My 240's hood release cable snapped just at the handle. The cable is (was) attached to the handle by a cylindrical barrel nipple that was an integral part of the cable.

I fear that replacing the whole cable will involve my mechanic in a few hours' work. Amazon and other retailers sell cable repair kits that are mostly for motorcycle throttle or brake cables. Has anyone ever tried using these? Most importantly, does anyone know the dimensions of the barrel nipple and whether it can be extricated from the handle?

 

I'd replace the cable. the hardest part will be opening the hood with the broken cable, if you can get that done (maybe vice grips on the exposed end?), then its pretty easy. grease the new cable as its going in the casing, grease the latch mechanism.

 

Thankfully there is plenty of cable exposed, so I could get a vise grip on it if necessary, but I'm hoping not to have to run a new cable through the firewall, which I understand is a hard job. I'm looking for a hack so I can reattach the cable to the handle -- or, if that can't be done, attaching it to a new handle or a rope loop. There are kits on the market to replace the handle on Hondas, which have a somewhat different handle mechanism; the replacement fastens onto the cable with a couple of set screws. I can see the barrel that used to hold the cable to the red handle; I'd like to be able to remove it, attach the cable to a new barrel, and put it back into the handle. Maybe that's just impossible?

Alternatively, has anyone run a bungee cord from the hood latch to a convenient spot on the front of the car?

 

drill the hood, and install racing pins,and remove the 'tongue' that fits into the latch ?

 

It's not exactly what I was looking for, but for those that want to replace the entire hood release cable, there's a YouTube video showing how it's done on a 240:

 

Since my cable broke right at the handle, my current idea is to loop the exposed cable through a double-barrel ferrule (also called a swage) and crimp it closed. That will shorten it by an inch or two, so I'll have to figure out how to attach it to the handle (or perhaps just encase it in plastic tubing so it can be pulled directly). I'll take a closer look this weekend.

 

Is there a video on how to replace the hood release cable on a 2014 S60?

 

you probably should ask the S60 section, this is the 240/740/940 section for the 4 cyl RWD volvos of the 80s, early 90s.