Broken hood release
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1986 300 E
Broken hood release
Hi all. I ran into the dreaded “Broken hood release cable” today and did a little un-Mercedes “field” repair. It’s not sacrilege like swapping out a pair of junk yard Carter carbs for the twin $800 each Mercedes Zeniths in a 1966. (Oh yeah! I did that many years ago and it worked.)
When the hood refused to pop open, I said some rather uncomplimentary things about Mercedes parts and the alleged Mercedes mechanic from whom I had bought my toy. After a little studying of a picture of what the latch actually looks like and its position behind the grille, I pulled out my trusty extra long screwdriver and finding the release lever popped the hood open.
The cable wasn’t broken in the way I’ve seen them break in other makes of vehicles. The cable and both ends were fine. The plastic (?!) piece that connects the under hood end to the unlatching lever was broken. Closer investigation revealed that it had only been connected with one side that was glued to the lever with what looked like Bondo! The other half of the connector was missing. I hadn’t noticed that in my many openings of the hood, as that isn’t a part that would catch the eye. It’s under the latch cross brace and behind the grille and auxiliary fan. I said a few more uncomplimentary things about the previous owner and looked up a replacement part. It wasn’t very expensive as Mercedes parts go, but the picture showed the same plastic connector. I’d heard horror stories about short cable life spans and now understood why. I didn’t want to have to wait for the part to arrive and certainly didn’t like how flimsy the replacement part (and the original) looked.
I pulled out my little parts box, some hand tools, Dremel and electric drill and “modified” the old cable. First I found a small piece of angle iron. (The thin el cheapo one with 4 holes they sell in packets of 2 or 4 at Walmart. About 4” long, a little over 1 “ wide and about 1/8” thick) I bent the angle iron into a “V” with 2 of the screw holes in line with each other. (a 90 degree angle iron would work, but I was fresh out of them) I widened the holes slightly as they were a little smaller in diameter than the pins on the unlatching arm where the old plastic piece connected. I drilled a pair of holes between the “V” end and the other holes, as the bending only made one pair of holes match up.
There was a little too much length, so I trimmed the piece with a cutting disk in the Dremel. Not really needed. but it made the piece swivel a little easier. Then I cut a slot 1/2 the width of the angle iron at the “V”. The studs on the cable fit into the holes near the “V” and the cable slid down through the slot to align for a strait pull against the angle iron. Then I squeezed the angle iron tight against the pins and installed everything under the latch. I used my Dremel and cut the latch’s square opening a little longer so I could assemble the “V” shaped angle iron above the crossmember and then slide it through the opening into its normal position. (My wife refused to be a part of my madness and my short, fat fingers and lack of patience made any other installation impossible. )
The resulting product uses the good cable and replaces the plastic part with metal. With the angle iron squeezed tight over the studs on the old parts and the cable clipped back into its bracket under the cross member, it stays and works fine. It actually made the hood release lever under the dash move easier and more smoothly, but that may be because the old cable mount was so Micky Moused! I didn’t bother to paint mine due to my climate, but anyone doing it in a wet climate might want to use some Derusto on the metal before assembly. It may not be an “authorized” Mercedes repair and lose points if you are looking for an all original restoration, but mine will never see a show. It is to be my fun run around town in style and class set of wheels. Now let’s see about that battery drain problem!!
When the hood refused to pop open, I said some rather uncomplimentary things about Mercedes parts and the alleged Mercedes mechanic from whom I had bought my toy. After a little studying of a picture of what the latch actually looks like and its position behind the grille, I pulled out my trusty extra long screwdriver and finding the release lever popped the hood open.
The cable wasn’t broken in the way I’ve seen them break in other makes of vehicles. The cable and both ends were fine. The plastic (?!) piece that connects the under hood end to the unlatching lever was broken. Closer investigation revealed that it had only been connected with one side that was glued to the lever with what looked like Bondo! The other half of the connector was missing. I hadn’t noticed that in my many openings of the hood, as that isn’t a part that would catch the eye. It’s under the latch cross brace and behind the grille and auxiliary fan. I said a few more uncomplimentary things about the previous owner and looked up a replacement part. It wasn’t very expensive as Mercedes parts go, but the picture showed the same plastic connector. I’d heard horror stories about short cable life spans and now understood why. I didn’t want to have to wait for the part to arrive and certainly didn’t like how flimsy the replacement part (and the original) looked.
I pulled out my little parts box, some hand tools, Dremel and electric drill and “modified” the old cable. First I found a small piece of angle iron. (The thin el cheapo one with 4 holes they sell in packets of 2 or 4 at Walmart. About 4” long, a little over 1 “ wide and about 1/8” thick) I bent the angle iron into a “V” with 2 of the screw holes in line with each other. (a 90 degree angle iron would work, but I was fresh out of them) I widened the holes slightly as they were a little smaller in diameter than the pins on the unlatching arm where the old plastic piece connected. I drilled a pair of holes between the “V” end and the other holes, as the bending only made one pair of holes match up.
There was a little too much length, so I trimmed the piece with a cutting disk in the Dremel. Not really needed. but it made the piece swivel a little easier. Then I cut a slot 1/2 the width of the angle iron at the “V”. The studs on the cable fit into the holes near the “V” and the cable slid down through the slot to align for a strait pull against the angle iron. Then I squeezed the angle iron tight against the pins and installed everything under the latch. I used my Dremel and cut the latch’s square opening a little longer so I could assemble the “V” shaped angle iron above the crossmember and then slide it through the opening into its normal position. (My wife refused to be a part of my madness and my short, fat fingers and lack of patience made any other installation impossible. )
The resulting product uses the good cable and replaces the plastic part with metal. With the angle iron squeezed tight over the studs on the old parts and the cable clipped back into its bracket under the cross member, it stays and works fine. It actually made the hood release lever under the dash move easier and more smoothly, but that may be because the old cable mount was so Micky Moused! I didn’t bother to paint mine due to my climate, but anyone doing it in a wet climate might want to use some Derusto on the metal before assembly. It may not be an “authorized” Mercedes repair and lose points if you are looking for an all original restoration, but mine will never see a show. It is to be my fun run around town in style and class set of wheels. Now let’s see about that battery drain problem!!
