i have a 92 da and i cant get the hood to release… cable is intact. i tried to pull it with vice grips and no luck… how can i open the hood without doing damage?
jack up the front end. remove the driver wheel, then look for that hood release cable. then use some pliers or something and yank on it. that’ll prolly cause some binding (obviously) afterwards. but if that can get the hood open, then just replace the cable with a known good one or a new one. aside from that… u could try getting a prybar or something and “help” it up when u do pull on the cable. it would be very hard to reach anything from thru the front bumper, but if u rip the plastic shield away from the hood latch, then it might be possible. but i suggest trying to get that cable to do it with the use of a prybar/screwdriver.
thank … i’ll let you know how it turns out.
I am probably thinking something weird here but for some reason I keep thinking if you pull the bumper off you can unbolt the hood latch with a small ratcheting wrench. Or am I just crazy? (I can’t go look at the car right now)
i’m not sure if i can get to all the bolts for the bumper with the hood shut… idk… but i’m open to all ideas…
yup, jack up the front, remove the tire and the fender liner. Carjackers do this a lot, and the cable running behind the liner was a weak feature of the DA.
the cable is still connected on both ends. inside and under the hood… it is off track under the hood where it pulls the release latch… is there any way to trip the latch under the hood?
so are u saying it got disconnected from the latch which is directly under the hood? cuz u say its still connected on both ends, then u also say its off track… its a cable, it doesn’t exactly have a track. there is a bracket that kind keeps it in place, but no track that i know of. and if u really have to release the latch u’d have to somehow get the bumper cover out of the way.
it is connected on both ends. there is a guide on the hood latch that the cable goes thru. the cable has a lil rubber boot that allows the cable to move inside the black tube. the rubber boot is off of the guide so the cable doesnt move thru the tube… does that make any sesne?
I think what’s happening is the cable sleeve or the outer tube in which the cable runs through is torn, and you don’t have tension on the latch end of the cable for the cable to work properly. You need to anchor the ends of the outer cable in order for the cable to do its job, otherwise whatever movement you made by pulling on the cable on the cabin side is not translated to movement on the latch side due to the cable flopping around.
thanks for all the input and advice. i took off the front bumper and the took of the whole latch. it was gunked up real bad and wouldnt move. the springs were worn out also. so i cleaned it up real good and replaced the springs. it is working like new again… now i have to wash and wax the bad boy to get it cleaned up.