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MG MGF Technical - Gear Change Cable Help

Hi there!

About 3 weeks ago I broke one of my gear linkage cables on my 1999 V-reg 1.8i MGF. The broken cable is the shorter of the two, coded "748".

I recently purchased two second-hand cables from a breakers (as new ones are not available at present ??!!) and these arrived this week by courier. On examining the new cables I have found that the longer cable is coded "747" - exactly the same as the long cable still on my car. However, the shorter cable is coded "1701" and is some 8cm shorter than the cable which I broke (the cable I broke is approx 147cm long, the replacement cable is only 139cm long).

Although the inner cable will just about fit between the gear stick and the bracket on the gearbox, the outer cable, when located in the bracket below the gear stick will not locate in the bracket on the gearbox. Have I been given a cable of a TF by mistake?

This is obviously frustrating as I have already been off the road for 3 weeks, and now appear to have the wrong part(s)! Any advice that anyone can give on this matter would be greatly appreciated. I would like to have some ammunition to shoot at the breakers on Monday as I made it clear that my car was a 1999 V-reg and they even assured me that the cables I would be receiving were infact from a 1999 V-reg car as well !!!

Thanks in advance to anyone who can assist
Mr Titchmarsh

Not much help but from the parts list I can see that one of the two cables changed part number after vin no. 600101. The part no. changed from ULS100070 to ULS000010. The other cable (crossgate) keeps the same number througout ULS100060.
Spyros Papageorghiou

Can I ask a stupid off-topic question?

Cable operated gearchanges: they work quite nicely on moderns, but what of Maxis, 1800s and the JU250 van?

Or, in other words those old BMC products were slated for poor gearchanges, so what's change in the intervening 40 years or so?

And can my old 1800 benefit from later developments?
Jerry Travis

sounds as though you have the shorter Tf cable, if you ask the breakers to remove the bell crank and the gear-box bracket then the cable will fit with these parts as the box is the same.
mike

Good question Jerry - but I am not sure how your 1800 differs from the gearchange found on the MGF?

Any pictures?
Rob Bell

Jerry

The cable change on the F/TF is arguably a retrograde step and probably used because there was not enough room to fit a rod linkage. Cost may have played a part as well.

My experience was that the F gear change only became reasonably precise after fitting an aftermarket system then checking it regularly.

Chris

Chris

Does anyone have an DIY gear cable adjustment instruction on the web?

cheers
Oskar
O Sander

I'd be interested in this too. My shift is difficult to get from 3rd to 2nd and does not return to centre.

J.
Jim

Hi, me too my gear shift is not as precise as I would like. Is it possible to adjust it? And if so does anybody know how?

Regards, Tony.
Tony

If you want a really good, precise gear change then I can highly reccomend a Slickshift from Mr Satur. Had one fitted by him last week and am mightily impressed.

Ian
Ian

5 weeks tomorrow Oct17th it will be 5 weeks my F has been in garage and can't get new short cable that's snapped on my F anywhere in UK ,bad news but hoping something turns up next week one way or another as really fed up now, Dave

info how to fit Mike's Slick shift here

http://www.apttony.co.uk/Servicing/FittingSSK.html

nearest i can find to adjusting but not sure if you even can is here
http://www.lame-delegation.de/mgfcar.de/gear_select/
DC Morris T6 DCM

DC the solution to the MGF gear cable problem is to fit the TF cable with a TF gearbox bracket and a TF bell crank total cost around £85 inc.HTH Mike
mike

Thanks for tip Mike, Dave
DC Morris T6 DCM

Ps just a thought i have recently had the F gear shift changed to TF one,does that mean i need different cable thAn the one i have ordered or are cables the same ones?, part no ULS100070, Dave
DC Morris T6 DCM

I think you don't, unless the ball crank and gearbox bracket got changed.

Does anyone have the part numbers for the mgtf bracket and bell crank ?

Anyway, I've nothing about adjustment on site. IMO improved _play less_/ ball joints without rubber do the job in best way.
About the cables, some more images:
http://www.lame-delegation.de/mgfcar.de/gear_select/
bad_road.html

Dieter

This thread was discussed between 10/09/2005 and 25/09/2005

MG MGF Technical index

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