Jon White Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 On a ZF box- anyone ever changed a kickdown cable? Box is currently sat on the garage floor - I've looked at Rave and it syas remove the valve chest and it all loks fairly straight forward, but it mentions a special tool to position the selector with when re-assembling - is this really necessary? Also, as its on the garage floor, any reason why I cant turn the whole box upside down to do it as it'll be sooooooooo much easier? Is there anything likely to fall out etc if I do so? Thanks Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintman Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 LST109 just looks like a piece of metal of a certain thickness. I am guessing that if you check the gap with feeler gauges before dismantling then use the same to reposition it you should be OK. Don't know about the second, but I'd bet they do just that when working on them off the vehicle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastcard Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Jon, I have done it and it is v. fiddly (because I didn't want to start dismantling the gearbox too much due to dirt paranoia!). Likely to be a lot easier if you remove the valve block. Anyway, you need to remove the sump (note here to clean and lube the bolts / threads really well because they go into flimsy bits of the ally casting and are really easy to strip). Can't remember if I had the filter off at this stage, but you will be able to judge this when you look at it. I had the box the correct way up on some blocks. You will see the cable goes through the casting and then wraps around a sprung cam type arrangement and on the end of the cable is a solid cylinder that slots into a matching slot in the cam. That is the fiddly bit. To remove, you need to release the tension on the cable by turning the cam and holding it in that position (also remove the small stop bit of lead on the other end of the cable) . Having done this, you can slide the metal cylinder out of its slot and bingo. IIRC in order to get space to slide the cylinder out, you may need to adjust how far you turn the cam before holding it in position. The whole lot then pulls out of the casing. Again make sure you have cleaned around the cable hole very well so all the crud doesn't fall in when you remove. Replacement is the reversal of removal apart from the fact that you need to be an octopus to 1) hold the cam in position and 2) get the cylinder to slide into place. Helps to have somewhere comfortable to lie and have your arms supported while you juggle. Obviously don't clamp up the small bit of lead on the new cable until all is in position. But then do it ASAP to prevent the new cable waiting until you have left the garage full of joy before it decides to unhitch itself Pretty sure this is all that is involved. Most of it is pretty obvious once you have the sump off. I didn't have any special tools but do recall having an interesting setup of screwdrivers and mole grips at one stage. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 Thanks for that. I'd prefer not to remove the valve block if I can help it as autoboxes are a bit of a black art to me and I dont want to upset it! Sounds like its relatively straightforward then if a little fiddly! Cheers Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastcard Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Yup certainly not rocket science. The LR tool mentioned is probably to hold the sprung cam as that is the real PITA. Just seen you are in Hants, so maybe worth asking Linautos how much he would charge (although on the basis that I have a recon box from him which did not have the cable changed, I wonder whether he knows how to do it!). Probably a half hour job with all the correct tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 rempval of valve block ,not a problem , clean is the big thing, replace the filter screen while you are in there. upside down does not matter, but expect plenty of oil about, always is with autos. its a very simple procedure. follow torque limits on fixings carefully as its easy to strip small ali threads . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 Ah Ok - thats good to know. Can you offer any tips with reagrd to the tool needed for the selector or is it blindingly obvious once your in there? I've got a decent (calibrated) 3/8's torque wrnech so thats no problem. I've changed the filters on these before but thats as far into them as I've ever delved. Cheers Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRecklessEngineer Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 If I had known you were going to change it I wouldn't have spent half an hour trying to remove the bloody thing from the engine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted April 16, 2008 Author Share Posted April 16, 2008 :-) I wasnt intending to, but if it isnt too difficult might do cause its a bit mankey! Part of me does just say leave well alone! Cheers Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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