zcmack

Hey everyone,

I recently let my car sit too long and the battery died... only problem I'm having now is that I can't get the hood open to recharge it!

The hood pop lever doesn't seem to be doing anything. I was able to reach up from underneath the front of the car to pull the wire with a pliers close to the mechanism but although it makes the right noise, the latch isn't being released.

Any tips? I feel like I've run out of options at this point... I'm considering breaking my grille and unbolting the latch as described in this video: but since I'm selling the car soon, I'd like to avoid having to purchase a replacement grille.

tempetom

This probably won't work, but have somebody push down on the hood lid while you try those things. I had an old Chevy Blazer that had to be opened that way.

Mandy

^^ Plus 1, seems like a way to do it.

Mandy

Spray some WD40 on it and let it sit. The try again. Good luck.

zcmack

I tried this but it didn't work.


Is there any particular spot you think I should be applying the WD-40? I feel like the cable is fine and that the latch itself might need the lubricant.

Can someone possibly post a picture of the hood latch mechanism from a first gen 3.2TL? Perhaps if I see the mechanism I can figure out the best way to attack... right now I'm working blindly, just reaching up from the front and trying to look through the grille.

If not, my next step is to remove the bumper to see if that helps my line of sight.

tempetom

I'll go out after while and check out mine for you.

zcmack

thanks a lot!

tempetom

I looked at my latch and things don't look good. I was able to get my hand up through the large rectangular opening in the grill and actually move the lever sideways that opens the hood if it's first unlocked from the inside of the car. When I did it, it didn't accomplish anything. I see no way one can lubricate the mechanism with the hood locked. I'd bet the only way to get at the mechanism would be to remove the bottom shroud under the front of the engine. I had to remove that shroud to change my lower radiator hose awhile back. I wonder if the radiator will be in the way? I'll attach 2 pictures of what I could see of the latch and lever.

tempetom

Here's a diagram of the hood release cabling. This really looks like a big problem.

zcmack

i appreciate the info tempetom, the cable seems OK, i can see that it still is being pulled when i pull the lever in the footwell, and when i reach up from underneath i can still pull it enough that it 'feels' and sounds like it should be pulling enough to release the latch, something is just getting mucked up in there.

i'm thinking the spring might just need to be cleaned or lubricated, maybe its not expanding linearly, so the pop is not triggered.

Do you have page 20-114 referenced in your diagram? My backup plan is to try to unbolt the hood release latch from the chassis, it'd be nice to know if this is possible just by removing the bumper and the shroud.

tempetom

Here's the page without my whole desk top showing lol:

tempetom

I just remembered what a guy I knew around 50 years ago did in a situation like this. He took the car to the dealer and asked for an oil change and left it. Maybe ask for a radiator flush and some other stuff to make it worth their while?

Mandy

So what's the update on this?

tempetom

Yeah, I'd like to know also.
I don't like it when posters leave things up-in-the-air. I guess there are bigger problems in the world though?

Mandy

Got that right, I take it that it is not the issue of the day anymore...but hope he got out of it.

zcmack

Sorry for leaving you hanging. Have been traveling so I haven't been able to make progress on the hood.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

did you get your hood open yet?

I made a dumb mistake before.
My car is always on jack stands....
<---JustonJacks.

anyway, One sunday morning I dived into a install.
only I couldnt get my hood open.
I thought something was wrong and didnt pull the latch inside the car.

so what I did was: took off the latch.
theres like 3 or 4 bolts holding the latch to the frame.
take these bolts off, and the latch should come up with the hood.
the limiting factor being the hood latch cable.
I squeezed in the middle of the hood and engine bay, and one flick of a screw driver got the latch to operate.

tempetom

I must be missing something. How did you get at the bolts holding the latch?

zcmack

justnspace - i tried to do that but wasn't able to access the bolts from underneath the car. I ended up just breaking out the grille and prying the latch open with a screwdriver. Cleaned the latch really well and it is working as normal now.

Luckily I was able to find a replacement grille for only $40 on ebay...

tempetom

That's good to know. I'm sure it was tough having to destroy the grill.