The hood on my '92 Formula is stuck shut. Pulling the release cable, I can hear the latch click, but it won't budge open. I crawled under the car, and with my fiance pulling the release, I can see the little metal cable with the metal ball on the end moving towards the PS, and then I hear the click. I sprayed a bunch of WD40 up there, but to no effect. Any suggestions as to how to solve this problem? I am assuming I am not the first person ever to experience this. Many thanks in advance.

 

My V6 had the same problem, I had to jiggle the hood while someone pulled the release constantly. Worked well enough. If you get it open then really clean everything out and make sure its working before closing!

 

yeh try pulling on the hood, i had the same problem. i adjusted the lock on the hood down a bit so that way there is more pressure on the hood. When you pull the latch it will just jump up

 

i just used to bang on it with my fist and it usually poped up. you might need a stronger spring. when i changed to my fiberglass hood it poped every time. the steel always had the problem.

 

mine does this alot. if you pull the release you can hear it pop but it doesn't come up. Sometimes it wont make any noise at all. I just push down on it and it will pop right up. Probably just needs adjusted.

 

Thanks for the replies and suggestions so far, guys. My fiance took the car out before I had much time to work on it, BUT I did try to pund on the area of the hood above the latch, I tried to pul it up while she was pulling the release cable back and forth, I tried to use a screwdriver to pry up on the big spring and the release lever under the hood. I'll try all of your ideas, and hope it comes up...I need to get in there!

 

when i was aligning my new hood i had this issue. you should be able to get under the car with a flashlight and a screwdriver and pop the thing open without anyone in the car. thats what i did....

 

just bang the **** outta the hood while ur fiance holds the hood popper but remember bang it above the spring/latch

 

The banging tactic worked once today. After that, I removed the latch from the car. It was absolutely filthy and gritty. Cleaned it all up, reinstalled it, then lubed it like crazy with white grease. Still won't work, and no matter how much banging I do it won't pop open. I can get it to release every time if I crawl under the front of the car and manipulate the two pieces of the latch that move with my fingers, and then press up on the underside of the hood. Something isn't working properly, but I can't figure out what. I hope the inspection station guys don't make a big deal out of it, or bend the hood trying to force it open. Any additional suggestions welcome!

 

Well open the hood and have someone put a screwdriver down the catch (simulate the latch on the hood) then pull the release. See where and why it's getting stuck.

 

why pound on the hood silly so you can have nice little dents to show off to your friends? Had same problem: Easiet solution after ruining things. Jack up car if you have to to get under the front end, look infront of the rad. You should now see the hood latch assembly. It unbolts with 4 or 5 bolts. Unbolt these bolts. Then cut the hood latch cable with wire cutters. (Is worth doing as is an extreme hastle and the part cost me only 10 bucks at auto wrecker). After this is done the hood should be able to be lifted up. The hood latch mechanism will now be with the hood pin. See if you can pull on the mecheanism using a screw driver. If it wont come off grab a old ratty blanet and put it over the front end of the ride (over motor front end and fenders/wheels). Now give the hood latch assembly a squirt of move it or WD-40. Make sure you spray it all over; everywhere. Should easily come off now with way mentioned above. Now put it on the ground and WD 40 The hell out of it. Let it sit. Have your new hood release cable and install it. Now put that bracket piece back into the car. Then attrach the mechanism to the cable and bolt it into the bracket. Then close your hood. Then open it with the hood release. Guarantee it will work.

Note: Part of the problem may be that the release cable is stretched, the other part will be that the mechanism has not been regularly serviced.

You must lubricate this mechanism about twice a year to prevent problems. IF you do this you should not have any more problems for more than 10-15 years.

Bobby J

Hope this helps. I learned from screwin around with it for a hell of a long time. If you do this youll avoid hastle and save time.

 

Here's what works for me:

1. Pull the release cable

2. Got to the front of the car

3. Place your hand about 8 inches above the headlight pocket and 8 inches in from fender.

4. Lift hand about about 8 inches from hood

5. Loosen muscles and let the dead weight of your hand hit the hood

6. Should pop open without damaging your hood granted your arm doesnt weight 50 lbs.

 

Ok, all great tips and advice. I have found a way to hit it in an aparent "sweet spot" that responds to just a little love tap that results in the hood opening. But, as irocstang rightly points out, I don't really want to have to hit my hood in any way just to get it open every time. Because I removed the latch, cleaned it real well, and then lubed the crap out of it, I am guessing the latch MIGHT not be the problem. So, that leaves the spring and the cable as two possible culprits, right? How hard is it to replace the cable? Are they even available anymore?

 

Cant buy the cable brand new. I went to an autowrecker and chose the one that looked the best then got them to pull it out.

It is easy to get out. Make sure cable is disconnected from the hood mechanism. Take off the kickpanel inside the car (drivers side underneath dash by where ur feet wood be. Undo the two bolt that are on the hood latch mount (that u pull from inside to get hood open). Then open the hood. Use a flathead screwdriver to push out the gromit where the cable goes through the fire wall (push it through the firewall to the inside of the vehicle.

Installation is the reverse of the proceedure mentioned above.

Note : I could not get the gromit into the fire wall on installation (did not want to rip apart my dash). I just put black silicone around the cable where it enters the firewall to prevent water from leaking to the inside of the vehicle.

 

easy way to see how to do it is to ask if you can watch the autowrecker ttake it out. Thats what I did.

 

Ok, thanks for the info. I'll see if I can pick up a used one from a car on which the hood opens easily.

 

I had this problem with my white 350, and banging is not the way, after pulling the trigger in car, go to front, center of hood and gently love tap the hood about 6 inches from bumper and she should open. Next you HAVE TO ADJUST the black rubber ***** under the hood next to the headlights as this will lower or raise the hood. Hope this works as it solved mine! Andy

 

Hmm, interesting about those adjustment *****. So, I'd want to adjust them such that the hood was raised up a bit, correct?

 

i know this sounds wierd, but bang your hand on the front of the hood right about where the latch is...i had this problem with mine a year or so ago...what it is, is that they latch is screwed up and it's not opening all the way, but if you hit on it, it most likely will open...just dont shut it till you fix the latch or you'll have the same problem again

what i did after i got it opened is i took a dremel and shaved off some of the latch so that it had more space to open with...the "claws" weren't opening enough so i sprayed some DW40 on it and shaved it down a bit, never had any problems with it again...

 

Yes, they raise and lower the front of the hood! Andy

 

Once you finally get the bugger open, check out the U-shaped "striker" to which the latch attaches. Mine was galled to hell and would not let the latch disengage cleanly. I unbolted it and reversed the striker, gaining a fresh wear surface for the NEXT fifteen years of service. Besta luck.

K

 

Well Ive had it happen on all three on my camaros... the problem i found everytime was the spring that pops the hood up when u pull. because it puts pressure in the exact right place which causes it to slip free of the claws.

 

I just had this problem today and couldnt figure out how to open it... until i found this thread. I had someone hold the hood release while I just wiggled the hood and gave it a few soft love taps around where the latch is. after a little bit it popped up a little... but it wont open all the way till the person lets go of the hood release. Anyways... to solve it... my latch was full of gunk but that didnt really matter... what matters is that spring. The spring was not pushing up on the hood like it should, so i just stretched it a little and my hood opens fine now. -Austin