Hood latch is very hard to pull

[sahls01gmc]

Over time, the latch for my hood has become increasingly difficult to pull. I'm fearful that I'm going to break the plastic handle soon. I've greased the actual latch on the hood, but I have not messed with the handle in the cab yet. Anyone else experience this? If so, any tips on getting it fixed up so I don't break it?

[Tattooo]

What year & model ?

[sahls01gmc]

2001 SIERRA

[kstruckcountry]

I've seen a lot of people just cut the line and add a handle in the grille. That's probably what I'll do eventually. It's been a crappy design since '94(?).

[Doug_Scott]

Open the hood, then close the latch with a screwdriver. Is the handle still hard to pull? If it is not hard to pull, chances are the hood latch is too low, with the effect of it pulling the hood down into the small rubber hood "stays". If you raise the latch a very small amount it may become a lot easier to open.

 

If the cable is still hard to move, then you know it needs a new cable. If it needs a new cable, just replace it. The first one lasted about 14-15 years. Even if the replacement only lasts 10 years, the truck will be over 25 years old. If you decide to try and lube the cable, you have to watch what you use to lube it. Some lubes do not like cold weather and will act like glue inside the cable. ATF is usually pretty good in cold weather though.

[Jsdirt]

Yeah, if there's any heavy tension at all on those rubber stops, it'll be real hard to pull. I kept breaking cables on my '89 S10 Blazer until I adjusted those stops, and lubed the hell out of the latch.

 

Stupid cheap plastic handle broke, so I took a stripped shift shaft out of a '90 Yamaha RT100, cut it to size, and welded it to the metal rod that the plastic handle slid onto. When the cable broke, I used a copper butt connector and crimped it back together.

 

How I miss my El Camino - had the latch release right in the front bumper. Nice and easy ... and RELIABLE!

[sahls01gmc]

Thanks guys! I'll try out these techniques, and see where the problem lies. Who knew a high mileage 15 year old truck would start falling apart like this?!?

[Jsdirt]

Par for the course today.

 

I've got a '00 Jimmy out back parted out, because it was a total piece of of s**t. Parked close by is a '01 2500 HD with a Duramax that would put out 900 ft.Lbs ... IF it would friggin run. Some magic box failed rendering the truck useless. Not to mention the interior and body are falling apart by the minute.

 

It's pretty clear GM intends to SELL vehicles, NOT make them last forever. 10-12 years is about it for them these days in this part of the country. Some investment ...

 

Today's GM!

 

[kstruckcountry]

I'm modifying my hood with weatherstripping along the front lip to push down on the shroud above the grille. Hopefully it'll seal the nose better and supply more even pressure. I may also delete the cable preemptively and just put in a pull for it under the bumper.

 

Say what you want about newer vehicles, fact is there are more high mileage vehicles on the road today than ever, and they do it without have to retune the controlled fuel leak every few thousand miles.

[Jsdirt]

Never had to tune any of my carbs, once I dialed them in. I've been running a '74 Yamaha 2-stroke on points and carbs for over 4k miles the past 5 years - only made one points adjustment, and that was only because I was experimenting with timing. Never understood everyone's stories about carbs and points - I've never had an issue with either one.

 

And the only reason there seem to be "higher mileage" vehicles on the road today is, the average guy can't rewind the miles anymore! There's a local car dealer that is still in business and bigger than ever, that used to hire guys 3rd shift to work 7 days a week turning back odometers on cars. Everyone did it. My '89 S10 Blazer said it had 77k miles ... but the engine burned a quart of 20w-50 every 50 miles in winter! When I yanked the engine and heads, there was a 1/4" ridge at the top of the cylinder!! I've never seen an engine so worn out in my life! No way it had 77k - maybe 277k or 377k! To back that up, the odometer trip and speedometer started having problems not long after I bought it. Proof it had been tampered with.

 

 

Back on topic, that's a good idea having the release under there - I'm going to keep that in the back of my head for the future. A few more salt baths, and mine will need attention, I'm sure.

[Doug_Scott]

It is far to easy to get caught rolling back odometers now. Even in Canada(we are always a few years behind) they track mileage on road vehicles. When you renew your plates, you have to supply the mileage on it. When the car is sold, the new owner is provided a "sellers kit" that shows a mileage history. Unless the owner is planning on doing a mileage "adjustment" from the moment he buys the car, it will not go unnoticed.

 

Points work when the entire system is in good shape and it has a condenser that is large enough to absorb the induced voltage spike on the primary circuit. If not, points tend to weld themselves together in that millisecond of high voltage. I have yet to see a carb that will work equally well on 90 degree days and -45 degree days in the same 6 month period. Carbs are essentially a great example of design evolution. Each circuit in the carb was added to fix a specific issue that arose during the life cycle. Take a look at the carbs on early Model T engines. Nothing so simple as the original carb. If engineers could see have seen what the carb evolved into, they would have scrapped the idea and gone a different route. Any time you have moving parts you have wear and settings issues. I don't recall ever hearing a mechanic that I was working with ever complain about points being replaced by electronic ignition. I do however recall hearing them bitch about having to work on pre-electronic ignition systems. This was back in late 70's, a few years after the big 3 went fully electronic ignition. Oddly enough, I was working at a Chrysler dealership, and you still had to carry a spare ballast resistor in the glovebox of your Valiant. What did not work though was wrapping a piece of mechanics wire around the two posts of the ballast resistor like it did pre-73 Chrysler vehicles. The new 4 wire ballast included a ballast resistor for the module, that did not like it when you bypassed the ballast on the side of the road because you forgot to put the spare one in the glove box. BTW, the wrapping mechanics wire across the ballast resistor was a sure way to wipe the points out on the drive back to the dealership.

[Jsdirt]

Yeah, any time you get a sticker (once per year) down here, your odometer miles get recorded. Not sure if they would say anything to you if they found the miles out of whack, but it would definitely show up as a red flag on Carfax, or any of the other history checkers. Trying to trade it in wouldn't work out well for your wallet ...

 

I can definitely notice the changes in temperature on the RD. Since I have the bike jetting a little on the rich side (to keep it alive as long as possible), it LOVES this cooler weather. I can notice the richness on a 90°+ day, but normally on those days I don't ride anyway. The difference in power is noticeable, but not enough for me to beg someone to design an overly complex and expensive FI system for it. Same with the El Camino & the Blazer. We ran the Blazer the past 4 winters with a carb and HEI - it ran good enough in -6° as it did at 94°. Didn't miss the FI system one bit. Always fires right up and pulls strong, for a little 6.

 

They do sell solid state ignition upgrades for my RD, but mine runs just fine with the dual points. Adjusting them takes a half hour with a dial indicator, maybe once every 6k miles or a little less, depending on where you buy the points from. For me that's once every 5 years or more.

 

As far as cars/trucks go, the GM HEI is tough to beat. It's a no brainer to run that setup over points. Just one less thing to maintain.