Originally Posted by
cyccommute
From what you’ve described, I suspect it looks like this
IMG_1361 by
Stuart Black, on Flickr
IMG_1362 by
Stuart Black, on Flickr
There’s not much you can do about it. The rods in the housing has broken free of the cable cladding. Cutting it off doesn’t fix the problem as the rods are still free to move in the housing. Replacement is the only option.
As to what cause it, it’s hard to say. Some housing from the same roll is perfectly okay and some isn’t. Probably a quality issue during the manufacturing process.
Don't know what is actually happening with the OP's case, but in the pic above, it looks like the end cap is incorrect. Probably a brake housing end cap (5mm) with a larger exit hole. The housing was not centered and some of the strand ends were pushed out of the hole.
As for the OP, try the housing with some alloy 4mm caps to determine if it's bad.