I have a stumper/question for someone who might know these 997's like the back of your hand: I'm modifying my car (2005 997). Quite a while ago we unbolted the front fenders, bumper & hood. One of my helpers removed this cable (see photo) and now doesn't know where it goes. It is not the cable that pops the front hood. That works perfectly. So..... what is this cable? And why does it go inside the front drivers side wheel well (hooked up to nothing)???

Photo 1: Looking from riverside standing along side the front fender... looking towards the from of the car.
Photo 2: Closer-up view of that cable. I don't think it belongs where it is. Wrapped around that white plastic
sleeve which houses the cable that pops the front hood.
Photo 3: Looking foreword, inside the front driver side wheel well. You can see the red headlight cradle to the
far left.
Photo 4: Fender off the car. Where does this cable go???

 

This is a look form the front of the car. Bumper is off, and loping at the drivers front fender (on the right) in this photo. This appears to be the cable that goes no-where. Like I mentioned... it doest seem to operate the front hood release, because it works perfectly from inside the car. This cable runs up the right side of the trunk area, then goes through a very small hole in the tub. Then appears in the wheel well directly on the side of the drivers headlight.
Photo 2, shows the cable in the drivers wheel well, next to the headlight (which isn't installed in the fender in this photo).

Someone help? What does this cable do? What does it connect to on both ends?
Thanks much. ;o)

 

That looks like an emergency gas filler door release.

 

The fuel filler flap release cable routes near the passenger door hinge. Open the passenger door, look for the pull ring hear the top hinge. See page 208 in the users manual (MY2006). You pull this cable if the lock mechanism fails on the fuel door.


Your photo shows it passing through the driver's side firewall. Could it be an aftermarket emergency battery cutoff for track purposes?

 

Hmmm.... is looks like the cable that goes to no where. The one end that's nearest to the front hood release has a purpose made end to it. The other end in the wheel well seems that it would attach to nothing! Help!

 

But it is about 4 feet long or so. Seems a it long? Could be though....
I had both front fenders off for modifying. Also had a helper who was a joker... he might have done that to mess around. Needless to say he doesn't help anymore.

 

Four feet long is way too long to be the filler door release. Can't think of anything else that is cable driven up there other than the hood release. Is your hood release working?

 

emergency inside trunk release for in case some one accidentally got trapped inside ??
Just throwing out an wild a*s idea.

 

Hood is releasing from inside the car. Yup. Just like normal.

 

I like that one! Hehe. Makes the most sense to me so far!

 

I'm vaguely remembering that there is an emergency hood release behind the driver side inner fender for use in the event of a battery failure. If it isn't that, I'm out of ideas.

 

I can confirm that it is a backup release cable for the front hood. It is the only way to get the front lid open if the electrically activated one that you normally use fails.

Some say that it is also a way to get the lid open to access the battery if the battery dies. It is, but there is an alternative there. Inside the fuse box near the top is a copper contact that can be pulled out an inch or so. Jumper cables or any sufficient 12 volt power supply can be connected to it (using the door hinge mechanism as a ground) to get enough power to the car that the electric actuator will work.

There is also a rear pull very similar to the front one. It opens the rear engine lid in case that electrical latch fails. If you look carefully around the left side muffler area from underneath the car you can find it.

 

Makes perfect sense. Thanks for confirming and expanding on it.

Ray

 

That's what I would have bet my money on... but, I can't seem to figure out where either end of the cable attaches to. Leave it up to my one helper (who no longer helps with this car) to not put something back where he removed it. He liked to play games like that.
I'm sure I could figure out where that little noose-shaped loop goes up in the front latch area. But the end that simply ends in the wheel well area, is a mystery (to where it hooks back up to).

 

So this whole thing got my curiosity up, so I went and looked at my car to see how the cable is run. Yours is close to correct.

In the first attached photo, you can see that the loop on the end of the metal cable attaches just like yours does, only it is positioned so that the eye of the cable is right up against the rubber grommet and oriented so that the cable runs parallel to the sheet metal. At this angle, it seems that it can grab the stiff plastic cable and pull on it securely enough to open the latch. The way it is positioned in the photo is just how I found it.

In the last image I extracted a section of the parts diagram that shows the cable. If you look closely you can see that it loops around the plastic cable just like ours. On the other end, you'll notice a loop in the cable itself that makes it easier to pull.

To get to that loop however, you have to remove the front part of the plastic wheel liner which probably involves removing the wheel, so it is certainly only something to consider as a last resort. The fuse box jumper is the way to go unless the electric latch has failed.