Frontmech/cable/sti shifter

[afl2]

Decided to change all my cables as they needed doing.
brake cables changed no hassle.
Rear derailleur cable changed and indexed ok.
However the front mech is a nightmare.
Cable connected but mech not shifting. Watched several of the films available online.
Clamping and unclamping the cable trying to get it going no joy.
GT spray on to the moving parts in case this was the problem but no joy.
I unclamped the cable thinking will try another cable and noticed the line on my shifter (tiagra) not in bottom position and now I am unable to shift it there so access can be had to the head of the cable in the shifter.
Has anyone had this issue??
Where have I gone wrong with the front mech??
Thanks

 

[ianrauk]

Doesn't sounds like the front mech, more like a buggered sti.
Can you move the mech with the cable attached?

 

[afl2]

No sadly!!

 

[ianrauk]

No sadly!!

Sorry I meant to say without the cable attached.
You should be able to pull it, let go and it will retract back.

Are you getting any clicks from the sti?

 

[afl2]

no,no clicks at all

 

[rusty bearing]

Sounds like the cable wasn't in right in the shifter and has now pulled through and jammed everything up. You may have to get very inventive to get it back out again!

 

[afl2]

Have taken a couple of pics to show my predicament. The end of the cable has shifted to beyond the cover. Can I undo that cover for better access??

 

[lpretro1]

Hard to see from those photos but can see that you may have not fitted the correct brake cable - it looks like the one you have put in is thev-brake type with a barrel end. For STis you should have a pear shaped one. Can't really see what has happened to the gear cable but if it is pulled through you need to get it out somehow! To insert the gear cable you need to ensure the lever is in the small ring position before inserting it

 

[afl2]

Followed the advice given by all videos regarding what gear it should be in. I used the same type of cable for the rear mech and there is no issue.
I think its just come out of its slot. attached is the cables I use.

 

[Roadrider48]

Can't really see from the side-on pic if the cable is seated properly or not.

 

[afl2]

The cable is supposed to be in its slot but has moved and is now behind the plate. What is the plate for? can I remove it without effecting the shifters performance??

 

[Roadrider48]

As someone said before. If the cable is caught inside the shifter, away or behind it's slot, it is a bit of a fiddly bugger to retrieve it.

 

[afl2]

ok thanks. will let you know how I get on.

 

[Brandane]

I hope you haven't done what I did when replacing a cable on my front Tiagra mech/shifter. I routed the cable to the wrong side of the mech, which meant it didn't have enough leverage to shift properly. Not realising the problem, I tried using a bit of gentle persuasion on the shifter to get the mech to do its job. Something broke inside the shifter and fell out. After that the shifter wouldn't move and was scrap. I was lucky to eventually find a new one but it wasn't cheap as the triples are quite rare.

 

[afl2]

Got it sorted. I should say my help got it sorted!
Because the end of the cable was not in its correct position, it positioned itself just out of sight.
One person with a small screwdriver used as leverage to slightly lift the plate which the cable was under and with a small long nose pliers accesed the cable end and pulled through and removed.
It appears that when I put the in, I should have ensured the end of the cable was fitting in its slot and keeping the cable tensioned to ensure this. (better with 2 pairs of hands) Because I did not, the moment I pulled the cable it jammed in the mechanism.
Hope this helps if you find yourself in the same predicament.