Hood Cable Replacement 1988-1997 Cutlass Supreme

[IRONDOG442]

Let me first start by saying if you are planning on doing this right and going through the factory securing clips you beter prepare yourself for quite a job. This is much better than the alternative however which is not having access to your engine bay or just cutting a hole through your hood and getting at the cable that way (don't laugh I have seen it done in person).

 

1. Remove the broken cable from the floor board and its surround this is secured by one 10 mm bolt between the side of the drivers seat and the inside of hood latch under the carpet.

 

2. Remove the Plastic side door trim that covers your carpet moorings. One screw holding it on in the back of the piece pull it back and slide it out from under the dash.

 

3. Remove the beauty cover that covers the bottom of the dash there are 7 mm trim screws that secure it into place.

 

4. Pull back carpet and trace cable going through the grommet into the firewall, This grommet unscrews it is actually threaded.

 

5. Heres the tricky part if your cable has snapped under the hood, I was able to get my hood open by hand, no tool required. In between the radiator and the front bumper is a space in front of the valence that will allow you to access the latch. All that you can see from this angle is the spring that secures the latch when you close the hood, but you can feel the mechanism. If you push back the valence, you can even see the wire (in its plastic casing) that releases the hood.

 

By laying on the ground (feet toward the passenger side of the car), I was able to pull the latch open. The latch is spring loaded as well. It swings on a point near the hood itself. In order to release the latch, look for the end of the wire that pulls open the latch. If it's clean it will be bright aluminum. Unfortunately, the reason that it is probably stuck is that it is all gummed up with dirt and grime. You should be able to follow along the wire as I mentioned before and feel the end cap. Pull the lever that the wire is attached to toward the driver's side of the car. It may take some doing, but it should release the latch. (that is the hardest part)

 

6. Remove driver side Body brace.

 

7. Remove Windsheild Washer solvent tank.

 

8. Remove Fuse Usage panel below cruise module not completely just dismount and just set aside.

 

9. Remove Cruise Control Module not completely just dismount and just set aside.

 

10. Remove battery and air box brace

 

11. Remove battery.

 

12. Remove air box, air cleaner lid, and air intake.

 

13. Remove head light surrounds on both sides.

 

14. At this point you have to dissasemble the header panel for the Supreme and its not made in halves, which means it has to be removed from each side. They are all 10mm boldy bolts with a pointed self starting tip threaded into those push in body clips. There are probably 20 or so of these to remove and not all of them visible. When removing the 10 mm botls that secure the side marker relfectors becareful to hold the marker light in place so you dont break off the plastic mounting tabs that secure them to the body this is cheap brittle old plastic and it breaks quite easily if you are not careful. COntinue removing all 10 mm bolts that you can from the top of the car which includes the ones that hold the front top lip of the bumper in place, there are two bolts per side that actually pass through body colored bumper mounting perches. Once all those bolts from the top are removed, get ready to hit the ground.

 

15. Locate the fog lamp housings and go about 2 inches inboard of them from the inside and look up into the bumper from the bottm with a light you will find a 10 mm bolt holding the header panel in place from the bottom, you will need about a 12 inch extension to get to these bolts remove them from each side.

 

16. Carefully pull your bumper back and ease the header paenl out of the bumper on the drivers side the headlight harness is long enough to safely accomodate this procedure.

 

17. Remove the two plastic push in body screws that secure the drivers side top of the valence to the upper radiator support, and pull the valence back to expose the last cable clip that holds the cable in before it goes to the latch assembly. These are circled in red in the second picture.

 

 

18. Take a screwdriver and open the metal clip that holds the cable end into the locking mechanism and remove the old cable. There is also a plastic barrel that secures the cable into the body of the vehicle pry this towards the rear of the car and get it out of there wityh a flat blade screw driver. Take cable out of the clips behind the valence and you will also find one on the flat of the innder fender well right behind the battery. Trace the cable back to the firewall, remember you have already unscrewed the grommet. Remove from the inside of the car and discard cable. YEAH you are finally done with the disassembly!

 

 

More to come later I am out of time.

 

 

 

 

 

[Brian P]

Dood WTF! I replaced this about 2 months ago on my Olds and while it WAS a bitch, the only thing I removed was the airbox. I tied a thin long wire to the cable, pulled the cable and wire thru the firewall to the interior, undid the wire, and attached it to the new cable. I was able to (slowly) guide the new cable into place. I bent my body parts in ways that God did not intend

[93CutlassSupreme]

FAQ?

[IRONDOG442]

Did you go back through the cable clips with the new cable???

[ManicMechanic]

duct taped work boots FTW

[Brian P]

Did you go back through the cable clips with the new cable???

 

I just unhooked the old cable from the clips, and after I had the new cable positioned, snapped them back on. I remember there being about 4 of them, mainly by the radiator, under the battery tray, etc.

 

Oh and I did work under the car a little bit to guide the cable to the hood latch.

 

The hardest was working under the master cylinder and ABS. The rest had smelled like sunshine.

[IRONDOG442]

This procedure follows the FSM as well. I am a big guy and need the extra clearance. It worked and it worked right! I have no qualms about following procedure. I would be embarassed to recommend someone use a string to guide the cable back into place.

[Brian P]

You're entitled to do whatever is best for you. I didn't bother looking at the manual and just winged it. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. Really the "string" is just needed for the place I couldn't reach (under the M/C) I'm naturally lazy, and was far from embarrassed

[IRONDOG442]

NO\o I think the string mehod is smart and innovative I just wont make a FAQ saying to use a string!

[Brian P]

I see, lol. But it would fit right in along with the hot drywall screw extraction method to the CPS

[guntotenmadman]

I'm with you man, but I used a fish tape! All clips secured and done in about an hour, thats with a couple of smoke breaks. Hell the hardest thing for me was screwing that grommet back into the firewall. Thats number two for my car the first was done at the dealer while I waited, only took them about an hour. Theres no way they could have followed the service manual procedure. BTW the handle broke off of mine both times so I was still able to use it to open the hood just used a pair of pliers.