TheMikeEustis

Good day, I bought my truck a few months ago in hopes of restoring it, and it's been in my back yard and such. I don't drive it daily. So I start it once a week, but I disconnect the battery when it sits so the battery doesn't drain which means I have to pop the hood to start it. Every time I pull the little lever, I come close to ripping the whole dash out. So my best estimate would be the cable needs to be replaced, the latch seems fine. Does anyone know a resolution to this, or where i can buy a new cable? I can't seem to find one, anywhere. Oh and if it makes a difference, the year of my truck is 1986, and it originally had the 225 slant six.

All help/suggestions is greatly appreciated

GasganoFJ60

I got mine from the dealer. They're proud of them, as they are with all their products. It ran me $90.

w250_93

Go to a junk yard, i picked one up plus the latch for $20

Jim Lane

I have designed an Emergency Hood Release cable to install on the hood latch as a backup to the inside release,
Installing this release now will save a lot of frustration when your cable snaps leaving your hood locked from within.

I have seen people resort to cutting holes in the hood to release the latch.
This release cable alternately could be used as your primary means of accessing your hood latch.

Here is a possible location for the release but is could be located almost anywhere on your vehicle, the design could also be made longer and routed inside the cab to replace your broken cable.



Here is a link to my article in the sticky.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/....html?t=187435

I hope this gives you an idea for a solution to your problem.

Jim

TheMikeEustis

Thanks guys, appreciate the help.

Called a few local junkyards, they all said they didn't have any trucks near that year, all they had was in the 70's.

And $90 for a hood latch? I am a newbie to the automotive world, but that seems a bit pricey. Did they give you a whole new latch and all, or just the cable?

The idea of an emergency latch is genius. I got a guy who "privately messaged" me or I assume that means PM? Anywho, he said he has one off his parts truck he'll sell to me. But when I get some free time, I'll install that emergency one too, just to be safe. Great thinking

w250_93

I got a new latch plus the cable.

TheMikeEustis

Ah, I gotcha. Those latches seem quite expensive, well new anyways. Was it difficult to install?

NE frmhnd

Did you try closing the latch with the hood open and pulling the release? Every hard-releasing hood I've ever dealt with was fixed by running the rubber hood bumpers down a little.

grouch

That and putting a little lithium grease on the latch mechanism.