B&M transmission cable fail

B&M transmission cable fail - 09/02/11 05:36 AM

I had a B&M transmission cable fail on a Challenger. It was the standard 5' cable. The housing split as it made the turn around my starter. Has anyone else had this problem? I think it could have been heat, or the tight radius the cable has to make to wrap around and turn to back into the 727.

I have ordered the heavy duty cable and will wrap it with something to protect if from heat.

Any thoughts?

Posted By: 340SHORTY

Re: B&M transmission cable fail - 09/02/11 08:01 AM

put a ground strap/cable from 1 of the starter bolts to the frame.. those shift cable act like a ground strap and burn up because of the movement...

Posted By: goldmember

Re: B&M transmission cable fail - 09/02/11 08:48 AM

They hate heat and tight bends. The standard cable is fine if you fix those issues,that's from someone that has used one over 10 years without issue.I would think it possible that a real poor ground situation MIGHT be an issue,but not the first thing to look at.

Posted By: bobdog106

Re: B&M transmission cable fail - 09/02/11 03:24 PM

Mine could not take the heat of 2 days of cruising woodward and just about froze up. I just changed it and ran it around the passenger side and back around. It is less of a bend and far from the headers. I also wrapped everything to be safe. Shifer has never felt so smooth.

Posted By: dOrk !

Re: B&M transmission cable fail - 09/02/11 03:42 PM

Quote:

put a ground strap/cable from 1 of the starter bolts to the frame.. those shift cable act like a ground strap and burn up because of the movement...

VERY important point ... THIS happens far more often than header heat damage. And a couple of ground-straps would not be over-kill.

Posted By: 360ChallengerB3

Re: B&M transmission cable fail - 09/02/11 04:19 PM

Thanks for all the replies. I will ground strap it, wrap it and take a look to see if I can increase the radius.

Bobdog, did you use the standard 5' length? Did you go to the passanger side and around the tailshaft?

-Greg

Posted By: bobdog106

Re: B&M transmission cable fail - 09/02/11 05:23 PM

I used the heavy duty 5 foot cable, which is the same one that overexpanded from the heat. I run a ground from the engine to the battery along with 1 to the frame just to be safe. I ran the cable through the floor, around the passenger side then looped around where the drain plug is and back up to the mount. It had no extra room on cable, but fit without any major bends and it is now far away from the headers. It is bent alot less than when it looped around and almost touched the whole header on the driver's side.

Posted By: 360ChallengerB3

Re: B&M transmission cable fail - 09/03/11 06:52 AM

Thanks again for all the tips. I ran the cable around the tailshaft, and back under the trans and it does keep it away from the heat sources, keeps the radius large, and holds it in place. I wrapped it anyway, and will put a strap on the starter.

Posted By: moparsquid

Re: B&M transmission cable fail - 09/04/11 08:02 PM

i had one bust in the same place on a manual shift tranny after that i used heat shrink on the cable and it worked fine.