Mine just broke, thanks to everyone for the ingenuity and fixes... I'll definitely go that route vs the nightmare of replacing
the whole cable.

p.s. after seeing the pics, what is the plastic part the was refereed to at the end of the cable ??

Does anyone have a pic ? or even a diagram of the cable end to connector on the shift lever ?

 

There is a plastic ball that is fused to the end of the metal throttle cable. This ball is usually fine on your existing cable, and is what the battery clamp connects to. There was a cheap plastic clamp on that cable from the factory. That plastic clamp is what fails.

 

Thanks for the help.

I did the battery connector as mentioned. Works great, the only issue I'm having is getting the gear displays in sync.
They are out of sync by 1 gear, from the console to the dash.

I tried re positioning the clamp on the cable but can't seem to tweak it to where I want it.
Is they another way to fine tune it ? maybe at the console end ?

 

You could try looking at some other battery clamps (some may be shorter than the one you purchased). Another option is to move the ball on the cable forward on the clamp, and then use hose clamps to attach the ball to the battery clamp where you want the ball to be (instead of using the battery clamp bolts). Typically, I find that the battery clamps are just a bit longer than needed.

 

Right .

It's pretty close now, just off by about a 1/2 gear.... I have tried to fine tune it, but with the ball kinda making a hump for the terminal clamp to go over/around, it's hard to get it just right. That's why I thought there may be an adjustment up on the other side, in the shifter console area.....

Do you know if it can be adjusted at that end ?

 

I do not see any way to adjust the cable at the shifter end. The video link (above) shows how the cable connects to the shifter.

 

I know this is a late response but I had the same issue with my '99 Camry and couldn't find much information anywhere on fixing/replacing the cable. I ended up still replacing the cable myself and decided to document the full process to help others who have the same problem in the future.

I didn't decide to make the video until after I had successfully replaced the cable so I started recording at the end of the process and recorded as I put the car back together...then I strung the clips together in the "correct" order. So if the video seems a little goofy keep in mind that I'm working backwards and did my best to put the steps in the right order.

Here is the video:
Hope it helps!

 

Just bought a Camry and during the test drive that plastic piece on the cable broke. So I bought the car and got the price down a good bit for it. Thank you all for the excellent guide to fixing it! I never thought to just replace that broken part but it makes so much sense. I used the terminal clam and some washers and longer bolts and it worked like a charm. The hardest part was removing the old rusty bolt. Thanks everyone!

 

Just tried updating my post and not sure how it is deleted. That was good documentation which is lost

 

somehow my earlier post with detailed steps got deleted. I am attaching the pictures to fix it.

Used this Battery terminal Advance Autoparts AutoCraft Side Post Battery Terminal