hood cable

[birdman]

my hood cable has been on its last leg for a while and today it finally went, the thing on the cable on the inside of the car came off and all thats there is the wire. how do i go about replacing the cable, is it hard? thanks.

[5speedz34]

I've never replaced it, it's a pain because it you have to run it back to the front of the car.

 

If you want I can give you the GM part number.

[birdman]

i was going to try and get one from the junkyard, but thanks. i was hoping that i could tie the new one to the old one and do it like that. do you think it'll work? thanks.

[5speedz34]

Umm, usually the ones in the yards are fucked too.

 

Pulling it through I don't know if that will work or not, you have try that for yourself. I doubt it though.

 

If you want me too, I can scan the service manual directions up here no problem.

[fastbird232]

Ok, I did this about two months ago...

 

Just buy the part from your GM dealer. Buying a used one will just speed up the time it takes for you to break it again (it happens).

 

You're going to want to remove as many accessories, wires, and hoses from the right side of the engine bay as possible. You're also going to have to remove the plastic covering by the door sills and peel back the carpet over the existing cable all the way up to the grommit in the firewall.

 

Since the cable snakes around underneath a lot of things, what I did was snip the ends of the old cable, pull the wire out, the tie that to the hood-end of the cable (the outside of it that's still in place), then pull the cable out through the passenger compartment. Now you've got the metal wire in place of where the old cable was. Follow me so far?

 

Now, untie the old cable from the wire and tie it to the hood-latch end of the new cable assembly. Then go to the front of the car and pull like hell on the wire so it in turn pulls the new cable through the same spaces the old one was. The rest is just bolting the interior latch to the floor and what not.

 

No, it's definately not as easy as it sounds, but this is probably the easiest way to do it. Took me about an hour and a lot of patience (it's not easy once the cables get suck in the grommit).

[birdman]

thanks alot for the instructions, and about how much is the cable at gm?

[fastbird232]

Aw, hell, I can't really remember...it wasn't too bad, though. I want to say $14 or $25, although I know that's a big difference. Whatever it is, I remember thinking it wasn't so expensive that I'd risk buying a junkyard part to save money on it.

 

What I didn't mention was my first attempt when I tried using my shoe laces to pull the cable through. THAT was a waste of time...

 

Oh, there's also a little cable tie-down on the bottom of the engine bay just inside of the shock tower that you'll want to disconnect. I didn't notice it at first, and it will get you hung up.

[5speedz34]

I ordered it through GM parts direct and it was like $10.

[fastbird232]

Yeah, then I guess the $14 was right.

[birdman]

thanks guys, that was a big help, i guess ill go for it some time next week, thanks.

[EurosportZ34]

it's really not too difficult if you just look at were the cable is going from...from the latch to the lever inside the car...simple 30min job, if that! i bought my cable from the Ponitac dealership here in town when i did mine. goodluck!

[birdman]

thanks alot, i need a hood latch too because it was what put an end to the cables life.