Hood release cable replacement

[BlackThunder]

I had thought about that. I do happen to have that type of cable lying around because I also work on my bike from time to time. However, what kind of crimping needs to be done where?

Crimping at the latch with a standard bicycle cable crimp? Or is there a crimp in the latch itself? When I had looked at this I had thought there would have to be a "dumbell" cable end at both ends. Am I wrong?

Also, about how long will I need this cable to be?

Thank you for the quick response!

Dustin

[BlackThunder]

I just noticed the tape measure in the other write up. About 4 feet of cable is needed. Ok. I will check to see how much I have.

Dustin

[cn90]

The factory cable has dumbbell on one end (cabin side) and a round knob at the latch side.
But anything will work, you just have to improvise.

My advice is:
- Use the cable with 1mm in diameter, thread the knob side at the latch.
- Then crimp on the cabin side, this way, if the crimp ever comes off (unlikely), you can still grab it with a pair of pliers to pull the hood open.

Re crimping, you can google:
- "bicycle cable ferrule"

- or "garage door crimp" such as this...

cable.JPG (28.66 KiB) Viewed 4618 times

[theador]

I've read somewhere that if you take your front indicators off, you can get to the bonnet catches. Apparently the indicators are held in with spring clips?

My boot cable just broke, I think right at the handle end though, luckily

[theador]

Sadly, although the cable has broken at the handle in the cabin, the cable itself seems to have shot down inside the outer cable

[dwaldron]

Unbolt but do not remove black metal frame
To do this
partially remove front bumper
- in wheel wells, loosen screws using T25
this loosens black piece that slides back
- remove 6 push restraints from top of black frame
- pull and pop out middle of bumper
- slide out bumper sides
Unbolt but do not completely remove both headlights
- looking straight at left light, there is a 10 bolt on right into black frame
- around left edge on side of car, remove 2 T25 bolts to get access to 10mm bolt
- do the same for right
- pull headlights out a bit so tabs clear off black frame on top
Unbolt but do not remove black metal frame
- remove all 10mm top bolts, keep track of where each one goes
- remove 2 bottom bolts that are under the bumper, so pull bumper back

pull out black frame to get to hood locks

The cable goes under the air filter chamber.
3 plastic clips hold it down
use a small (I forget the size) socket on a socket extender. push down and the 4 pins will come together
and pry up from the bottom

Feed the cable into the white tube which comes out under the dash

[theador]

This was a few years ago now but I managed to get my hand up behind the headlight (same side as the cable which goes into the passenger compartment is on) and get hold of the wire that goes across the front and give it a good pull to release. Nothing needed to be removed. Scraped the hell out of my arm but was done in a matter of minutes

[JimBee]

"I've read somewhere that if you take your front indicators off, you can get to the bonnet catches. Apparently the indicators are held in with spring clips?"

It's technically possible to do this, but you have to know exactly where the release lug is on the latch, b/c you can't see it. If you are that familiar with everything, then, maybe you can get a tool with a thin shaft and hook to grab and pull the release lever.

The other problem is, to pull the indicator light housing far enough away from the fender to remove the spring, you might need to break the plastic tab that holds the spring to the housing.

I'm not following exactly what dwaldron is explaining b/c I haven't had the front assembly apart, but if you can get in there by unbolting things that's definitely the best way to go.

Caution: If you try to loosen headlight bolts on an 850, you need to be careful of the lower outside 10mm bolt. The threads sometimes get rusty and the threaded female lug the bolt threads into is steel but is just molded into the plastic headlight bucket. If the bolt doesn't turn freely it can quite easily break out the corner of the bucket. I've had this happen.

[erikv11]

All my P80 cars have spare cables, from bicycle brakes, on the hood latches. Do not want to be stuck with this problem.