Tach cable replacement

Does anyone have any good tips on doing a tach cable replacement on a deuce? I believe the manual says the radiator must be moved to get access up front. Can it be done without messing with the radiator?

Yes, it can be done. No, I will never do it again. Just drain a tad out of the radiator so the top hose can come off. Unbolt the the thing attached to the cyl head and tilt it out a bit. Pull the fan and everything will go SMOOTHLY. You will cuss alot if you try it with the fan in there.

If you have an angle wrench you don't need to move the radiator. Make sure the cable has smooth bends in it when you route it.

I didn't think it was that bad!
I have done it twice so far, and I have one more time to go.
Not that it is fun, but it is definitely possible with everything in place.

I agree I didn't think it was that bad either. I did mine in under 30 min.

I orderd a tach cable for my deuce yesterday. I unscred it from both ends and found it snaped at the motor end. It was a little tight on the motor side, but no big deal. That is with everything still in place. Joe

These guys are right, the tack cable is soooo easy! I did it in 20 minutes top, Just need the right wrench, like an offset, or a crows foot! I changed mine and decided to take the drive gear for it out to find that the guts of it were gone and thats why it didn't work so check that while you are in there, its really easy. Memphis equipment had them for like 53.00 or so! works perfect!

I didn't remove anything except the cable clamps and the cable assembly itself. Bit of a pain, but only the clamps were hard to get at.

Took the broken cable assembly to a speedometer shop and they made a new cable that went in the old sleeve, cost $7, worked like new.

gimpyrobb said:

Yes, it can be done. No, I will never do it again. Just drain a tad out of the radiator so the top hose can come off. Unbolt the the thing attached to the cyl head and tilt it out a bit. Pull the fan and everything will go SMOOTHLY. You will cuss alot if you try it with the fan in there.

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Hey GR I think all these other conflicting posts smack of great right wing (or perhaps) "green-wing" conspiracy .

To make you feel even worse, I was tempted to chime in and say that I changed one the other day while driving down the road but figured you were already forming enough of a complex without me being a wise a$$.

Truth is, we changed one in Rosie and it took a while and wasn't any fun. Sounds like we didn't have the right tools.

There is not a lot of room to work in. A large crow foot wrench can loosen the cable housing from the adapter on the engine. Then another large open end wrench can loosen that.

One of the problems is the key ways have to be aligned to fit just right before the assembly can go together on both the engine side and the cable side.

There is also a brace used to keep the cable housing out of the fan that takes a bit of time and manipulating.

It is not as bad a jerking the transmission out but not a lot of fun either.

Thanks for all the feedback.