Broken Hood Latch Thingy!

[Black Mounty]

Well, the Mounatineer hit 100,000 miles and is finally out of warranty. What do you know, i pull into the gas station at 100,002 after getting the final warranty service 3 days prior.

well heres te deal, i pull the hood latch under the steering column and get no resistence, try again, and the hood won't pop. I look under the dash and the little cord that is attatched to this lever is frayed. Seems there is no tension. now I know the dealer didn't do this as i opened it up in the morning with no problem. Im taking it to the dealer tomorrow, if they don't cover the repair, does anyone have an idea how much this may cost?

 

[Alec]

You can get it done yourself. What you'll have to do is get under the engine compartment and find the hood cable as it goes through the firewall, you should be able to get to it from underneath.

Then pull on it, raise the hood, and install the replacement! Should cost about 15% of taking it to the dealer.

 

[Black Mounty]

the cord still passes theough the firewall, theres just no resistance, kind alike th ewire has frayed and lost tension.

 

[Alec]

It's most likely snapped somewhere, hopefully somewhere still close to the firewall. You said it's frayed, but you can follow it all the way to the firewall?

 

[Black Mounty]

yeah, its still attatched to the plastic latch and I can follow it to the firewall, just no tension on the wire. I think they use this metal wire and its almost like some strands broke off the wire and decreased the tension on the wire. Ill take it to the dealer, they have been really goods to me in the past. I just hate the stupid minimum labor charges they get for this type of stuff.

 

[Alec]

I'd still try to get under the truck and find the cable. You'll at least be able to pull on it to release the hood. Then you can see what's wrong.

 

[NOTAJP]

I've got a hood latch and cable if you need it. I'm not sure if all years were the same or not.

 

[Black Mounty]

thanks, ill try in the morning to see if I can fix it. The latch under the hood should be fine, and if anything i think i can pull on the wire with a set of plyers or something to pop it.

 

[MONMIX]

Here is an easy trick. Makes the job much easier.

Crawl under the dash and unhook the cable from the pull. Now take your new cable, zip tie the front ( latch end ) to the old cable. The zip tie should be between the two balls ( easy now Bevis ). Spray a good bit of Zep 45 or WD-40 right there on the fire wall ( inside ) where the cable goes through.
Now go under the hood at the latch and pull.
The old cable will " guide " the new cable right into place.

I am unsure, but there may be some clips or retainers in the travel you'll need to recon with.

Any way, the tip is to use the old cable to pull and guide the new cable.