Front Derailleur Issue

[sjta66]

So I am riding around the other day and my front derailleur suddenly doesn't want to shift. It's a cheapy acera model on my dad's mountain bike he rides around town. It's stuck in the middle ring of a triple.

So being a novice 'mechanic' I came home and took off the cable, watched the videos on the site, and attempted to set up the derailleur with new housing and cables. The same problem is still occurring. I believe I've set up the height and angle appropriately but the limit screws are not moving the derailleur at all. I'm basically stuck in the middle gear and shifting the cable is not producing any practical results. Just so you know, the cable tension is fine, the housing is clean and routed corrected... It seems that I should have tried to force the derailleur to shift onto the lowest gear before taking off the cable...

Any suggestions?

Much appreciated,
Trevor

[DaveM]

If the derailleur doesn't move even when the cable is disconnected, then it is probably jammed internally. It should snap to the inside as soon as the cable is loose, you shouldn't have to "force" it. Maybe a little rock or something got wedged in there, or maybe something broke.