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So you’ve tried to start the old Dodge truck….and its cold outside. You go through your normal routine of putting the key in the ignition switch…turn the key to the ON position, then turning the main switch on, and pull the choke out ½ way. Then push down on the starter button on the floor. The engine normally starts within a few revolutions of the engine and you normally feather the choke to “off”, after its run a few seconds. But this time “ya’got nuthin’”. The engine keeps turning over….and not one plug is firing. Hmmm? You play with the choke….pump the gas pedal a few times, and try it again…..NOTHING! Now…you figured you’ve flooded it….and wait a bit, before trying it again. Still……NOTHING!! Its time to look under the hood. After you lift the hood….you see right away….the problem. The choke cable outer sheath has broken and the inner cable just goes back and forth……when the choke knob is pulled and pushed. It’s stopped moving the choke lever on the carburetor. Yuk! And you don’t have a spare choke cable. Of course you can use some good old “duck-tape”……LOL!!
Guess what? There’s a better way. I’ve measured the diameter of quite a few of the cables in various trucks and they all seem to be the same. I thought…..I’ve used small copper tubing on heavy fishing line wire leaders before. Sooo….I thought, maybe I could use it to put back together the two outer sheathing. I found that the ¼” copper tubing fit right over the sheath. I cut a piece about 2” long. Then pulled off the loose end of the “carburetor” end of the sheathing. Then put the copper tubing over each end of the sheathing. I was going to swage it onto the sheathing. I used one of the copper tubing flaring tools. They are made to just hold the copper tubing….but, if you crank down hard on the clamp….it will compress the copper tubing into & on the sheath. I’ve also use a pair of vice-grips to compress the copper tubing. It works great….and I’m not even going to replace the choke cable with a new one. This one looks and works great.
Guess what? There’s a better way. I’ve measured the diameter of quite a few of the cables in various trucks and they all seem to be the same. I thought…..I’ve used small copper tubing on heavy fishing line wire leaders before. Sooo….I thought, maybe I could use it to put back together the two outer sheathing. I found that the ¼” copper tubing fit right over the sheath. I cut a piece about 2” long. Then pulled off the loose end of the “carburetor” end of the sheathing. Then put the copper tubing over each end of the sheathing. I was going to swage it onto the sheathing. I used one of the copper tubing flaring tools. They are made to just hold the copper tubing….but, if you crank down hard on the clamp….it will compress the copper tubing into & on the sheath. I’ve also use a pair of vice-grips to compress the copper tubing. It works great….and I’m not even going to replace the choke cable with a new one. This one looks and works great.
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