Accelerator Strand(ed).

So i come back late Friday to Bangalore(sick and tired of this). Wake up early morning on Saturday, jump into the Bolero and crank it up.

Idle it for a minute or so and take it on to the lane in front of the apartment. Suddenly the accelerator paddle goes limp. But it works. I immediately park it on the side and open the hood. Everything seems fine. Look below the dash where the cable enters through the firewall and voila the cable is holding on with one steel strand. Not looking good.

Call up the service centre. They say will be there in a couple of hours. No sweat. I am not going anywhere and the vehicle is not required for any urgent duties today.

So... I am relaxing at home, when I get a call from a friend who is passing through Bangalore and will be in the city for 24 hours with his family - 3 in all. He asks me to pick him up from the airport at 1800 hours. If the service center guys show up i can go pick him up. First time he is coming with his wife and new born kid to Bangalore.

10 Min's later, I get a call from the service centre asking for the model of the Bolero. "XD3P Bolero GLX".

Sorry sir cable not in stock. Its a different cable, we will get it by Monday.

Oh bummer..... I say fine.

So was about to call my friend asking him to take a taxi instead. Then realise i can do this myself. I have the tools and its just a cable, I have worked on more complex stuff related to an engine.

So now I need to get hold of a new cable. India Garage has no stock and only place I can hope to get one is - JC Road. Take a VOLVO and then a BMTC regular bus and reach JC Road from old Airport road in 45 Min's. Not bad. Money spend 25+7 == 32.


Walk towards Popular Automobiles. They have now shifted the counter to the first floor. Its being quite sometime since i have come to JC Road. They don't have it though and the only one available is the one for the DI Turbo Model. Not looking good.

I then make my way to Prestige Automobiles. These guys stock everything Mahindra and genuine stuff too. Fakes too but you can make out or they will tell you upfront. They also accept cards and give a receipt for the parts purchased.


I ask for the Bolero cable and he gets one. I open the box to check, "Sir, this is DI Turbo, i need XD3P cable." He says OK and disappears for a while and returns with 2 more. I open one and check. This one is short, quite short. I am wondering which model this will go on and check on the box, it says "LHD". I tell him this goes on LHD Bolero's which are exported. He gave a confused look. I open the other box and i have the right cable. Pay him the cost. Rs 168 + 32 == 200. Take the same route back. 200 + 10 + 25 == Rs 235.

Get back home and start working on the cable. First release it from the paddle and realise it needs to come off the FIP first. So get working on the FIP. I realise last time they changed the cable, they didn't do quite a good job of it. The point where the cable attaches to the lever on the FIP, is connected from below the lever instead from the top. Hmmm.... now what??


The bolt and the nut look 10 or 9 size. I do have a box spanner for these sizes. Fish them out from my toolkit and get going on the cable end. One spanner is slipping. the nut is a smaller size. And I don't have that size. So take my bike and go to the local hardware store for a one size smaller. Find a store who has it. Good.

Back to dealing with the cable. Now there is a problem. The lever and the spanner somehow don't seem to like each other and it keeps slipping.

Now what? I am stuck bad. Started getting doubts as to why i started this in the first place. Then realise I can pull off the whole lever. But the issue is bolting it back. It has a spring on it and from my past experiences with springs I am not really that good.

Anyways I cant look back now and take off the lever. Detaching the cable now is a piece of cake.
Once the cable is out. I take it out from the guides and start with the new cable. It needs to start from inside the cab and route it out through the firewall to the FIP.

So far so good. I attach the lever to the cable end and start work on the dreaded part - the spring.

After numerous attempts, I manage to bolt it back in. Phew... But now I know what needs to be done. So that was a good learning exercise.

Adjusted the tension in the cable and now to crank the engine.

Key in ignition switch, turn key, wait till the glow light goes off and then crank. The engine wakes with a shake and idles perfectly. The accelerator works well and i am relieved. The small experiment worked.

Take the Bolero around for a drive round the blocks and i am happy. Job well done and a weekend well spend.
Total cost: Rs 235.
Sense of Achievement: Priceless.

PS: I will post the pics later today.