Keep in mind that you are NOT cutting the cable - only the plastic cable sheath. It is really a simple fix once you have the seat out of the car and the seat back cover pulled up far enough to expose the area in which you will be working....

 

I used the plastic unions to fix my headrests today. I got them off of Amazon for around $10 with shipping. Worked great and the headrests seem to be working flawlessly. A great big "Thank You" to everyone on both headrest threads for all of the help.

 

I plan on attacking my headrest issue from a different perspective. I am going to install a longer cable, rather than fuss with the outer housing. I have pulled the right seat cable, and measured it. It is currently 18" long, with the headrest end being squared 1" in length, and the motor end being squared 2" in length. Per the Jaguar repair recommendations, I figure adding 1/2" should work. But, I am having the cables made by my local speedo repair shop to a length of 18 3/4" so I can test fit and final trim for a perfect fit. Will report on the final length and how it worked out!

 

After going through the cable fix the "traditional" way a couple of times, in retrospect, the much more sensible way would have been to seek out a longer speedo cable. Let us know how this works for you.

Doug

 

Ok! I completed the passenger headrest repair on my 2004 today using a cable I had made by my local speedo repair shop. It works perfectly. Here are the details: The OEM cable from my car was a .150 size standard speedometer cable. The motor end was squared appx 2", and the headrest drive end was squared appx 1". Total length was 18". I asked my guy to make my cables 18 3/4" total length, squaring the one end 2" as before, but squaring the other end 1 1/2". I figured this would allow for light trimming if the cable ended up too long. As it was, I installed the full length cable (18 3/4") into the housing with some light lube, and it fit very well without trimming anything. I refitted the seat cover and seat, and all is working just fine! And, I won't ever have to worry about that outer housing issue! I was charged $20 each for the cables, but I feel that was a bit excessive. If I do more of these (I work for a Jag repair shop), I will order them through a large, reputable shop such as LA Speedometer.

 

I found a plastic push on union at Home Depot. It is a 5/16" OD x 5/16" OD Coupling for Refrigerator, Watts PL-3015 Quick-Connect. The length to remove from the Jag outer sheath is 32mm, since this fitting adds 20mm, and you still need to take out 12mm. Cutting as far from the motor as possible helps keep the fitting away from the frame. Tip: The printed English worded "Coupling for Refrigerator" on the package label is 32mm from "C" to "r".

 

I take it that the plumbing fixing replaces the outer cable of the wire? Hence saying you remove 32mm? So that there is no outer sheath around the cable and the plumbing fixing does the job instead? ====---------====. The other fixes say remove 12-14mm then butt the outer sheaths together and keep it in place with shrink tubing.

Or have I got that wrong?

 

You wont remove the sheath entirely but will need to take out a bit more because the plumbing fitting doesn't let the ends butt together.

 

The problem arises because the inside cable is too short relative to its outside sheath. The end simply slips out and doesn't raise and lower the headrest. The various fixes (except one) involve removing 12 mm of outer sheath while leaving the original inside cable alone.

With the heat shrink method, 12 mm of outer sheath is removed, the two cut ends butt together and are kept butted together by heat shrink tubing.

If you opt to use a plumbing fitting instead of heat shrink, you must factor in the fact that you will no longer be butting the two cut ends inside the fitting. They will be separated by an amount that depends on the particular fitting you are using. The brass compression ring type is easy to measure, but the push on type is less so.

The Home Depot fitting I used, once tightened, ends up keeping the two cut ends apart by 20 mm, so I had to remove the necessary 12 mm plus the fitting's additional 20 mm, for a total of 32 mm removed. I then ended up with an outer sheath that is overall 12 mm shorter than OEM.

Fittings vary wildly, so always carefully measure first. In the case of push on fittings, doubly so. The Home Depot / Watts push on connector and the SMC push on connector have different internal separation lengths and they are different still from the brass compression fitting.

Personally, I love the idea of getting a speedometer shop to make a pair of new cables the right length. It costs more, but it is absolutely the best way to go IMHO.

Verbose, but I hope it helps.

