What to do if the hood won’t open?
If the hood won’t open, it’s easy to ignore this problem until you need to get under the hood for some reason. However, there are times when you absolutely have to do it, so you shouldn’t put it off for long.
If you try to fix the problem yourself, we recommend that you diagnose the problem as soon as possible. That way, you can order parts if necessary and solve the problem.
However, if you decide to leave it to the professionals, make an appointment with a trusted repair shop right away. That way, you won’t have to get under the hood and you won’t end up in an emergency.
How to Manually Open a Stuck Hood
If you can’t get inside, it may seem impossible to figure out what’s going on and fix the problem. That’s true. You can’t diagnose the problem if you can’t get inside. The good news is that it’s possible to get under the hood even if the latch, release handle, or release cable is faulty.
However, if the problem is the result of an accident, it will be much more difficult to get inside. In fact, we strongly recommend taking your car to a professional unless you have experience with auto body work or don’t worry about further damage to your hood.
Whether the latch, release handle, or release cable is broken, you should still be extremely careful when trying to open the hood to avoid damaging the front of the vehicle. First, use a flat head screwdriver that fits under the hood opening or on the grille.
You’ll need to find the latch and use the screwdriver to open it. It will take some force to push the spring open the latch, but it shouldn’t take much unless there is a lot of rust holding the latch in place.
You can also find the cable release button inside the car and pull it with pliers to open the hood. However, this only works if the latch is slightly stuck or if you can reach the broken part of the cable.
However, this is a good solution if the tension on the release cable is too low, as you can pull it longer than with a traditional release handle.
