Hood latch cable and latch assembly
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 3,504
Likes: 4
From: Mexico Beach FL
Hood latch cable and latch assembly
On my '92, I put a new hood latch cable on it today.
The old cable was .050" diameter and the new GM cable is .062" diameter.
I don't know if there was a running change in diameter at a certain year.
I also took the hood latch assemblies (female) off the chassis to clean and lubricate.
On the bottom side is a pivot that you can't get to to lubricate with them in place.
I will give them a thorough cleaning and lubricate them well.
Changing the cable took more than I thought it would -- space is too confining under the dash. If I were to do it again, I would probably take the driver's seat out and lie on the floor.
Tom Piper
The old cable was .050" diameter and the new GM cable is .062" diameter.
I don't know if there was a running change in diameter at a certain year.
I also took the hood latch assemblies (female) off the chassis to clean and lubricate.
On the bottom side is a pivot that you can't get to to lubricate with them in place.
I will give them a thorough cleaning and lubricate them well.
Changing the cable took more than I thought it would -- space is too confining under the dash. If I were to do it again, I would probably take the driver's seat out and lie on the floor.
Tom Piper
Last edited by Tom Piper; Jan 26, 2008 at 07:16 PM.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 3,504
Likes: 4
From: Mexico Beach FL
The latch assembly on the body has drains in the back outer corner.
These drains plug up with debris and then the latch fills with water.
I've seen drain kits for these latches, but after awhile they will plug up too.
Rather than invest in the drain kits, I think a better idea is to use a small screwdriver and go up from underneath in the outer back corner and keep the original drains clear of debris.
When the latches fill with water, the pivot inside (that you can't get to to lubricate unless you take the latch assembly out) starts to corrode.
And, then the latches take more effort to activate, which isn't good for the longevity of the latch cables.
Tom Piper
These drains plug up with debris and then the latch fills with water.
I've seen drain kits for these latches, but after awhile they will plug up too.
Rather than invest in the drain kits, I think a better idea is to use a small screwdriver and go up from underneath in the outer back corner and keep the original drains clear of debris.
When the latches fill with water, the pivot inside (that you can't get to to lubricate unless you take the latch assembly out) starts to corrode.
And, then the latches take more effort to activate, which isn't good for the longevity of the latch cables.
Tom Piper
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 3,504
Likes: 4
From: Mexico Beach FL
I thought about doing some calculations on this cable change.
In my first post above, you can see the new hood release cable, on my '92, has a diameter of .062 and the original cable has a diameter of .050.
So, if the strength of the cable is directly proportional to the cross sectional area of the cable, using the formula to determine the area of a circle (pi * r squared), you can calculate the strength of the replacement cable is 50% more than the original cable (even though the diameter is only 25%).
And, since the hood release cable on a C4 seems to be a trouble spot, I think it is beneficial to go to the newer cable.
Are there any mechanical engineers out there to confirm my logic?
Tom Piper
In my first post above, you can see the new hood release cable, on my '92, has a diameter of .062 and the original cable has a diameter of .050.
So, if the strength of the cable is directly proportional to the cross sectional area of the cable, using the formula to determine the area of a circle (pi * r squared), you can calculate the strength of the replacement cable is 50% more than the original cable (even though the diameter is only 25%).
And, since the hood release cable on a C4 seems to be a trouble spot, I think it is beneficial to go to the newer cable.
Are there any mechanical engineers out there to confirm my logic?
Tom Piper
