Hi guys,
The last guy who replaced the tachometer cable on this truck apparently didn't feel like dealing with the lower L bracket and so in order to keep it away from the fan belt he eliminated that bracket and routed the cable behind the pipe that feeds the oil cooler. Over time this scuffed the jacket off the cable, water migrated in, the cable rusted and broke 2 inches from the engine end.
So I'm trying to replace this cable on my truck and I'm having a lot of trouble. For one thing lining up the engine end connector on the cable with the threaded fitting off the front of the engine is very hard, and I haven't been able to do it. If you look straight down, the compressor fan belt is right in the way and pushes the cable out of line as you tr to tighten it. It's kind of a double edged sword but that belt is a little loose so I'm going to try to hold it out of the way with a tire iron and try to line the fitting up again. I don't know if I can do this alone but I'm going to give it a shot. I also found that removing the 11/16 bolt from the compressor base for the lower L bracket was a mother of a job as well. I did eventually get it off with an open end wrench. I couldn't get a socket on it because the compressor body sort of "hangs over" this nut slightly and blocks the socket.
Then if all that isn't bad enough it seems apparent that the cable has to perfectly align with the slot in the adapter. How do you assure that when there is no room to even work? And am I correct in assuming that if you miss the slot you run the risk of chewing up the cable end and perhaps the female fitting in the adapter as well? I'm afraid that I may go to all this trouble to seat the cable, then tighten it and ultimately find that it fails to turn. Who thought this miserable arrangement up anyway?
The TM doesn't mention removing the compressor fan belt, ( I can't anyway, I don't have the wrenches), but is this necessary? Is there another trick to doing this job? And are my concerns about properly seating the cable end valid?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Lenny
The last guy who replaced the tachometer cable on this truck apparently didn't feel like dealing with the lower L bracket and so in order to keep it away from the fan belt he eliminated that bracket and routed the cable behind the pipe that feeds the oil cooler. Over time this scuffed the jacket off the cable, water migrated in, the cable rusted and broke 2 inches from the engine end.
So I'm trying to replace this cable on my truck and I'm having a lot of trouble. For one thing lining up the engine end connector on the cable with the threaded fitting off the front of the engine is very hard, and I haven't been able to do it. If you look straight down, the compressor fan belt is right in the way and pushes the cable out of line as you tr to tighten it. It's kind of a double edged sword but that belt is a little loose so I'm going to try to hold it out of the way with a tire iron and try to line the fitting up again. I don't know if I can do this alone but I'm going to give it a shot. I also found that removing the 11/16 bolt from the compressor base for the lower L bracket was a mother of a job as well. I did eventually get it off with an open end wrench. I couldn't get a socket on it because the compressor body sort of "hangs over" this nut slightly and blocks the socket.
Then if all that isn't bad enough it seems apparent that the cable has to perfectly align with the slot in the adapter. How do you assure that when there is no room to even work? And am I correct in assuming that if you miss the slot you run the risk of chewing up the cable end and perhaps the female fitting in the adapter as well? I'm afraid that I may go to all this trouble to seat the cable, then tighten it and ultimately find that it fails to turn. Who thought this miserable arrangement up anyway?
The TM doesn't mention removing the compressor fan belt, ( I can't anyway, I don't have the wrenches), but is this necessary? Is there another trick to doing this job? And are my concerns about properly seating the cable end valid?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Lenny