Hood release cable broken - With Fix | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Hood release cable broken - With Fix

SkanlaxJMO

Explorer Addict
Joined
September 30, 2005
Messages
3,085
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City, State
Syracuse, New York
Year, Model & Trim Level
96 XLT
well guys....my hood release cable has been giving me trouble for a long time and it quit again two days ago. So i did the old trick of pulling the cable with my hands and it worked so that i could jump my truck(my parents didnt drive it while i was away at school so the battery was dead :thumbdwn:). So today i was going to fix the hood struts so i could stop using a lacrosse shaft to hold the hood up, and while i was at it i was going to change the oil....so i went to open my hood with the old "reach around" :p but the cable came undone. Or snapped i can't tell. Not in the middle either all the way at the end of the mechanism. I can see the little end when the cable should be looped but it appears to have slipped through. So can anyone give me any ideas on how the hell to get this thing open? :mad:
 



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Sawzall. lol

Seriously though, that sucks. I would like to know the best way to get it open also for future reference.
 






yeah i might go to the junk yard tomorrow and get a new mechnism and a cable...then go to town with my angle grinder.
 






open hood

i had to help a buddy with his 99 hood. get a long flat screwdriver and a flashlight, look thru the grill from the pass. side of center to see the mech. towards the bottom back of it you will see were the cable should be, slide the screwdriver thru the grill and push towards the driverside. it will take some time to figure it out if you are not sure what you are looking for.
 






thanks man...ill try it first thing tomorrow
 






any more hints???....i just spent an hour trying to figure out where it goes...and i still cant find it.
 






ok guys i got it...actually right after i posted that last message. What i did was reach around the back of the mechanism till i felt the little lever/knob that the hood release is on then i stuck a flathead behind it and pushed...thanks guys for all your help
 






I am having this same prolem with my 2001 mountaineer. Do I pull on the cable from the inside of it? or do I go through the front grill with the screwdriver? i was afraid to pull on it too hard that i may cause damage in another area?
 






I am having this same prolem with my 2001 mountaineer. Do I pull on the cable from the inside of it? or do I go through the front grill with the screwdriver? i was afraid to pull on it too hard that i may cause damage in another area?

Depends where yours broke. Mine broke way out by the mechanism under the hood, just like this post. This is what I figured out on my own as well.
 






If its just difficult to pull, have someone push down on the hood while you pull the handle. That worked for me until my cable broke. May I suggest lubricating the cable when you do get it opened? Go to a motorcycle dealership and ask them for cable lube. It comes in a very small tube with a needle on the end. Works wonders. Also lube the mechanism under the hood, I used lithium grease.
 






PLEASE HELP! :( i am having the same problem with my 2001 Ford Explorer Sport, my batteries dead, the keys are in the car, and i cant open the hood, :( is there a manual release on the 2001 Sport? if so where is it?? i cant find it anywhere :(
 






Your sport has the exact same setup as what you will read here. Good luck, and have patience.
 






PLEASE HELP! :( i am having the same problem with my 2001 Ford Explorer Sport, my batteries dead, the keys are in the car, and i cant open the hood, :( is there a manual release on the 2001 Sport? if so where is it?? i cant find it anywhere :(


If you have a spare remote that (normally) works on the truck, attach a set of jumper cables... the positive to the large terminal on the starter and the ground to the frame rail, and that should power the truck well enough to get the truck unlocked and pop the hood.
 






If you have a spare remote that (normally) works on the truck, attach a set of jumper cables... the positive to the large terminal on the starter and the ground to the frame rail, and that should power the truck well enough to get the truck unlocked and pop the hood.

I'm having a similar problem where this might help--manual door locks are all frozen/broken, but remote/keypad works fine. Light left on truck, so I can't get inside to release hood to jump it. Is the best way maybe to use a screwdriver to release the mechanism, maybe pull the cable, or maybe hook the jumper cable to the starter as this post suggests?

Is it easy to find the starter to attach a jumper cable to it?
 






I tried to replace the striker bolt on my 1995 Explorer rear driver side door and the nut fell into the cavity. I tried poking around with a magnet with no luck. Is there a way to recover the nut?
 






Damn, I hate when my nuts get stuck in a cavity. My suggestion: lots of lube.
 






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