Chicagoland MG Club: Tech Tips

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  Chicagoland MG Club:Tech Tips

"Pull Cable" Makes Life Easier

When replacing the choke cable or any loose hose or wire that is threaded through some maze of mechanical/electrical clutter, an easy way to rethread the new piece through is to use a "pull cable". The pull cable will allow you to pull your new piece back through the same route that the original took, which will hopefully save you some skinned knuckles, make the cable length come out right, and help prevent electrical shorts and wiring knocked loose.

Simply tie or tape a suitably flexible piece of wire, cord, or string, about two feet longer than the part replaced to the trailing end of the piece you will be withdrawing (carb end of choke cable, for example). You then pull both the part and the pull cable out until just a few inches of pull cable is past the final obstruction or mounting point (hole in dash for choke cable). Next, you would remove the old part from the pull cable, and fasten the same end of the new part to the pull cable securely. Now you are ready to pull the new part in place. As you do, work it through slowly, working past any snags carefully to avoid creating kinks, binds, or other "mysterious" electrical malfunctions of components along the route. When done, make all mechanical connections and then take the new part and shift it as necessary to even out the slack at each end. This last step is often overlooked, but can add to the life of working cables, such as choke cables, by removing undue stress.

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