Toyota 53601-02020-C0 Lever Sub-Assembly, Hood

For Camry, undo the front bumper to remove it; draw a line around the latch for installation, then take off the plastic shield and remove bolts securing the hood latch to the radiator support. To make the hood latch line up straight or down, undo these holding bolts and take the latch off. Pull the hood cable away from the latch assembly, then gently move the cable retainer end out of its groove on the back of the hood latch. To set up the latch correctly, push the hood closed, adjust it until it holds firmly, and make sure the rubber bumpers press together just right. Raise your vehicle, place jackstands under it, then pull off the front wheel. Take off the lower pad from the fender's bottom edge and the inner fender lining. Step by step: Free the hood cable from the latch by pushing on a small clip holding the cable, then moving the cable away from the fixture. Hook a piece of thin wire to the end of the cable, then remove all cable retainers on both sides of the radiator support and firewall. Take off the driver's door sill cover and kick panel from inside the car. Then, get the driver's knee bolster panel aside, letting the cable end detach from its release lever assembly. Hook the end of the cable up to a piece of thread, then gently move the cable and its attached grommet back into your car's passenger area. Hook the new cable on through a grommet, take off the wire or string from the old cable, and fix it to the new one. After joining the new cable to the wire or string, wind it through the firewall until you find the latch assembly. Put the new cable back in the hood cable handle, folding the cable housing neatly into its spot on the handle's bracket piece. When putting the grommet back into the firewall, push it from the inside of the car with your fingers.

To bolt the latch, it is recommended to put a marker line around the latch, and then to unscrew the bolts which hold the hood latch on the radiator support and can be adjusted horizontally and vertically. Pull the hood cable, unhooked from the latch belly and pulled the latch assembly out. For the hood release lever, gain access to the interior of the vehicle in order to remove the driver's side kick panel, then use a screwdriver or other tool to pry the hood release lever up by the spring and perform some force on the cable housing end to get the cable out of the handle. If needed, to remove the handle, the retaining tab must be pulled out and downward while the clips are released in the instrument panel and then the cable and an accompanying lever can be removed. Installation on the other hand is in the reverse order/ sequence. When working on the hood cable, initially disconnect it from the inside release lever and then use a piece of thin string or wire and make sure it is long enough to reach the latch of the hood. In the engine compartment, you have to take the cable out from the latch assembly, and separate all the retaining limit clips. In pulling the cable forward, the policy dictates that after the wire or string is visible you then transfer the same from the old cable to the new one. Inside the vehicle retract the wire or string through the firewall to the desired position of the new cable on the interior handle then fix the new cable into the hood release lever sandwiches them properly into the lever bracket. Tug the cable forward until the stop seats in the grommet on the firewall; and then reverse the whole procedure.

The final step is to push on the grommet from the passenger compartment to seat it correctly in the firewall.

Disconnect the hood release cable by disengaging the cable from the latch.