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I watched a couple of videos, but like most, if not all videos that people make regarding C4 repair, they always seem to leave the most tedious parts of a job out of their videos.
Anyway. Crawling under there I see that the cable release wires go under an underlay and then upward toward where they come into the firewall.
The only way to get to the grommet to lock it in place, or to even see it, would seem to be to cut the underlay because you can't really pull the underlay out of the way. There's just too much on top of it with wiring and brackets and other junk.
Which I do not want to do.
So my question is how are people getting up in there to lock that grommet in place with that underlay in the way?
I don't have the replacement cable yet, it'll be here tomorrow, but I was just looking under there to see what is what. I ended up getting it off eBay because I'm not paying Zip half of what the part itself costs just to ship it a few hours up the road to me. I'm tired of that nonsense. So hopefully it's not too short. I've read that some of those Dorman ones are too short.
It's actually not that bad, but I see what you mean. My '89 didn't have underlay material in the way much, but there was a fair bit of foam nearby and it's tight
What I ended up doing was taking a piece of PVC pipe used for lawn sprinkler / yard, diameter slightly bigger than the cables, and just cutting a length of it about a foot long. Then, near one end, slice it in half so that you have a half-circle for about 6" of the length of the pipe.
Use this as a self-made tool to work around the cables near the firewall, and push the grommet forward as you slide cables with it. You use that to push the grommet until it locks. A bit of silicone grease on the grommet itself helps it slide into place.
It's actually not that bad, but I see what you mean. My '89 didn't have underlay material in the way much, but there was a fair bit of foam nearby and it's tight
What I ended up doing was taking a piece of PVC pipe used for lawn sprinkler / yard, diameter slightly bigger than the cables, and just cutting a length of it about a foot long. Then, near one end, slice it in half so that you have a half-circle for about 6" of the length of the pipe.
Use this as a self-made tool to work around the cables near the firewall, and push the grommet forward as you slide cables with it. You use that to push the grommet until it locks. A bit of silicone grease on the grommet itself helps it slide into place.
It's just the getting to it so that you can see what you're doing part of it that's going to be a problem. If it just went straight through the firewall under the underlay rather than going upward six inches or so under the underlay, it would be simple.
I'm probably gonna have to cut it and then duct tape it back together afterward. It's the only way that I think that I will be able to see where it comes into the firewall to do it right.
You could also do what electricians do; take the old cable and tape/tie/wrap a fish tape to it, so that when you pull the old ones back through into the passenger compartment it brings the fish tape with it - then bind the fish tape to the ends of the new cable. That way you can pull it back forward through the firewall and the grommet guides back into place - using that push tool I also recommended if necessary. If you're lucky, the grommet will make its way partially thru the firewall first, then you can move to the battery side and use a pair of needle-nose pliers to pull it until it locks into place.
Well I guess I'm gonna get on out there and get to work on this thing.
By the time I get a few juming jacks and some stretches out of the way in preparation for the backward, upside down contortion act under the dash it should be around 12:30 ET.
So gonna draw on this thing in the middle of the driveway just a little after high noon.
So far as removal and installation goes, it was pretty much a piece of cake. It was under an hour and that was just me screwing around, taking my time.
I didn't tape the cables together and fish em through like that, though.
I cut em on both ends and pulled em out.
Dropped the handle (1 screw)
Pushed the cables through the firewall by hand, from under the dash. Locked the grommet into place and gave it a good push until it fully seated properly.
I did cut the underlay a few inches, though, so I could get my hand up there to push em through and seat the grommet properly.
Then ran them to the latch clips (RH cable behind the distributor this time)
Reinstalled the clips that secure the cable along the outside firewall, reinstalled the distributor cover, the ECM and the release handle and that was that.
All would have been well if the part itself was made right.
I think Foster's instruction on cutting a bit of the male thread will give me the room I need to get more thread out of the female side to make the latch adjustment
Just have to be really careful doing it so it's a straight, clean cut. Might just use a dremel with a cutting blade.
Behind the distributor is the way to go man. I did the same. Looks much cleaner, and way easier to work on the intake plenum in the future.
Yeah, it's certainly one less thing in the way.
Anyway. I went out a few minutes ago and followed Foster's instruction on cutting the male threads down about a half inch and then cutting the plastic securing nut off, as it was therefore useless at that point.
Everything works now and I have that nice pop when the lid opens. Dremel made it quick and easy versus tinkering around with a razor knife.
Replacing hood release cable
