Hood Latch Cable Broken

[NotTheBest]

How can I get the hood open if my latch cable if broken? There isn't an emergency cable on mine for some reason, and prying and smacking the hood while pulling the lever doesn't help. Can I get to it from under the car somehow? Any help is appreciated.

[Ptoneill]

Wow, that sucks.....how bad probably depends on where the break occurred. I am assuming that this is a worst case and the cable came undone at the latch. I don't know of any "easy" way to unlock the latch as it is mounted on the rear if the firewall. I personally would put the car on jack stands so that you can get under it, hopefully you see your broken cable and can use vice grips to pull it. Otherwise you get to go fishing with a bent piece of sturdy wire to catch the latch loop the cable goes through. If you have assess to a flexible camera so you can see what you are doing this will only suck a little bit, otherwise you get to use a mirror and flashlight......this will suck a lot particularly if you don't have help.

Here is a picture of the cable attachment point...remember that the latch bar is pulled towards the drivers side.



Hopefully someone has a better idea.....

[NotTheBest]

Wow, that sucks.....how bad probably depends on where the break occurred. I am assuming that this is a worst case and the cable came undone at the latch. I don't know of any "easy" way to unlock the latch as it is mounted on the rear if the firewall. I personally would put the car on jack stands so that you can get under it, hopefully you see your broken cable and can use vice grips to pull it. Otherwise you get to go fishing with a bent piece of sturdy wire to catch the latch loop the cable goes through. If you have assess to a flexible camera so you can see what you are doing this will only suck a little bit, otherwise you get to use a mirror and flashlight......this will suck a lot particularly if you don't have help.

Here is a picture of the cable attachment point...remember that the latch bar is pulled towards the drivers side.



Hopefully someone has a better idea.....

Thanks for the picture, this should help a lot. I will see what can do with some wire.
EDIT/UPDATE: That probably isn't going to work. With a mirror and a flashlight and stuff, the cable loop is not only in front of the firewall, it is below it and flush with it, making it kind of improbable to get a wire through tere and back up to pull on it. Any other ideas?

[Ptoneill]

try this.....I did it on mine just now and it works.......be advised my engine has nothing attached, it is just sitting in there.

Reach up from the passenger side with a stiff rod...flat bar, round bar, big screwdriver. Feel around with the bar, the latch is in the middle about 3/4 of an inch off the firewall all you need to do is give it a slight push towards the drivers and it will unlatch.....

You are aiming to hit the part with the cable attached in the picture it is the only part hanging below the assembly when latched

Good luck!

[NotTheBest]

try this.....I did it on mine just now and it works.......be advised my engine has nothing attached, it is just sitting in there.

Reach up from the passenger side with a stiff rod...flat bar, round bar, big screwdriver. Feel around with the bar, the latch is in the middle about 3/4 of an inch off the firewall all you need to do is give it a slight push towards the drivers and it will unlatch.....

You are aiming to hit the part with the cable attached in the picture it is the only part hanging below the assembly when latched

Good luck!

Excellent idea. I will give this a go tomorrow as it around 9:30 here already. Thanks for the help! I will post a response as to whether or not it works.

[spider2081]

Are you positive there was no emergency cable. Do you know that because when you had the hood open you noted it was missing. I have seen this question come up a few times and after much searching under the dash near the hood release people have found the missing emergency release cable.

[NotTheBest]

Are you positive there was no emergency cable. Do you know that because when you had the hood open you noted it was missing. I have seen this question come up a few times and after much searching under the dash near the hood release people have found the missing emergency release cable.

I am absolutely sure it is missing, unless it somehow feel behind the firewall. Other than that, I cannot find it anywhere inside or near the release cable.

[spider2081]

Did you remove the driver side plastic kick panel/map pocket? It could be behind there. It can be difficult to see especially if it is wrapped up in the wire harness or under carpet etc.

[NotTheBest]

Did you remove the driver side plastic kick panel/map pocket? It could be behind there. It can be difficult to see especially if it is wrapped up in the wire harness or under carpet etc.

Im in the middle of restoration so there isn't any carpet, and there isn't anything going into the kick panel.

[spider2081]

Sounds like you have thought of just about everything. There has also been some chat here about people rerouting the emergency cable to the driver side fender well. The way it was originally routed through the firewall it made a 90 degree turn and that made it hard to pull. So some people are rerouting it through the fender well behind the wheel.

[DieselSpider]

I am beginning to consider mine not latching that securely and sometimes popping open on its own not that bad now. Some kid who boost cars would probably have it opened in a jiffy.

A inspection camera or even a small web cam on a stick may allow you to get a visual on the latch and make tripping it easier.

You may want to disconnect the battery if it isn't already while poking around trying to get at the latch just to play it safe.

[NotTheBest]

So I tried finding the latch under the car with a flashlight, and even had an assistant pull the lever to help spot it under the car, but I couldn't see where it was and even after some poking around, I was unable to open the hood. Any other suggestions?

[Ptoneill]

I will be working on my car tomorrow I will take some updated pictures hopefully it will help.

Hopfullly with some new pictures it will give you a better idea where to look.......

Just for info harbor freight has an inexpensive flexible camera system that is worth it's weight in gold in these circumstances !

[Curly]

Undo the bonnet (hood) from the hinges at the front, lift the front of the bonnet slightly and pull it forwards until the pin is pulled clear of the latch. The prop rod will still be attached, so you won't be able to completely remove the bonnet until you release this.

[DieselSpider]

You may be surprised at how handy even a $10 or less nightvision web cam can be in these situations if you have a laptop or tablet that will support one.



http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=4462