Hood release cable (2 Viewers)

[AJP]

Not sure if this has been covered… on my ‘97 LX450 the hood release lever was not functioning very well for the last year or so; particularly in cold weather… the underhood latch would often not reset and the lever would not return to the closed position …. Finally ordered a new factory cable from an ebay vendor and installed it last weekend. There may have been some debris in the latch mechanism that contributed to the problem but the pic tells the story.

R&R was straightforward per the FSM … 4 things that I noted however: 1) the FSM identifies two ‘ retaining clips that have to be released under the hood - these turned out to be zip ties and once found were simple to manage 2) not mentioned in the FSM but I pulled the battery and the battery ‘box’ out to ensure I was feeding the cable the right way 3) IAW the FSM the cable is released from the in cabin hood release lever then pulled out from the engine compartment …I tied a stout long length of synthetic ‘twine’ to the in cabin end before I pulled the old cable out … this was very useful as I attached the twine to the new cable to pull it back into the cabin via the same route it was in originally. Saved a lot of effort … there is a small rubber ‘boot’ at the firewall the cable goes through and a little silicon and prepositioning of the cable end makes this stage of the 'return pull’ easier, and 4) the cables have a piece of marker tape on the in cabin end and this is to position the cable properly oriented in a small clip inside the cabin/under dash.

Here’s my old cable

 

[thedoughboy]

I have one on the shelf waiting for install. My hood end is really rusty and needs to be replaced.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[deltapine1]

Mine has the same symptom but mine is not temperature dependent. "Beulah" has learned how to communicate with me and knows if there is something that needs attention under the bonnet the hood latch doesn't reset. I recently swapped radiators and had a slight almost undetectable seap at a hose clamp. I was checking the antifreeze and topping it off and closed the bonnet only to have it pop back up. "Beulah" knew I would lift it and look around and sure enough I spotted the seap and tightened the clamp. I have a new hood latch and cable but may wait awhile longer to replace them.

 

[namsag]

@AJP can you tell me where the relevant section of the FSM is? I have a "97, and a '97 FSM. All that is mentioned in the hood section is aligning the hood latch, cannot find anything about replacing the cable.