I think mine is going out . I have a lot of trouble trying to get it to release the hood when I open it . Is this hard to change . The lock is good and oiled , so i know it does not need oil . Thanx guys , Wayne

 

I have the same problem, i think it's just the crappy end of a cheap peice of equipment on the car, just hit the drivers side of the hood with your fist when u pop the hood and she should open, i konw it sounds ghetto but it works for some reason.

 

You may want to try and replace your hood release spring. It's the spring on the hood next to the catch. You can try and pull on it and see if streching it will help. It worked on mine but only for a few days then the spring went back to it's compressed state. These springs have been in these for 10 years or more and have become week. Unless you can see physical damage to the cable the cable should be working just fine.

 

Releasing the hood or "pop" the hood up?

------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA

 

Thanx guys ! ...Karl , It won't release . I pull the handle underneath the dash , you can hear it clicking , but it does not release the hood...I've always been able to pull it and the hood pops up .Well I pull it now and hear "click" and no pop .But I've always heard the click come to think about it .Karl , So nice to see KED85 appearing again ! ...Wayne

 

Did u try pulling up on the hood after you pulled the relize mine does that sometimes u have to give it a good pull

 

My hood wouldn't open when I first got the car either. My cable casing was rotted through, so the cable was loose..wasn't pulling enough. Just got underneath it and tightened it up. If it is a cable problem, you can just crawl underneath the car, reach up, and pull.. Hey, worked for me until I tightened the sucker up.

 

Hi Wayne,
This is my problem, too.
Age & stretching, need an adjustment to tighten back up.
I handle mine by pushing down on the latching area on the hood, that releases/springs open my hood.
My car came to me with this special optional dented hood from previous owner.
New spring, huh?

------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA

 

Ok sorry if this is a double post , i hit a button and it just disappeared . Anyway , Im going to mess with it today .I'll have to update ya'll later .Thanx as always .

 

Well guys , I just washed my car and I pulled the lever to pop the hood , it popped just fine , I did it three times and worked just fine . I've been having trouble for 3 weeks , you would know that when I try it today (so i can fix it ) it does not do it
Wayne

 

Replace the spring. You'll see it on the hood. The hood latch doesn't open up all the when you pull the release cable. So it needs the presure from the spring to pop it the rest of the way. this was done to help prevent the hood from flying open on accident. The spring gets "soft" over the years and doesn't have enough push to it any more.

 

HEY i HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MY 91 RS, THE SPRING IS WEAK AND WHAT I DID UNTIL I CAN GET A NEW ONE WAS ADJUST THE TWO RUBBER HOOD STOPS. THERE IS ONE ON EACH CORNER OF THE CAR WHERE THE HOOD RESTS ON. IT WORKS WELL.

 

I didn't think of that. Before I got my car it was in a front end crash. So the hood sits a little low. Mabye i should adjust them DUHH!

 

one thing that has worked on both of mine is bending the latch hook on the pin further out. Ok thats hard to understand.

bend the Release hook where it meets the Pinion shaft(they tend to be stright on one side and the other bends in) bringing the two sides togeather. When this happens the hook cannot pivot on the shaft very well. I don't know if that makes a difference or not but after I bend the thing back the hood pops up with the release cable(for a while anyway until it bends back).

 

I was wondering if it would be possible to purchase a new one of these cables if I am not able to find one at a local junk yard?

If so, would anyone happen to know the p/n offhand?

Thanks!

 

Try putting some all purpose grease on the release mechanism under the hood. Had the exact same problem. Worked for me.

 

Usuall what happens is the cable stretches. At least that's what happened on mine

 

thanks for the advice, but the casing on my cable has actually cracked and snapped in half! It happened right by the battery, and from my search results, this seems to be a popular thing...?

edit: w00t, my 700th post! yes, I know, hardly none compared to most of you guys!

 

My cable is totally busted. The little metal thingy that clamps onto the end of the cable broke off. I have to replace the whole thing. Right now I have to crawl under the car pop it by hand. Even after i pull the latch to the side, it still doesn't fully pop open so I have to do the bang thing on the driver side of the hood. I also found that grabbing the hood where the headlights go and giving a couple of good ol' pulls.

 

I gotta replace mine 2 mine is cracked and frayed.

 

I've found on mine that the cable has stretched. There is a little clamped on thing on the end of the cable that goes through the hood latch and pulls the little lever....anyhow, there is about 1/2" extra space in between the lever and the clamp that pulls on the lever. I need some sort of spacer in between there so there is no 'play' in the cable.....Ok, dont laugh, but I'm thinking something of the sort of fishing weights, the kind you clamp onto the line. I can see why some poeple may not want that tho, as it will add more weight to your car, sacrificing your 1/4mile times.

 

OMG a whole extra oz of weight what should we do. If it works it works no one will know. Just dont go eating a burger before the big race that 1/4 of meet will slow you down .000000000000000000001 of a second.

 

I was serious about the weight idea but that thing about the weight slowing you down was only meant in sarcasm.

 

thanks for the input guys, but mine is not a matter of being stretched or anything, the caseing for the ling is CRACKED in half and the line will not funciton anymore.

so anyhow I went over to a local GM parts warehouse and put one on order. Hopefully it'll be the right thing! I will let you know the part number when I pick it up next week!

 

welp I got my hood cable replacement and installed it tonight. It wasn't too bad to do. It was kinda hard to get at the gromlet (spelling?) in the firewall, but after that was done, and then installed it back in and replaced the gromlet again it was pretty much cake!

The part number on the invoice I got back is:
SP0010189314

Decription was:
Cable Asm

Price was $25.26

 

Thanks for the part #! I scored my cable from a junkyard; my cable was eaten away by battery acid (right in the corner against the framerail). Fun fact; by the grommet is where leaves usually pile up in a junkyard car- and that leads to rust. So just take a screwdriver to the sheetmetal around the grommet on the parts car, and push hard- youll bust thru the firewall and can easily pull the cable assembly out of the junkyard car.

It sure beats laying in the grass/sand/who-knows-what-is-growing-on-the-carpet of a junkyard trying to get a grommet out!

Also check the rubber bumpers on the radiator support- these add a slight bit of upper pressure to the hood to help the latch "pop". Keeping "charged" gas struts on the hood will also help the latch pop up. (Dead struts = hood won't pop up = using your fist on the front of the hood)