tonight fixing another issue, I went to pull the hood on a road test and snap...the hood pull plastic piece broke (the one under the dash). i have not investigated further (it was dark) other to know that it wont work anymore.

anyone have this happen? tough to fix?

(didnt see anything on it in the archives -maybe hood puller is the wrong term?)

dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

Try "hood + release + cable"

The cable end snapping is common. Quick temporary repair is vice-grips. And then threading a new cable is not bad. I taped end of new to the old cable and pulled it through from the handle end, ending at the hood. Never seen the metal release handle break.

the metal handle broke on mine last earlier this year, i replaced it, and then the cable decided to break. heh. its really not hard at all. took me all of maybe 30 mins

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1983 Euro 240D 277K
2016 Mazda 6
Coming Soon, 2013 Mercedes E350 Bluetec
Formers:
2012- Mazda 3
2007 Outlander- complete pile
1995 E300 Diesel 208K
2007 VW Passat 2.0T 63K SOLD
2003 Jaguar X-type 3.0 Sport Sold 04/11 w/88K
2009 Lexus RX350 9061 miles. Sold 04/09
2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS:Totaled Sept.,09 @ 24,000
2003 Infiniti I35 58K Sold
1984 300 turbo diesel 222K

What broke, the cable or the handle. I believe the handle can be replaced separately and is an easy fix. The wire is a little more complicated and is best done the way 240Dog suggested.

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N. Hodges
1994 S350
1987 300 SDL (for sale)

thanks 240Dog, ill try searching more.

glad to hear i haven't stumbled into a painful one. i dont know exactly what broke yet - i only muttered choice words and made sure not to close the hood

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

I had a broken handle on the old 240D and purchased a used replacement cable and handle assembly from a forum member. I decided to do the whole replacement. The reason this was better is because I hung the replacement cable up and dripped lubricant on the upper end of the cable - and after a few days of gravity the whole cable was nicely lubricated.

This ended up being the smoothest operating hood release of all my cars.

So, at some point I'm going to repeat this on the fleet as I rotate them in and out of service. It helps prevent future broken cables and handles.

Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles

The handle broke on mine as well (the handle isn't that substantial, which is good because you don't want the cable breaking instead). I need to get a new one, the pliers on my floor are starting to make a rust stain on the carpet. At one point the hood was REALLY hard to open. Both hood latches were covered in grease and dirt. I got them out and cleaned them up though, it works pretty good now. I've always wondered how you would get the hood open if the cable snapped somewhere or the cable got detached from one of the latches (almost happened when I was fiddling with them).

I've wondered this also, as my wagon hood pull is very hard to operate. How does one get the hood open when the cable snaps and you can't get to the end piece with vice grips (say if it busted on latch end).

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

cable a little to tight?

ive got mine adjusted so all i do is give a gentle tug and.. pop goes the hood

I'm not sure I'v seen a post concerning that, Its an ugly thought, but I'm sure its happened, everythings happened, right

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

well when that happened to me i had a new grill insert so i just cut into it and did something...

You had too chop into your new gril? bummer

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

after dealing with other issues im back to the hood cable. bought a whole new hood cable assembly from Phil (~20 bucks) from Gemo, its the only way it came.

the plastic retainers that hold the hood cable in place are broken on mine, there's a space where it should have gone.

i am about the replace it, I guess the attach-a-string method doesnt apply since I have a whole new assembly.

anyone done the whole assembly replacement?

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

What are you talkin about - plastic retainers? The only place the hood cable sleeve needs to be secured is at each end. And its got a metal collar ratainer at both the hood clasp and the lever. Thats all you need - the cable wont cause problems if its hangin loose en route through the engine bay. Meanwhile for easiest installation it will be simpler to use the old firewall rubber boot instead of messing with crimping and fiddling the new one into place.

Anyone know what retainer goes in the attached picture? Thats the hood cable, right in front of the glow plug connector area on an 82 300D?

240Dog - True, it makes sense if all is well they just old it in place. The plastic retainers are on the underside of the front of the body where the cable runs on the same plane as the radiator. They are white, there are two of them. The cable is also retained on my car to the side of the fender somehow (see picture). Also retained to the glow plug wiring harness on mine with a zip tie. I also popped my rubber boot out (didnt see your post till after)- it has disintegrated too much to warrant keeping it in there. Hopefully i wont regret it.

I also cant for the life of me get the screws out from the hood latch at the front of the car. I got one out easily, the rest are beginning to strip...any ideas here?

dd

Attached Thumbnails

 

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car