Hood won't open!!! Help needed, please!

[raymondc]

This is a 98 Explorer Limited. This afternoon, I tried to pup up the hood by pulling the hood switch under the steering wheel. But no matter how hard I pulled it, the hood just would not pop up.

The metal string connected to the switch is loosen, but the hood just would not open. I am wondering whether anyon here has experienced the same situation before? If you have, how did you solve the problem?

Any suggestion is welcome!

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Thats easy, take some pliers and pull the cable that attaches to the lever. Pull like hell and it will pop. The cable gets stretched out, get a replacement from the dealer and replace it. Wont cost much and worth the effort.

 

[RedXplr]

The same problem is happening to me as well. Have someone push down on the hood as you pull the lever, this will help lessen the tension and hopefully allow you to open the hood. This is only a temp. fix, but it will work...

 

[CodePoet]

Had a similar problem with mine when i got it. After I got it open i sprayed some lube in the latch mechnism it's worked great since. It was actually painful for me to open the hood it was so sticky.

 

[nazcardan]

I had this happen to me awhile back on our 96... first i just thought the cable was loose... as my luck would have it-- wasnt that easy... all you have to do is take a flat head screwdriver and angle it into the bottom of the hood latch just under the top of the grill and on the drivers side, there is a very small opening there... works best if you use a slim and thin headed flat screwdriver... gently insert into the opening and slowly pry it open. Once you do it a couple times its a cinch.

I found out what happened on mine and took about 10 minutes (and a trip to the salvage yard for a used cable $5) to fix.

Hope this helps.