W123 Hood Pull adjustment - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

dieseldan44 · #1 09-24-2010, 06:16 PM

Hey guys and gals,

I replaced the hood pull on my '85. It was hard to open and the new hood pull cable didn't help that much. It's like the cable is overall too long.

Which way do I adjust the nuts at the nose of the car to shorten the cable?

Is there some other factor that can cause this condition? I cleaned and lubed the spring/latch area.

Thanks as always
dd

dieseldan44 · #2 09-25-2010, 11:03 AM

Anyone? I'm going to mess with this today till I get it right.

toomany MBZ · #3 09-25-2010, 01:11 PM

Haven't heard of that before, but I believe there are products that can be used to "shorten" the cable by bolting a small cable um, thing, not sure what to call it, but in the pic is a much larger version, it's what I used on the clothes line cable to attach to the eye on the pole.

Stretch · #4 09-25-2010, 01:20 PM

I've got a similar problem on my car! Do we always end up doing the same jobs at more or less the same time?

Anyway I've bought my cable and it looks like the adjustment is at the bonnet / hood end. By tightening the cable you add tension to the set up. It looks like a straight forward Bowden cable to me...

My car seems to have more of a problem at the handle end in the passenger compartment. I get the feeling sometimes that it is going to snap off. I'm going to see if I can beef it up somehow - I'll let you know if I come up with anything - will you let me (or us) know if you do too?

dieseldan44 · #5 09-25-2010, 06:41 PM

I've got the solution. The tightening up front is a little tricky. I've even done it on the 82 before, but it was four years ago and I forgot the details.

At the nose end of the wire are three nuts. Two thin ones, and a longer one. All 10mm.

The two smaller nuts adhere to a post in the car, one on each side. The farther the large nut is from the two smaller nuts, the tighter the cable.

I have some pics I'll post later. That way in four years I can remember how to do this instead of re-inventing the wheel :-)

army - I actually had the post snap off. It's not a big deal, you can easily pull the cable with pliers. In my case, that feeling and stress in the puller was caused by a poorly adjusted cable installed by the PO. In my case, I also got a point where I was pushing against the under dash panel itself.

Tighten the cable first and see if that works. Reaplcing it isn't too hard, but it's not much fun especially if the cable you have can just be tightened.

RML · #6 09-25-2010, 07:04 PM

Sorry I did not see your post earlier, as I would have responded. I had this problem about a year ago and thought my cable stretched, so I ordered a new one. Then when I went to disconnect the old one from the front of the car, I discovered the adjusting nut. It works that same as the brake cable adjustment on a bicycle. (My car is an 84 300D.) If I am not mistaken, unscrewing the barrel will effectively shorten the cable.

Richard

Yak · #7 09-25-2010, 08:53 PM

I think you adjust until it's snug on the hood end. Yes, there's a "locking" nut and also an adjusting nut.

Regarding Army's "pull until it feels like it'll break" feeling - mine had exactly that feeling so I tried to adjust the tension. Then the cable snapped, so I replaced it. Then the handle broke, so I replaced that, too. Handles are cheap - about $6 new.

Inspect the handle carefully and if it looks like the cable isn't fitting correctly, just buy a new one and do the repair and adjust one time.

The lug on the cable is asymmetric, it only fits into the handle properly one way. A little post-break forensics made it look like either the cable slipped or was installed wrong at some point because it looked like the cable was being levered against the tang on the groove instead of sliding through the groove.

Stretch · #8 09-26-2010, 01:25 PM

Great tips folks - thanks - I'll be getting a new handle as well and do it all in one go

RML · #9 09-26-2010, 11:52 PM

When I was working with my cable, it had a kind of dry rusty quality to it. I sprayed it with a lubricant before putting it back in. Seemed like it would prolong its life and make it easier to pull.

Good luck with the project.

Richard