement one from lmc just using their catalog

 

[truekoa]

Is yours for a 305 or 350ci engine? I didn't think there was a difference but apparently the length of the cable differs between engines.

On RockAuto, there is a 37.8 that looks similar to my old one, there is also another one that is 38 inches long but has a coiled spring mechanism on the end that clips into the throttle body bracket. I checked on LMC and for the 305 there is only one cable but it does not tell me the length.

Do you know the length on yours by chance?

Thanks!