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I just had this happen too. Driver side looks like the second picture and passenger side looks like the first. Totally coincidentally, was pulling into the courthouse next door to the Chevy dealership (to pay a speeding ticket…) when it happened, so they threw a zip tie on it so I could close the top since they can’t fit me in to fix it until next week. Looked at it a little more when I got home, and decided to snip off the zip tie and just use a twisty tie. Am I crazy to think I can just twisty tie it when I want the top up, and untie it when I want the top down? Sure, takes a tiny bit of effort each time, and can’t do it while driving, but I drive with the top down like 95% of the time, and I don’t have garage space for it right now, so I can’t just leave the top down all the time.
I wonder if once these cars are out of the bumper to bumper warranty the broken cable could be taken to some place like a bicycle shop where they could just replace the inner cable.
I just had this happen too. Driver side looks like the second picture and passenger side looks like the first. Totally coincidentally, was pulling into the courthouse next door to the Chevy dealership (to pay a speeding ticket…) when it happened, so they threw a zip tie on it so I could close the top since they can’t fit me in to fix it until next week. Looked at it a little more when I got home, and decided to snip off the zip tie and just use a twisty tie. Am I crazy to think I can just twisty tie it when I want the top up, and untie it when I want the top down? Sure, takes a tiny bit of effort each time, and can’t do it while driving, but I drive with the top down like 95% of the time, and I don’t have garage space for it right now, so I can’t just leave the top down all the time.
Can you please post a picture of yours with the zip/twist tie so I can see how/where you did it, just in case it happens to me.
Honestly, it’s actually incredibly obvious if it happens, so you will not have an issue figuring it out. I’ll try to get you a picture later, but not something you’ll actually need, in my opinion.
Originally Posted by C7Me
Can you please post a picture of yours with the zip/twist tie so I can see how/where you did it, just in case it happens to me.
I wonder if once these cars are out of the bumper to bumper warranty the broken cable could be taken to some place like a bicycle shop where they could just replace the inner cable.
I don't have a part in front of me but if the cable is similar to a bike brake cable, and just has a metal **** on the end that has broken off inside the black composite housing... the answer depends on if there is enough cable left to use to re-secure it. If there is, you can ball up the end or crimp something else on it and epoxy it all together, and it can be just as strong (but look goofy). If there's not enough cable to work with, you're stuck.
The real thing to look out for is a update to the part. Will be interesting to see if it's a quality problem with the cables or a design problem that needs a stronger cable end.
Edit - eh, there's a picture further above that shows the cable looks to have a disc or T on the end of it, that the held in place by the black box. So 99% chance they're breaking off at that connector. In that picture you can see the little end **** inside the box, with the cable fed through the slot. I wonder if some cars are a little out of alignment or something gets bent and the cable is rubbing on the black slot and side loading the cable a little back and forth. Cables like this won't last long with that happening.
I don't have a part in front of me but if the cable is similar to a bike brake cable, and just has a metal **** on the end that has broken off inside the black composite housing... the answer depends on if there is enough cable left to use to re-secure it. If there is, you can ball up the end or crimp something else on it and epoxy it all together, and it can be just as strong (but look goofy). If there's not enough cable to work with, you're stuck.
The real thing to look out for is a update to the part. Will be interesting to see if it's a quality problem with the cables or a design problem that needs a stronger cable end.
Edit - eh, there's a picture further above that shows the cable looks to have a disc or T on the end of it, that the held in place by the black box. So 99% chance they're breaking off at that connector. In that picture you can see the little end **** inside the box, with the cable fed through the slot. I wonder if some cars are a little out of alignment or something gets bent and the cable is rubbing on the black slot and side loading the cable a little back and forth. Cables like this won't last long with that happening.
Yea, I didn't think there would be enough of the cable left to repair. But the inner cable may be able to be replaced while keeping the OEM housing.
The transaxle shift cable on my Maserati Merak failed. I had a custom made cable made for way less than what they wanted for a NOS cable.
I don't have a part in front of me but if the cable is similar to a bike brake cable, and just has a metal **** on the end that has broken off inside the black composite housing... the answer depends on if there is enough cable left to use to re-secure it. If there is, you can ball up the end or crimp something else on it and epoxy it all together, and it can be just as strong (but look goofy). If there's not enough cable to work with, you're stuck.
The "redesign" would be a loop in the cable end before crimping on the final connector... significantly stronger to pull-out forces. But no, GM will likely just replace the cable with the same connector crimped onto the tail end of the cable, providing minimal resistance to extraction.
The "redesign" would be a loop in the cable end before crimping on the final connector... significantly stronger to pull-out forces. But no, GM will likely just replace the cable with the same connector crimped onto the tail end of the cable, providing minimal resistance to extraction.
There was a discussion on the other forum about this. The cable breaks at the ferrule, it doesn't pull out of the ferrule. The ferrule appears to be cast around the cable. Search for "HTC Failure" on the other forum.
There was a discussion on the other forum about this. The cable breaks at the ferrule, it doesn't pull out of the ferrule. The ferrule appears to be cast around the cable. Search for "HTC Failure" on the other forum.
Okay, so it's the ferrule/cable interface that fails... too much flexure at the interface causing breakage at the cable, I assume? A loop at the end (and I wasn't clear in my original post, I was suggesting the loop is the final attachment point and no longer the ferrule) would reduce the ferrule failure mode, regardless of whether that mode is slippage of cable from the ferrule or breakage of the cable at the ferrule interface (of course, assuming the cable itself is strong enough, which I see no evidence yet to suggest otherwise).
Okay, so it's the ferrule/cable interface that fails... too much flexure at the interface causing breakage at the cable, I assume? A loop at the end (and I wasn't clear in my original post, I was suggesting the loop is the final attachment point and no longer the ferrule) would reduce the ferrule failure mode, regardless of whether that mode is slippage of cable from the ferrule or breakage of the cable at the ferrule interface (of course, assuming the cable itself is strong enough, which I see no evidence yet to suggest otherwise).
Could be flexure, damage during the process of installing a ferrule, perhaps a heat affected zone if the ferrule is molded in place. I know for automotive wiring crimping is prefered to soldering because soldered wire can have a brittle heat affected zone and be susceptible to breakage at that point.
I don't know if a loop will work in that location. The cable appears to be a through cable with the ferrule in an intermediate location. We'd need to see the details of the end of the cable.
05-15-2024, 02:43 PM
