If you keep any car long enough, chances are the hood cable will break at some point. Mine just broke the other day. New Volvo Cable for my 1998 S70 is Volvo PN 9444027, $36 at dealer.
Only after I did this job that I realized that this can be done for $3 using a bicycle cable with diameter approx. 1.0 mm (and much less time than because you remove nothing doing it this way)!
Factory Cable Sheathing I.D. = 1.6 mm, Cable itself = 1.0 mm in size. Just buy the bicycle gear-shift cable (not the sheathing) long enough for the job. Best is to buy cable with one end being dumbbell so it fits in the cabin release lever, thread it through the existing sheathing, then crimp it at the latch area.
Anyway, since I bought the Volvo Cable, I replaced it.
1. Note the length = 53 inches. It comes with the extra tube (in case you need to run extra cables from the engine compartment to the cabin). Remove this tube as it is already in the car. If you want to replace this tube, it is way more work (removing this and that just to replace this firewall rubber seal!). But save this tube just in case.
- VolvoHoodCable01.JPG (61.7 KiB) Viewed 8208 times
2. Make sure you have Radio Code. Remove battery (10-mm bolts) and battery tray (12-mm bolts).
- VolvoHoodCable03.JPG (157.15 KiB) Viewed 8208 times
3. Remove under dash cover (Torx screw).
4. Use a Vise-grip and grab the frayed end of the cable (#1) and pull to release BOTH sides of the hood. Then slide the clip (#2) to remove the cable.
- Check the existing setup at the latch (#3) so you can connect later. When viewed from the front looking down, the hood cable is “behind” the cross-over cable.
- VolvoHoodCable02.JPG (98.55 KiB) Viewed 8208 times
5. Now, get ready to pull the new cable through: from cabin ---> engine area.
- Wrap the frayed end of the old cable (yellow dots) around the knob on the new cable (green dots) just once.
- Then wrap electrical tape in this direction: from new cable ---> old cable. This is so when you pull the cable through the firewall, the tape is not caught up! Just run your hand through the taped area and you will understand why I say this.
- Now Oil this area to allow easy pull-through.
- VolvoHoodCable04.JPG (71.94 KiB) Viewed 8208 times
6. Use a flash light and see the firewall area: pull gently on the old cable and pull it until you see the new cable coming through. There will be a “snag” when the knob (from new cable) comes through.
- The rest is straightforward!
- VolvoHoodCable05.JPG (46.59 KiB) Viewed 8208 times
7. Note the 2 clips holding the vacuum hose and the hood cable.
- VolvoHoodCable06.JPG (135.52 KiB) Viewed 8208 times
8. Now install the new cable onto the latch. The cable sheathing must go in the channel in the latch snugly! Then the knob fits on the mechanism as shown (#1).
- Now this is the trick of the trade: use a Vise-grip to gently clamp the release mechanism as shown (#2) to give you more cable in the cabin to work with. Very gentle clamping to avoid breaking the mechanism.
- VolvoHoodCable07.JPG (121.26 KiB) Viewed 8208 times
9. Back in the cabin, now you have more cable length to work with.
- Note the groove on the release handle that the cable needs to slide in.
- You may need to release more cable to do this: use a wrench on the plastic adjustment nut to release more cable.
- VolvoHoodCable08.JPG (60.9 KiB) Viewed 8208 times
10. Final adjustment is done with the hood closed.
- Close the hood, making sure both sides are properly latched.
- You will notice that the cable is now tight and the handle lever is somewhat stiff. This is because when the hood is closed, the latch pulls on the cable/lever.
- Simply adjust the plastic nut until the release handle has a tiny play, maybe around 1-2 mm or so.
11. I oil/grease both ends of the cable a bit (where the cable enters the sheathing).
- During battery tray re-installation, note that the hood cable/vacuum combo MUST go in the “gutter” in the car’s body (see the red dots), otherwise the battery tray will crush this combo!
- VolvoHoodCable09.JPG (126.8 KiB) Viewed 8208 times
12. Hood Latch adjustment is another topic (basically adjusting the three 10-bolts up or down until you are happy).
That is all folks, not too hard as long as you follow this guide.
Much easier if you leave everything alone and simply buy the bicycle-gear steel cable for $3, and simply slide it through and crimp it (but that is for another person to try)!
