hood latch cable BUSTED!

[WayneIlfrey]

HELP

This morning I tried to open my hood and POP the hood cable came loose.

Does anyone know how I can get the hood open without the hood cable? I have to get to the engine because she is low on oil.



And can I buy a new cable and install it.



My truck is a '91 Dodge T. Diesel 250



Wayne

 

[JHolt]

ouch!

This happened to me a while back... it is NOT FUN!!



Can you pull the cable out from inside the cab, or does it just pull like normal, maybe easier, and not do anything? If you can pull a section of cable out completely, then it broke and "all" you have to do is locate the cable ahead of the break, probably above the inner fender on the driver's side, and cut the housing, pull on the cable with a pair of pliers...



On mine, the end of the cable had just slipped out of the slot, so the cable was not broken, it just didn't connect to anything!! I tried all kinds of things, including removing the grill and trying to reach it from there. I finally gave up and unbolted the inner fender on the driver's side, dropped it down, removed wires and things attached to it, pulled the inner fender out, and then squeezed myself up in there until i could reach the mechanism and pull it. Nothing like getting intimate with your engine like that

(Mine's a 4x4 with a bit o lift, so there is plenty of space over the tire. ) It was very uncomfortable, and a hell of a reach. I had to use a pair of pliers, because I couldn't quite reach it well enough to get a good grip on it. Afterwards, I adjusted it and put a couple of tie-wraps around it so that wouldn't happen again!!



Shouldn't be any problem to buy a new cable and install it, if the cable itself snapped.



Jack

 

[Lordsman]

Easy Fix.

Mine broke on my '93. Dealer has them for 64 bucks. Can do it in 10-15 minutes.

 

[Thierry]

easy fix IF YOU HAVE THE HOOD OPEN.

Good luck same thing happened to me on rebuilding my 89, I was lucky and was able to push the latch open with a long bent screwdriver. Real *****

otherwise.



Good luck

 

[DJP]

I guess I was lucky when my cable broke just after the latch popped open! I can't imagine trying to crawl up under there to get to the cable when the hood is closed. I found my cable had corroded where it makes the bend around the battery. I couldn't find an aftermarket replacement, had to go to the dealer.

 

[WayneIlfrey]

GOT IT!

First of all a big thanks to all of you who chimed in on my hood latch problem.

I finally got it open, heres how.

First, I have a very large iron boilerplate bumper/grille on the front of the truck so getting past that to the grille wasn't working. I tried to get to it from underneath the truck but no luck there either.

I had a pretty good idea that the cable broke at the turn around the battery. Suddenly the idea light came on.

I started to remove the driver side headlight. I removed the whole assembly and was left with a hole about 6 inches in diameter. I reached is an started feeling around. I had SWMBO move the cable from inside the cab back and forth until i felt the cable moving, this allowed me to figure out where it broke. Sure enough, it was right there at the battery. With a little feeling around I found the other part of the cable, it was tight but I managed to break off some of the housing and get to the cable and pull. POP, the hood came open.

Thank God Above!

And thanks again all.

Wayne

 

[Dieselman359]

Abbrevations

Please pardon my ignorance fella's, but I still haven't figured out some of ya'll's abbrevations, and WayneIlfrey you just threw me off big time with SWMBO.

 

[WayneIlfrey]

SWMBO meaning

Well Dieselman, it's the wife.

SWMBO - She Who Must Be Obeyed :{

 

[KPhillips]

LOL, I had never seen SWMBO either, but I like it... ... . so true.....



kerryp

bastrop,tx.