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Hood Latch Cable


long nose buick
12-31-2005, 06:42 PM
The other day I went to open my hood, and the lever on my 92 PA flipped up real easy the hood opened that time. But when i went to try it again, the latch just flopped up and down.

1. How can i get the hood open?

2. Is it hard to replace the cable?

3. For a quick fix, can a pair of vice grips be attached to the cable for access, until repair is made?

Formerly known as "oneradartwo", forgot password.....duh!!!!

Loekee75
01-01-2006, 05:10 AM
The other day I went to open my hood, and the lever on my 92 PA flipped up real easy the hood opened that time. But when i went to try it again, the latch just flopped up and down.

1. How can i get the hood open?

2. Is it hard to replace the cable?

3. For a quick fix, can a pair of vice grips be attached to the cable for access, until repair is made?

Formerly known as "oneradartwo", forgot password.....duh!!!!

When I first got my 92', it didn't even have a hood latch cable! To open it, I had to pull what was left of it from underneath the front of the car. A friend on mine's mom had a 92' LeSabre with a broken hood latch cable too, I think these came out of the factory bad. I'm not sure if you're planning to tackle this job yourself, but if so, I posted the steps I took to replace mine!
To replace it wasn't difficult. I bought a good one at a junk yard for 5 bucks..Took some needle nosed pliers and wire cutters to remove what was left of old one. The only problem I had was with a plastic clip attached to the cable that goes into the framework near the latch. This clip isn't made to be removed (Well, at least I couldn't get it to!) so I had to break this piece off. I simply wired the cable into the framework where the plastic clip was supposed to go and this worked out fine. To make the job easier on me, I removed the latch (2 bolts) and installed the new cable connector with it off. Next thing is to route the cable around the edge of the engine compartment, and in through the firewall. You will have to pull out the rubber grommet with the old cable. Insert the new cable into the firewall, and then stick it's grommet into place. Next, you cut off the old cable from the pull lever and you'll see how to attach the new one..get a helper to pull the lever while you watch to see if it's properly unlatching, before closing the hood.

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