Greetings fellow Mk1 enthusiasts.

 

My nearside handbrake cable gave up the ghost recently so attempted to install a new one today.

 

All was going well until I attempted to withdraw the cable from the aluminium guide and found that it had seized inside the tube.

 

1 hour of wrestling later ( lots of expletives and a couple of minor injuries) and it is still stuck, and to top it off I have managed to pull the guide tube out of the hole that it sits in beneath the rear of the center console. 

 

I have sprayed copious amounts of wd40 on it and left it to soak overnight as daylight has faded now so will give it another go tomorrow.

 

Just wondered if anyone else had encountered this issue and how they managed to get the bugger out! 🥵 I had a look at the skoda workshop manual and it looked like a nice easy job 🤨

 

Thanks in advance for any helpful advice 🤔

Hi Scoffer, I'd suggest something more aggressive in the line of release fluids.

1 hour ago, Warrior193 said:

Hi Scoffer, I'd suggest something more aggressive in the line of release fluids.

Hi @Warrior193 thanks for replying did you have anything in mind please 😁

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

Forget WD-40 Multi-Use for anything other than using it up on unimportant jobs.

 

This is what I use and recommend as a penetrating lubricant, it works better and lasts longer (and smells nicer) than WD-40 Multi-Use  - GT85 (formerly a British company now part of WD-40 Company).

 

I recently got three cans from Wilco for £10 but obviously also available widely from elsewhere and at different prices (DIY, bikes, other).

 

Shake can before use, hold upright, spray, leave to soak as long as possible overnight is good, penetrating/releasing agents always seem to work well when combined with patience.

 

Edited 29 November, 20223 yr by nta16
spelling

4 hours ago, Piescoffer said:

wd40

Forget Water Dispersant 40; use PlusGas or GT85 instead.

+ 1 for the GT85 or PlusGas.

A home-made one from a marine forum, but I haven't tried it - mixture of ATF and Acetone - warning do not use heat with this one! 

I had same with both cables gently use some heat on the tube guides the plastic inserts melt quickly and pull straight out.

I'd give it overnight for the spray to soak in and do its job, then have another crack at it. I'm a big believer in "give it a spray and walk away". Don't get too far into using the "right" sort of spray, we've all got our favourites. 

 

I had a polo one that wasn't playing ball a while ago. I cut the cable just after the tube, pulled the cables core out and was able to crush and generally fettle what was left of the shroud out where it was sticking in the back of the tube. 

 

The guides are made out of fairly thin metal, so if you've been pulling at it too much, there's a fair chance it will have gone out of shape, so it might be a battle to get the new cable in. The guide tubes aren't expensive and are easy to change. 

 

It's worth putting a bit of lubrication on the outside of the new cable shroud before you run it into the tube. 

Thanks for the helpful advice guys, I found some GT85 in cupboard last night and gave it a blast of that to soak overnight.

 

This morning it still wouldn't budge but I heated the metal pipe up with a lighter until it started to smoke a bit and gave it a good yank, then it finally came out 😁

 

Managed to re-position the guide tube as well but installation of the new cable wasnt exactly straightforward, the metal clip was a bit of a bugger due to the new cable having a thicker outer sheath, so took a bit of wrestling to get it to clip in. I noticed in the skoda manual it says to use a new one each time it is removed but it seems to be secure enough now.

 

So a job that I thought was going to take an hour ended up being about 7 hours in total, but will need to do the other side soon as although it is not damaged it has got stretched over time and the balancer is now at full tilt. I did buy a pair of cables anyway as had expected that. Hopefully with lessons learnt the other side will be easier 🤞

Sounds good to me 👍 Anyone who says WD's no good, never tried letting it soak in, then setting fire to it! 😁

I had same issue with thicker outer sheath and clips so just added some metal cable ties as well to double secure them in place.

On 29/11/2022 at 19:36, Piescoffer said:

Thanks for the helpful advice guys, I found some GT85 in cupboard last night and gave it a blast of that to soak overnight.

 

This morning it still wouldn't budge but I heated the metal pipe up with a lighter until it started to smoke a bit and gave it a good yank, then it finally came out 😁

 

Managed to re-position the guide tube as well but installation of the new cable wasnt exactly straightforward, the metal clip was a bit of a bugger due to the new cable having a thicker outer sheath, so took a bit of wrestling to get it to clip in. I noticed in the skoda manual it says to use a new one each time it is removed but it seems to be secure enough now.

 

So a job that I thought was going to take an hour ended up being about 7 hours in total, but will need to do the other side soon as although it is not damaged it has got stretched over time and the balancer is now at full tilt. I did buy a pair of cables anyway as had expected that. Hopefully with lessons learnt the other side will be easier 🤞

Hi! I have the same problem. How did you manage to reposition the guide tube? I think I pulled it out maybe 5cm. Cant see the end of the guide tube through the hole at the rear console. I didn' t notice the plastic piece at the rear of the guide tube firstly. Watching a video at Youtube they just pulled the cable out with no problem. I removed the plastic piece with a heat gun, after some heavy pulling of the cable..

Have you seen Hatboy Harvey's video on this subject? I saw it a few weeks back, and it motivated me to buy spares of the two alloy tubes prior to tackling this job later in the summer. 

Available new from Skoda at not much over a tenner each! Will add vid link and part numbers/exact prices once I've woken up a bit more. (May be different on Octavia, which is what you're maybe asking about @cyberkul?)

 

 

Edited 26 May, 20233 yr by Breezy_Pete
typo

2 hours ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Have you seen Hatboy Harvey's video on this subject? I saw it a few weeks back, and it motivated me to buy spares of the two alloy tubes prior to tackling this job later in the summer. 

Available new from Skoda at not much over a tenner each! Will add vid link and part numbers/exact prices once I've woken up a bit more. (May be different on Octavia, which is what you're maybe asking about @cyberkul?)

 

 

Thanks🙂 Yes, it's a 2007 Octavia II 1Z5 Combi (I think..). No, I have not seen the video, would like to. @StevesTruck in a post in this thread says the guides ate easy to replace. It is not obvious to me how they are installed. Not sure if it is necessary to access the closed space beneath the back seat, or if the guides are simply pushed in from the back. 

40 minutes ago, cyberkul said:

Thanks🙂 Yes, it's a 2007 Octavia II 1Z5 Combi (I think..). No, I have not seen the video, would like to. @StevesTruck in a post in this thread says the guides ate easy to replace. It is not obvious to me how they are installed. Not sure if it is necessary to access the closed space beneath the back seat, or if the guides are simply pushed in from the back. 

Think I found the video. He moves the carpet in a Fabia, and get access to the guides🙂

4 hours ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Have you seen Hatboy Harvey's video on this subject? I saw it a few weeks back, and it motivated me to buy spares of the two alloy tubes prior to tackling this job later in the summer. 

Available new from Skoda at not much over a tenner each! Will add vid link and part numbers/exact prices once I've woken up a bit more. (May be different on Octavia, which is what you're maybe asking about @cyberkul?)

 

 

I didnt see your (large..) link to the video, sorry. It was the same I found at Youtube. Thanks!

It was edited in some time after the breakfast time part of the post.