 

The solution of just heat shrink is you may still get flex and separation where the cut if made in the sheathing. I supported this with a thin sheeth (the tubing is from a solder flux brush 3 from HD for $2.50) cut to length then locked with the shrink tubing. There are many ways to skin a cat ;-)

 

I am curious.... seems like I am the only one that broke tradition and went with longer cables, rather than shortening the outer sheath. I continue to see threads on how to improve the problem with the cut sheaths coming apart after a time. I will likely never have to revisit my seat cables again! Just sayin...

 

I used the heat-shrink tubing method back in February 2012 on my wife's XK8's passenger seat headrest and I will never have to revisit the issue either. My only goal was to get it working just long enough to lower the headrest all the way down and leave it there (it was sticking up like a giraffe at its full height). We haven't moved it since and don't plan to. I may have to do this one more time if the driver seat headrest ever causes a problem. But it has always been all the way down and as long as it stays put there, that's fine....

 

Chopr, you figured out how to do it correctly. The rest of us are not following any traditions - just making do. Kudos to you for the info. If my Home Depot Special ever fails, I will be off to the speedo shop with your post.

Now where did I leave that role of duct tape?

 

I'm about ready to open up the passenger seat in my 2003 and find out why the headrest won't raise and lower when the motor runs. Assuming the problem turns out to be a stretched cable outer sheath, my first-choice repair would be to replace the inner cable with a longer one. Reading these posts, I have two questions that I hope those of you who've tackled this already might answer...

1. Can the inner cable simply be pulled out of the sheath from the bottom (motor) end and a new one slid back up into place?

2. Is the inner cable a standard size? Diameter size? Squared end? Square size?

Thanks in advance.

 

Dear Canuck, you can simply slide the old cable out from either end. There are no retaining collars etc. The Jag cable is a standard .150" size, squared at both ends. Any speedo repair shop should be able to whip you up a cable or two. Length is as noted earlier in this thread. Go back and read up on it. Put a little light grease on the new cable, slide it in, and finish up!

 

Dear chopr,

Thank you very much for your reply. I'm convinced this is the best approach to correcting the problem. I'm going to source a length of 0.150" dia speedo cable, test fit it, and square the ends with a forming die I made.

In all the posts and articles I've read on this subject, I don't recall seeing any explanation of the root cause of this common problem. I wonder why the cable outer sheath stretches in the first place? It sounds as though they permanently stretch a fixed amount (typical) and then no more. Why is that? Does the upward movement of the headrest pull and strain the cable? Does the cable lack sufficient slack length to accommodate movement of the assembly without being pulled in tension and stretched? Sorry, may be dumb questions, but I haven't opened the seat yet to understand the workings.

 

Canuck, I am just guessing, but I feel that the inner cables were probably not quite long enough in the first place. And, I think its possible that they wrap up a bit over time, I have seen this happen with speedometer cables, and sunroof cables. I have even pulled oem cables to stretch them in order to get the speedos working again when a new cable wasnt available at the time. I had some dies made awhile back to press the ends square. It isnt easy. Now I just have the speedo guys do it. By your nickname I would imagine that you have it under control!

 

Chopr,

When do you plan on having additional cables made? I would like to get a pair.

Victor in LA

 

Thanks. I ordered a 120-inch length of speedo inner cable off eBay yesterday. Once it arrives and I have a spare weekend, I'll open the seat and try to perform the fix. I'll sweat a bit of solder on the end of the cable to stop it from unraveling when I cut and square-form it. I'll let you know how it works out (with pics if possible).
Chopr, I like your approach to this fix and appreciate your insight and replies to my questions!

 

Buying a longer cable is certainly a good solution.

I was too cheap to do that so I opted for a free, no parts needed solution.

1. I cut the conduit right above the metal end.
2. Then took a dremel and cleaned the plastic conduit remnant out of the metal end.
3. Next I spread the metal end out so I could put the (now shorter) cable back in.
4. Finally crimped the metal back to the conduit.

Working fine for the last couple years since I fixed both headrests.