Hood Release Lever Very Stiff

[MattMPA]

As the title, suggests...the hood release lever is hard to pull on my 2016 Police Utility. Even if the hood is open...it's stiff.

I ordered a new cable, and today removed the latch. The existing cable seems to be free. I cleaned, oiled and greased the latch...put it back in the car. Lever is stiff again.

Is it possible the latch is worn, broken, etc?

 

[J_C]

?? What do you expect to gain from a new cable? If it's not broken or stretched beyond limits, I don't see the point. Perhaps I'm overlooking something.

If it is very cold, avoid high viscosity grease as that can get hard. Doesn't seem to be an alignment issue with hood loop if still stiff with the hood open.

How long have you owned it, was it always very stiff or this is a recent development that didn't exist last winter?

Is there evidence that a prior owner did something screwy like spray grease down into the cable sheath? If so then put some aerosol spray can oil into it and work the lever a few times to mix the oil in, and it may still take a while to fully soften the grease. If too high a viscosity grease was added by a 3rd party previously, odds are that this only got a little grease in the end so not like you'd have to flush the whole cable out.

Also inspect the run of cable to make sure that it's not pinched somewhere.

I suppose it's also possible the latch is defective, like a rivet put in too tight so nothing to adjust? Is there some cable exposed that you could pull on with pliers to see if the latch itself has high resistance? Even if not, usually (making a mental image, not specific to this particular latch), pushing on it with a screwdriver may indicate how much force is needed to move it.

I can't imagine it being worn out to this state in this few # of years unless you see a heavy amount of rust.

 

[MattMPA]

?? What do you expect to gain from a new cable? If it's not broken or stretched beyond limits, I don't see the point. Perhaps I'm overlooking something.

If it is very cold, avoid high viscosity grease as that can get hard. Doesn't seem to be an alignment issue with hood loop if still stiff with the hood open.

How long have you owned it, was it always very stiff or this is a recent development that didn't exist last winter?

Is there evidence that a prior owner did something screwy like spray grease down into the cable sheath? If so then put some aerosol spray can oil into it and work the lever a few times to mix the oil in, and it may still take a while to fully soften the grease. If too high a viscosity grease was added by a 3rd party previously, odds are that this only got a little grease in the end so not like you'd have to flush the whole cable out.

Also inspect the run of cable to make sure that it's not pinched somewhere.

I suppose it's also possible the latch is defective, like a rivet put in too tight so nothing to adjust? Is there some cable exposed that you could pull on with pliers to see if the latch itself has high resistance? Even if not, usually (making a mental image, not specific to this particular latch), pushing on it with a screwdriver may indicate how much force is needed to move it.

I can't imagine it being worn out to this state in this few # of years unless you see a heavy amount of rust.

Originally, I found that the cable was very stiff regardless of the hood being open, or latched. Hence, my assumption...and my local tech's assumption. When I disconnected the cable, by removing the latch...the lever pulls easily.

Ive only owned this utility for 6 months or so. It's been stiff from day one.

Cable looks clean and free of rust, etc. I can find no evidence of it being kinked. I agree about the wear.

When removed from the vehicle, the latch seems to work freely. I pulled the spring, thoroughly cleaned, lubricated, reassembled. Perhaps the latch has always been stiff and is simply made incorrectly.

I suppose I need to remove the latch again, but leave it connected to see if it's still stiff. Will do that today. I didn't do that yesterday, as it all seemed OK before putting back together.

 

[MattMPA]

Update> Took the car to a friend's body shop today. We pulled the latch again...seems fine.

Then, we put tension on the "latch" side of the cable and pulled the lever. Very stiff. We did the same on the new cable with similar results. Here's the rub...when you put any bend in the new cable, it gets stiff like the existing cable. Now, when I say "tension", it was only held with two fingers.

Looking at the latch handle...looks like the design could be better. Seems to initially pull down on the cable, and there's little leverage. I also have a 2018 SHO and that hood latch is much easier to pull. Must be routed differently.

Next time I go to the dealership, I'm going to see if other Explorers of the same vintage are the same.

 

[J_C]

I don't know if anything changed between 2014 and 2016 but my hood release doesn't seem any stiffer, doesn't require any more tension than I'd consider normal.

 

[MattMPA]

I don't know if anything changed between 2014 and 2016 but my hood release doesn't seem any stiffer, doesn't require any more tension than I'd consider normal.

Thanks. I'm gonna swap out my cable just to eliminate that much. I have no other vehicle that's this tough.

 

[Crates]

My ‘14 recently started having the same issue. It’s so stuff I’m afraid it might break the latch handle at some point. Keep us updated.

 

[MattMPA]

Well guys, a bit of an update. My latch release is working easier this morning. Of course, it’s the morning I came down to replace the cable.

When I stopped at a friends body shop last week with the truck, we looked at the latch and the cable. As previously mentioned, we found that any tension on the end of the cable caused it to seem tight.

We pulled the cable, with the latch removed, as far out as we could. We then slid it through the hole in a piece of cardboard to retain it vertically. We then dripped lubricant on the cable and worked it back-and-forth many times. I believe it was marvel air tool oil. I didn’t notice much if any difference at the time, but now it’s dramatically better.

So for now, I’m going to leave it be. We will see if it gets better. I plan on doing carpet in this truck when the weather breaks and that might be a better time to do this cable with the seats removed. I assume that’ll be easier access. I’ll keep you all in the loop.