AW4 shift (NOT TV!!) cable adjustment

I'm having a problem adjusting the shift cable -- the one that runs from the shifter to the transmission -- on my 1997 XJ which has the AW4.

I looked at my factory service manual and it says:
"Release cable adjuster clamp (at transmission end of cable) to unlock cable."

But they don't say how to release the clamp, and the illustration they give doesn't show how to do it either.

This is what Haynes shows:



But this is what I see:


I gave up trying to feel around for the release tangs and took the bracket off the transmission so I could pull the cable end up by the engine where I can see what's what.

It appears the cable adjuster clamp is made to only go together and not come apart again -- at least not easily.

There are two latches at the top that need to be pinched toward each other, but they are too small to do by fingertip, and too far apart to use needlenose pliers.

Even when I am successful in pinching them toward each other, one needs to simultaneously push down on two slides to get the halves to separate.

I have not been successful in releasing the clamp.

What's the trick?

TIA!

The adjuster clamp pulls UP (gets pried up...with a flat end screwdriver...

then follow the shift adjustment procedure...

Then the adjuster clamp clicks back in, with your thumb or appropriate tool when the adjustment is complete.

ParadiseXJ said:

The adjuster clamp pulls UP (gets pried up...with a flat end screwdriver...

Click to expand...

Are you sure this is right for a 1997? Earlier clamps look like the illustration in the Haynes manual and do just pry up to release. But on my 1997 the part I can pry on is very thin and looks very breakable, while the latches look very robust and are barbed so I don't think they're going to release without being pinched together.

I don't want to break the clamp because if I do I have to buy a whole new shift cable, as well as route it through the firewall which looks like a challenge in itself.

ParadiseXJ said:

then follow the shift adjustment procedure...

Then the adjuster clamp clicks back in, with your thumb or appropriate tool when the adjustment is complete.

Click to expand...

That's the way it looks to me -- closing the clamp is easy!

ParadiseXJ is right!

After I got the cable end out to where I could see it well I could see that what I thought was a thin strip of breakable plastic was actually heavily reinforced.

As ParadiseXJ said, insert the blade of a flat screwdriver in either of the two slots and pry the clamp open.

The reason I questioned his reply is that some things differ on different years, and what works well on one may not on another. I looked at his profile and saw he has a 1990 XJ -- much older than mine -- so I wanted to be sure before I started prying on old and potentially brittle plastic.

Thanks ParadiseXJ for your help!

Great. I hesitated when you asked "are you sure about the 97" (because I wasn't) but every time I looked at a cable at the junkyard or on my own Jeeps, they look the same...and I struggled with this same issue before.

Anyway, nice you fixed it.