Preventive solution for a broken hood cable

[JimBee]

There are lots of reasons to keep an 850 in service, especially when its miles aren't too outrageously high. But the reality is these cars are 20 or more years old and as we all know parts wear out.

Two parts that are not in the drive train that I worry about are the sun roof (if it gets stuck open) and the hood release cables—either the main cable from the cabin or the cross cable that links the driver's side to the passenger's side latch can fail.

There have been some instances posted on this site. In the junk yard, the way they get those hoods open is with a sawzall. I've seen a few of those and wondered if that's what brought the end of the road for those cars.

A snapped cable is most likely if the latches have been allowed to get rusty, which all have been to some degree on my 850's when I bought them. I've had to change out a couple of latches because I couldn't get them to work freely, even with plenty of PB Blaster.

The worst scenario is if this happens on a road trip, but it's bad enough even close to home because there is no easy way to get in there to trip those latches when either cable is broken. Not that you couldn't get to the latch, but you can't see it from any point underneath or even with the marker light out. Volvo probably has a tool to reach up from below, but I'm not aware of it.

So for peace of mind, installing a backup safety cable is a few hours well spent especially if you're planning a trip.

What to use:
The OEM is a solid wire cable, so I've harvested a couple of latch-to-latch cross cables from junk yard 850's. They already have a stop-ball on each end. I cut them about 60-40, so not quite in half. Then pull the wire out a couple of inches from the sheath and snip the sheath off to expose the wire when its pushed back in. After you feed the wire thorough the trip arm on the latch, the exposed end can be bent around in a circle to make grabbing it with a vice grip a little easier if you need to use it.

You could probably use a bike cable, as well, though they're usually stranded and might be harder to work with.

Procedure.
I took a few pictures but they're really not very helpful.
Remove the splash guard under the radiator.
BEFORE you cut your cable, find the path you want it to follow down by the radiator where you can access it in an emergency by removing only the splash guard. Actually bring the cable up through that path to the latch. The 850 latch-to-latch cross cables are long enough for two back up cables, but sizing one side, then the other before cutting will be helpful. Mark the sheath for cutting with a Sharpie.

If you look closely, you'll see that the trip arm on the lower part of the latch has a hole or slot that can accept and hold the stop-end of your back up cable.

Important: make sure the angle of your installed back up cable enables you to pull the trip arm so it will release. This is easier to arrange on the passenger's side because the trip arm pulls toward the radiator.

On the driver's side, the trip arm is similarly located on the latch so it pulls toward the left fender wall. For that one, I fed the cable down behind the d.s. corner marker light (under that spring) and through a hole down to below (I think there's an opening in front of the battery tray). You can see that path with a flashlight. I believe that was the shorter of the two cables.

Cut your cables to length. One end of each of the two lengths will have the stop ball at the end.

Take the cables out of their sheaths and cut an inch or so off the sheath so the wire will protrude when it's put back in the sheath. Feed the wire through the hole in the lower trip arm or slip the wire with the end-stop into the slot in the latch's lower trip arm.

Feed the wire down the path where it will stay and slip the sheath back on (which you probably don't need to do, but the wire is iron and will rust if left exposed).

I mentioned in another post that I made a small bracket from two metal duct hangers doubled together for strength that I bolted onto the trip arm on the other car using a tiny bolt from Ace Hardware (3/32" ? with a nylon lock nut). That provides a better angle to pull from down below, but I didn't use it on the later one described above.

Properly adjusted latches hold the hood down tightly, which binds the hood catch in the latch. So to operate your back up cables, I found you'll need a helper to push down on the hood over the latch to release the upward tension on the latches so the cables are easier to pull, using a vice grip. But they do work.

ps: you might be able to just use a length of galvanized wire for a quick hookup. Just twist it around the latch and thread it down below. I haven't tried that. You need to be able to pull some force on it, though, to trip the latches so you'd want it to be good and secure at the latch and heavy enough gauge.

Bonus: latch maintenance.
You can operate the latches without closing and opening the hood using the release lever under the dash.

With the hood open, douse the latches with PB Blaster. Using a screw driver with a 1/4" or slightly larger shank, lay the shank horizontally in the latch, grab the handle and end of the screw driver and press down. That should clamp the latch closed. Then use the latch's trip arm to open it again. If it's sticky, add more PB Blaster and work it like that a few times. If you can't get it to work fairly smoothly maybe add another latch to your list for the next junk yard visit.

Doing that simple maintenance once a year should reduce the likelihood of a stuck latch or broken cable.