Shift cable trouble

I am replacing the shift cable on my Alpha 1 drive and its the newer style so that you need the special tool (elongated 9/16" socket) to remove the sleeve from the bell housing. Well the brass fitting that the outer cable sheath goes through is not comming off and I now rounded over the edges of the nut. I then cut the nylon inner piece off so I could try shorter sockets to try and grab it but no luck. I don't want to use a torch or anything since the bell housing is aluminum and the nut is brass. I am afraid of melting or distorting the bell housing. Does anyone have experience in removing this fitting like this and how would you do it? I would hate to spend $300 on a new housing just because the fitting is frozen in place.<br /><br />Thanks for your help,<br />Bob W.

Re: Shift cable trouble

Its drilling time <br /><br />It should be 1/4 NPT <br /><br />It takes a 7/16 drill BUT i think i would try 3/8 and pick out the rest and chase it with a tap<br /><br />If you have never drilled out a bolt before this would be a bad time to start learning BETTER to take the houseing off and have a shop drill it<br /><br /><br />tommays

Re: Shift cable trouble

Bob,<br />Had the same problem. I posted a question also and you can find it at this link (hope I pasted it right).<br /><br /> http://forums.iboats.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=24;t=016542#000000 <br /><br />When it happened to me, I brought the bell housing home and clamped it into a vice. I cut off the white plastic tube to get a better grip, but it did not work. The next paragraph explains what I ended up doing in my thread. One thing I might try different would be to use a Craftsman Bolt extractor. That’s the ratchet that grips the side of the bolts instead of the high points. Fixed my problem before I saw the extractor kit at Sears, so I never actually tried the tool out.<br /><br />I soaked the cable fitting however (PB Blaster); I still managed to round off the hex nut and was unable to remove the cable assembly from the bell housing. I ended up drilling out the remains of the hex nut and carefully reamed out the threaded section by drilling, but not too much that I would cut the treads of the bell housing. I tried to run the tap (1/4 x 18 thread NPSF Pipe tap with straight threads) and that turned out to be a chore. As a last resort, I used a Craftsman screw extractor. Tapped it in with a hammer and backed it out using a 3/8 drive ratchet with extension. The extractor bit grabbed hold and I was able to remove the remains of the cable (counter clockwise). Chased the bell housing threads with the pipe tap - good as new.

Re: Shift cable trouble

Originally posted by tommays:<br /> Its drilling time <br /><br />It should be 1/4 NPT <br /><br />It takes a 7/16 drill BUT i think i would try 3/8 and pick out the rest and chase it with a tap<br /><br />tommays

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Thanks for the suggestion. Can I ask what you mean by 1/4 NPT? And are you saying the hole size is 7/16" or is that the drill size you recommend using? Do you know the tap size I would need to re-tap it after I get it out? I am trying an easyout first (I already drilled a 1/4" hole through the center to clear out the old shift cable covering and to make a hole for the easyout)<br /><br />Thanks!

Re: Shift cable trouble

Bob,<br />The tap is a 1/4"-18 NPSF Pipe tap. The tap is special because of the straight thread and not tapered. The Service manual gives Quicksilver part number 91-95639. What I found strange was, I was thinking how small a hole is for a 1/4" and the actual tap is big in diameter. You can find it online. Once you get the cable out you will see how big the hole is.<br /><br />Try the Craftsman screw extractor. The tool has three knife-edge sides to it and it bites into the metal. Buy the kit so you can start off with the smallest size extractor and work your way up if you need to.

Re: Shift cable trouble

The 1/4-18 NPS would be a 29/64 drill if you cant get it with the other tools and PB Blaster<br /><br />But your confuseing me as on mercstuff.com/shiftcable1.htm is says drives newer than 1984 can use the NPT tap ? to clean up the threads<br /><br />Look at the new cable i just did mine and the brass was NPT<br /><br /><br />tommays

Re: Shift cable trouble

I removed the bellhousing, soaked the brass fitting with penetrating oil, and hammered on a 13mm socket after I rounded it. Came off with a 3/8" ratchet and cheater bar.