# Diesel Geek Cable saver



## Cedmonds (Apr 14, 2014)

Does the diesel geek cable saver bushings work with the 2001 Audi TT Quattro 180HP 5 speed? Also is the bushing at the top of the shift tower the same as this one on the MK4? http://www.idparts.com/shifter-tower-bushing-repair-kit-a4-p-2281.html


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## stevemannn (Apr 17, 2008)

for the shift tower yes,but good luck getting that ****in thing out. i cracked my housing trying to do so,and i was being as cautiious as possible. had to buy a new one.
there is a DIY somewhere around here,but once you see the thing, youll understand why it sucks so bad lol.
Good luck, seriously , hope yours come out easy.

as for your other question im not sure


damn,. found the DIY but all the pics are broken
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5816525-DIY-Shifter-Tower-Bearing-amp-Bushing-Repair

sorry i cant be of more help


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## Cedmonds (Apr 14, 2014)

Thanks! The two bushings in the shift tower of mine DEFINITELY need changed the car shifts great and fairly accurate but the side to side slop is incredible my friends who drive old beat up farm trucks think my shiftier feel great lol... I'm doing the emergency brake cables so the exhaust/driveshaft/heatshield/center console are getting pulled anyways.... so as they say "when in rome". I'll probably shim the ball while i'm in there also.

Right now I need to find out if I have plastic cable ends or metal cable ends to order the right bushings. I'll prob go out there today and see what cable end is on the the side to side bushing so I can get this ordered.


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## stevemannn (Apr 17, 2008)

it could be the bushings on the cable it self that are giving you issues.

the issues i had with the bushing you linked, which is inside the shift tower on top of the trans is.
it would not return to neutral at times, or it would get stuck, sitting toward what ever gear you took it out of.

, if you shifter moves freely,and in every gear with NP, than its not this bushing.
that bushing is for the up,and down movement,and side to side movement on the gear selector shaft.


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## Gonzalo1495 (Feb 2, 2015)

Can someone chime in on this, 

I ordered the dieselgeek "Cable Saver" kit, which includes 3 bushings for the cable ends, only 2 of which you need. 

However I've ran into a weird situation which I can't find an answer for online or anywhere on DG's website. My Front to Back cable has a plastic end, not a metal ring end. Therefore the front to back "circlip" bushing does not fit into the cable end... 

Here is their "Front to Back" circlip style bushing. Notice the Ring style cable end. 


















And here is what is on, at least my specific TT (01 225), car:








https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-volkswagen-audi-parts/selector-cable/1j0711266f/


Am I missing something here. Should this bushing still fit this different style end? I can't seem to generate enough force to squeeze it on then if that's the case :screwy:


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## Gonzalo1495 (Feb 2, 2015)

Anyone??


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

They're the same as the later metal ends, and the DG bushing should fit. It takes some force to squeeze in so yoh might wreta bit if doing whith the tower in the car (some lube helps). You mentioned 3 bushings, have you made sure they didn't send you the wrong kit? We're only supposed to have two on our cars.


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## Gonzalo1495 (Feb 2, 2015)

Marcus_Aurelius said:


> They're the same as the later metal ends, and the DG bushing should fit. It takes some force to squeeze in so yoh might wreta bit if doing whith the tower in the car (some lube helps). You mentioned 3 bushings, have you made sure they didn't send you the wrong kit? We're only supposed to have two on our cars.


I think once I get the lever back from the machine shop (having it welded up top so it never breaks again) I will go ahead and try lube alongside freezing the bushing overnight to try to shrink it even if by a small margin. 

Well it seems DG over the course of time updated the kit, since the side to side cable also has two styles, metal ring and plastic end. These are not the same dimensions, so they started providing both kinds of bushings in the kit so you wouldn't order the wrong one. So this took the kit from 2 bushings to a "universal" 3 piece kit. This is why I assume the metal ring and plastic end for the Front to Back cable also might have different dimensions.

The whole situation is weird, since every listing for the TT cable online shows it being a plastic end for the front to back, which makes me wonder why Jim wouldn't have included some kind of note about it on his website.


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## jroyston (Jul 13, 2000)

*Dieselgeek here*

Jim from Dieselgeek here. 

I want to mention that we have quite a bit of experience in the realm of shifters and shifter bushings (sounds like propane and propane accessories). I've been futzing with VW shifters since 2001. Anyways, what I'm saying is that I don't often miss details when it comes to shifter related stuff. I'm not saying never, just not often. 

As equipped from the factory, every Audi TT (and all other MK4 based cars with 02J/02M) we have ever seen or heard of had a metal ring on the end of the front/back shift cable. This is the same dimensioned ring that every MK4-based car was equipped with from the factory that we know of. Since the cars were built, VAG got wise to the design flaw of this cable and changed the design to a much larger and seemingly more robust cable end. This style cable is what you get if you buy a new front/back shift cable. Our Cable Saver bushing set does not have a bushing to fit this replacement front/back cable since it is a replacement cable and is not likely to be bad (yet). Sadly, even this style of cable end has the same cheesy earwax plastic that will also go bad given enough time. That said, with VW and Audi there are anomalies that occur in production and I concede that it is possible that a car made it off the line with the newer style of cable end. BUT, the point of my post is to assure any of you with upcoming bushing failures that our kit has the bushings you need. And No, you won't ever have to do anything weird like freezing stuff to install our bushings. They slip right in. As always, we are here to assist if you think otherwise. That's part of what you are paying for.

One other thing to mention is that the chain of custody (ownership) for the car in question is that it belonged to someone else initially. That means it cannot be said definitively that the cable was not replaced prior to the current owner's purchase of the car.

Thanks,
Jim


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## Gonzalo1495 (Feb 2, 2015)

Well guys I got it to work. 

I had to seriously grind down the DG bushing, past the point where the indent for the circlip is in order to get an extremely tight interference fit into the plastic cable end. I also used a cutting tool to create a new indent for a circlip, but chances are like mine it'll be so small that it's near impossible to fit a circlip of that size without bending it. (Small ones bend easily compared to larger ones, I ordered a variety pack from amazon knowing I would need a smaller circlip.) 

Regardless, the circlip and the small black retainer both do the same thing, and because this was grinded down and has such a ridiculously small clearance, the cable itself does not want to slide out of bushing in the first place (tested it without the retainer). 

I'll have pics uploaded tomorrow, to summarize:

1) The front to back ends are not the same size
2) You can make the DG F to B bushing fit the plastic cable end with some sanding down. 
3) The circlip is not needed for this specific application. 

Hope this helps some poor soul in the future :beer:


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## Gonzalo1495 (Feb 2, 2015)

Old bushing after using a combination of lighting it on fire and prying it off while hot:




As mentioned above, I made an indent for the circlip, but no circlip I could get my hands on would fit this custom size bushing because it's so small that the circlips would bend or lose structural rigidity. Again I find that the circlip is not necessary so long as you grind just enough of the bushing off to make it a ridiculously tight clearance alongside using the black retainer.


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