This is a problem.
The chair should be sliding forward
when using the walk-in latch at the top of the seat.
The problem is a cable under this cover down here.
It's called the "walk-in cable".
It's the same part for both sides of the van,
and for all 3rd generation Honda Odysseys.
That's 2005-2010.
You can buy a replacement.
I'll put a link in the description of this video.
It'll cost you about $50-$60.
However, I'm not going to do that.
I'm going to patch what's left of this.
Why?
Well, I think there's a bit of a design flaw in this part,
in two respects.
First, the end of the cable has a loop on it
that goes around the post just behind it here -
at least it's supposed to have a loop.
You can see the top of this has snapped off.
There's a significant amount of pressure put on that,
and it just isn't thick enough to handle the stress forever.
That was the first problem I had.
I had been in here before and made a wire loop that I could put this through
as you can see here.
If this is your issue, keep watching and
you'll figure out how I made this loop.
That held perfectly well.
But now, about a year later, the cable snapped completely at a point
where it rubs against the casing it slides through.
So that's what I'm fixing today.
To do this, I'm using 1/16" galvanized aircraft cable,
which is stronger a bit thicker than the cable used by Honda.
You can find this at Home Depot or other hardware stores.
You can find it online - I'll put links down below -
but you can usually only find it online in longer lengths.
You won't need any more than one foot,
so if you can find a place that will sell it to you by the foot, you're better off.
We'll also need two ferrules, which are these things,
made for 1/16" cable.
If you're in the US, you can buy this ferrule and stop set at Home Depot for a dollar and change.
Buy extra in case you mess up.
I did mess up at first.
To start, we need to get this bottom cover off.
Before starting, I suggest moving the seat forward,
put the head rest all the way up
and lean the chair forward all the way so it hits the front seat.
This will let you pull on the handle without the chair flying forward on you.
But it also keeps the armrest out of your work area.
Start by removing the two fasteners.
There's a screw under the handle.
Then remove the little cover on the side
and remove the bolt using an 8mm socket.
Removing those first loosens things up so we can take off the handle.
This is honestly the hardest part of this whole ordeal.
There is a metal clip around the inside of the handle which has to come off first.
This is what it looks like.
I'm going to show you how to remove it on the other side of the van,
since I did not put this clip back when I opened up the passenger side last time.
And I suggest you don't put it back either.
The reason will become apparent.
Start by using a pry bar to bend the plastic cover in.
This will give you access to the clip.
I'm using thin needle-nose pliers to push the one side of the clip up.
This video doesn't show you nearly how long it took me to get this off.
It's a bit aggravating.
Once you get that clip loose, you can start
prying at the handle from different angles to pull it straight off.
You can see that it still takes significant effort to pull this off.
This is why I suggest you don't bother putting the clip back later.
It's a pain to take off and it just doesn't need to be there
- the handle stays on by itself.
Now you can just yank the cover off.
Once inside, use the handle to return the chair upright.
Then we can use the walk-in latch to see how this works.
As the chair leans forward, this post moves up,
pulling the cable, which pulls two other cables
that go under the chair, allowing the chair to slide forward.
There is also a spring that helps everything return to its place when it goes back.
Let's pull out the guide that the cable slides through.
Down below, we can separate this case.
There are clips on both sides.
This reveals the break in the cable.
Holding the good side firmly with pliers,
cut off the frayed end.
I'm using a Dremel with a cut-off wheel.
Now we can measure roughly how much replacement cable
we need by looping the end around that post
and measuring down about a half inch past the tip of the existing cable.
Be a little generous. We'll be exact later.
Cut that amount off.
Again, hold the good side firmly with pliers while cutting.
You actually want part of this sleeve, so the cable goes through the right spot,
but also so the spring has something to hold onto.
But because of the splice we're going to make,
we need to cut most of it off.
Don't cut it here where I'm cutting. Cut closer to the rubber part.
For extra security, I'm going to put some epoxy on the cable
where I fasten it in the ferrules.
So I'm mixing up some JB Weld here, in preparation.
This is optional, but it'll make extra sure the cables won't slip out.
To make the loop,
put one end of the cable through one side of the ferrule.
Make a loop, and bring it back through the other side.
Then put some of the epoxy on the spots of the cable where it'll be in the ferrule.
Hook the loop onto the post and tighten the loop down a bit
but make sure it's still big enough that you can remove it.
Crimp down the ferrule.
Pull the loop off the post, and measure the length of the cable against the broken piece.
The length is important here.
A little smaller is fine, but if it's too long, it just won't work.
Trim your new piece to be the same length, if needed.
Put some epoxy on the end of both cables.
Feed them into the ferrule.
And clamp it down.
Take the loop and put it around the post.
Then push the rubber guide into place.
If the length is right, there should be tension on the cable right now.
At this point, you can try it out.
You'll see there's a little metal block that comes out of the plastic here.
That's what the other two cables hold on to.
I'm a little worried that this might come out to far one time and get stuck,
so I'm going to cut up the other half of that little casing
so I can snap it on.
That should help it stay in place.
Trying it again, I feel better about that.
I found some gobs of grease on the track that I stole to
grease up the part of the cable that goes through the guide
to help reduce friction there.
Now we can put the spring back on.
Hook it into the loop,
and the other end through the hole in the rubber.
All that's left is to put everything back together.
So snap the cover back on.
Replace the bolt.
And the screw.
Then push the handle back on at the right angle.
And give it a try.
Then we can try the walk-in latch.
At first I found that it wouldn't slide all the way back again
But I found that part of the cover wasn't snapped into place properly.
Once I fixed that, it slid back just fine.
Last step is to snap that little cover on over the bolt.
And we're done!
No comments:
Post a Comment