94 XLT hood stuck closed, please help.

I have a 94 XLT with about 130k miles on it. She has been working just fine for me, but recently the battery died. Easy enough, right?

The problem I am having is that I cannot open the hood. I pulled the lever inside, and it popped open, but the safety latch under the grill will not move at all. Alternatively, I cannot close the hood back to its fully locked position.

It is very unlikely that the problem is rust (the car has been in the desert for the past 6 years) but cannot imagine what else to do. Is this a common problem with the vehicles, or have I screwed this one up pretty bad? Any help is beyond appreciated.

Thanks,
Alex

wd 40

i had the same prob, even w/checking the oil all the time, it just got stuck all the time. After spraying some wd40 on it works fine, try to spray some on there from underneath, might be tricky to get it on there but once you do it should be ok, unless something is broke or jammed. I found that when it was stuck i would just try to work the hood around a little to get it to free up. push down on it, try to lift it up, that kind of thing. good luck.

It also helps to have an extra person. One stays in the car pulling the lever, and the other jockeys the hood up and down while trying to unlatch it.

Welcome to the site..
Like most cable system (ie Emergency Brake) the latch mechanism will begin to stick when it doesn't get used much. You can spray some penetrating oil into the latch mechanism and then use a screwdriver and pop the latch with the manual release (pictured below). Stick the screwdriver into the release and work it up and to the right. Normally when you do this you'll hear it pop as the latch opens. If the release moves but still doesn't pop open the latch is most likely sticking itself (ie the release did it's job, but the latch spring is too weak to pop upen the latch). So try pushing up and down gently on the hood to help the spring out...

BTW anyone reading this should try it out first so they can see how it is supposed to work. That way you'll know what to expect if it every happens to you..

The latch could be sticking due to rust or accumulated dust sticking to the grease and eventually jamming the mechanism. Once the hood is open you can help free up the latch by manually working it open and closed. The latch could be sticking due to rust or accumulated dust sticking to the grease and eventually jamming the mechanism. In any case Spray a penetration oil like PB Blaster in the latch and let it soak in for a while.

1) Use a hammer or large screwdriver to manually close the latch.
2) Use the manual release and open the latch.

If the latch is really sticking badly then only close it half way then open it up again (this prevents you from having to use the manual release). Keep doing this and you'll gradually feel the mechanism getting freed up. Once it moves freely then spray in some lithium grease to lubricate it.

scrap it and get hood pins. thats what i did.

Sorry to bring this back up but I need help.

I have a '92 and the hood rusted shut. I wd40'd it and tried to pop the manual release as described above, but something is different. The manual release (at least what I think is the manual release) is difficult to get to and hard to pop. Anyone have a suggestion for this?

Thanks

Your 92 is the same hood latch as my 94. The manual release is through the radiator opening, not on top of the radiator frame (you don't stick your hand between the hood / grill you go in the grill)

If that's the one, just keep wd-40ing. I had to go inside & pop, spray & work the lever. Close the hood down. Repeat a lot of times.

Walter

My 1996 Ford Ranger recently needed a new bulb for it's headlight. I opened it up, did my thing, and then closed it, but it won't fully latch. When I slam it, it's latched, but sorta like after pulling the latch under the steering wheel to pop the hood (ie, you can lift up on the hood and reach under there to unlatch it to open it) I can open it just fine, what do you guys recommend me trying?

thanks for any help

bso_cards said:

My 1996 Ford Ranger recently needed a new bulb for it's headlight. I opened it up, did my thing, and then closed it, but it won't fully latch. When I slam it, it's latched, but sorta like after pulling the latch under the steering wheel to pop the hood (ie, you can lift up on the hood and reach under there to unlatch it to open it) I can open it just fine, what do you guys recommend me trying?

thanks for any help

Click to expand...

Sounds like the primary latching mechanism isn't latching could be broken, or just jammed with corrosion or crud.. I would spray it done with penetrating oil to help free it up.. I would then try and work the latch mechanism manually, or by opening and closing the hood..

Does anyone know how to reach the manual release for the latch on a '98 Mountaineer? TIA.

I must have gotten lucky with mine today! My cable was froze. No matter how hard I pulled on it, it would not budge! The plastic handle started breaking I was pulling so hard. I tried to find the manual release latch, no good. With the hood fully shut, I could not see it, find it or even get close to it.

Thinking that it was stretched from age, I simply unbolted the interior plastic grab handle from the underside of the dash. It was now laying on the floor. I pulled the slack out, gave it a firm tug, and the hood popped open! Woo Hoo!

Now that i had it open, I sprayed the heck out of it with WD-40. Now just in case this happened again, I took the wire handle off a 1 gallon paint can, looped one end and crimped it real good with pliers around the manual release tab. Fed the other end to the opening in the grill. I fashioned a larger loop with that end and left it tucked in the grill opening. Now I tried it a few times, and it worked like a dream.

Cost of wire from paint can--$0.00

Cost of repair--$0.00

Cost of not swearing,not kicking the fender in, not hitting it with a BFH, and making things worse--Priceless!!

Update: It's been 8 months, and the wire mod still works as good s the 1st day I installed it. I don't even bother with the interior handle anymore.

gmanpaint said:

...Now just in case this happened again, I took the wire handle off a 1 gallon paint can, looped one end and crimped it real good with pliers. Fed the other end to the opening in the grill. I fashioned a larger loop with that end and left it tucked in the grill opening. Now I tried it a few times, and it worked like a dream...

Click to expand...

Sweet. . I think I will do the same one of these days. You never now when you're going to need it.

I've just been bit by this hood latch bug. I'm looking at the picture from DeRocha above that appears to be from a '95 or older Explorer, but I'm just not seeing the same thing. Mine doesn't appear to have that manual release in the same spot. Does anyone have another pic they can post?

I can tell you that the hood release cable is still attached and actuating since I can feel it when it's pulled from the inside of the passenger compartment. I'm hoping that when things warm up later this week that it releases.

barberjb said:

I've just been bit by this hood latch bug. I'm looking at the picture from DeRocha above that appears to be from a '95 or older Explorer, but I'm just not seeing the same thing. Mine doesn't appear to have that manual release in the same spot. Does anyone have another pic they can post?

I can tell you that the hood release cable is still attached and actuating since I can feel it when it's pulled from the inside of the passenger compartment. I'm hoping that when things warm up later this week that it releases.

Click to expand...

The pic is from a 2nd gen explorer but the release is the same on my '93.. You can try spraying the entire mechanism with PB plaster or penetration oil and then pushing down on the hood directly above it to help free it. Having a helper pull on the hood release handle inside the vehicle while you push up/down on the hood will work even better..