VT928

After 30+ years it broke, so how difficult is it to replace the hood release cable

Paul
1980Euro S. Red/Blk Lea

StratfordShark

It's not too bad, and I replaced om RHD car so cable run longer than on yours and required removing carbon canister as it runs behind it on RHS.

Fiddliest bits were at either end. Enters cabin via grommet with bunch of other cables so quite tight. Some grease helped here to push it through.

At hood end I drilled out rivets holding latch receiver then just riveted it back once cable attached.

At the handle you knock out a rivet holding eyelet at end of cable to handle with a punch, then tap it back into the new cable end.

The new cable will operate very smoothly and easily compared with the old.

Before I got round to replacing broken cable I got pretty fast at popping the hood from under car using a long screwdriver and flashlight. It's worryingly easy!

fraggle

Stratford, are you missing undertrays? I can't see how you'd get to the latch with the long screwdriver.

Imo000

That's true but only those who have done it know exactly how to do this.

StratfordShark

Well I have my undertrays (or had them on that car - haven't had cable problems on current S4) but now yiou ask I'm not sure if trays were on or off when I ran without cable for a couple of weeks while waiting for replacement. Am prone to leaving the trays off for long periods as it's a pain to remove and replace them without a lift, and I'm always thinking ahead to next job when i might want clear access from below.

Then again I do recall moving a thin plastic cover aside where the cooling flaps live, so you could do that with the front tray on?

VT928

Thanks guys for the info

Go-carter

On my -79 OB I could reach the latch trough the lower vents in the front. Didn't have to reach under the car at all

Mrmerlin

on cars with well liners remove the liner and the front block off plate then you can see where the cable routes out of the inner fender bulkhead up to the latch,
keep the new cable as straight as possible when routing,
also make sure the latch is lubricated,
and that the height selectors on the bottom of the hood are adjusted correctly ,
and that the latch pin is also adjusted for the correct length.
IE if its too short then the latch will bind and cause the new parts to fail.
NOTE dont add lubricant to the cable it should have a teflon housing any lube may cause the housing to bind/swell after time