Help! Hood release won't work

[Chris]

Hi guys,

I went to pop my hood to add a little coolant today and nothing happened when pulling the release. There was no resistance when pulling the release.

Went and looked under the front of the car - the cable is still in tact, and moves when the release is pulled. Just nothing happens.

I searched the forum and found the suggestion that maybe the spring wasn't popping the hood up. Tried pulling up on the hood while the release was being pulled to no avail.

I also tried using needlenose pliers to pull the cable, but didn't have any success.

Do you have any suggestions? Or even a diagram of the release mechanism that may allow me to get the hood open? The car is a '93 STS.

Thanks for your time!

[Cadillac Jim]

It sounds like your hood release cable core is broken, or has come loose on the other end. In the 1997 FSM pages 10-5-2 through 10-5-4, the section Remove Primary Latch begins "1. Open hood" which is less than helpful here.

Figure 3 on page 10-5-3 shows the cable routing. It comes over from above the headlight on the driver's side to the hood latch near the top. I suggest that you raise the car on a lift or put it on jack stands and remove the tar paper debris shield between the front frame cross-member and the bottom of the bumper. You should be able to reach up and open the hood latch from below. Then you can do the repairs on the cable or latch as required.

[Texas Jim]

This may or may not help, but...

I have had cars that the hood would sometimes get kinda STUCK.

I would have to push DOWN on the front of the hood, to get it to release, while someone else pulled the handle on the inside of the car.

[Cadillac Jim]

Yeah, I would sure try Texas Jim's idea first. You hold down the hood while someone pulls the hood release from inside the car, and kinda bounce on it a little -- maybe thump a little. Only you can be counted on not to dimple the hood.

[Chris]

Hey, thanks a lot for both of your help!

We managed to get it open with both of your suggestions - while one was under the car pulling on the exposed part of the cable, the other pushed/pulled on the hood.

Popped almost right away!

I took the vanity cover thing off, closed the hood, and taught myself to fully release the hood from under the car by myself.

Also sprayed some WD-40 on the assembly.

Luckily for me, I hopefully won't ever have to release it by myself from under the hood - the in-car hood release lever works again! Looks like the mechanism was just a little sticky.

Thanks again for your quick replies Jim & Jim!

[Ranger]

I took the vanity cover thing off

Huh? What vanity cover?

[Cadillac Jim]

That tar paper cover between the bottom of the bumper and the first cross-member protects the A/C condenser and power steering cooler from road debris. Don't drive on the highway without it or you will develop pinhole leaks in both, which will eventually force yo to replace the A/C evaporator.

[Chris]

I took the vanity cover thing off

Huh? What vanity cover?

That tar paper cover between the bottom of the bumper and the first cross-member protects the A/C condenser and power steering cooler from road debris. Don't drive on the highway without it or you will develop pinhole leaks in both, which will eventually force yo to replace the A/C evaporator.

Uh-oh... I didn't have a tar paper cover under the car.

The cover i was referring to is the black plastic one that covers the rad, headlight access, etc. (see photo of Bruce's old STS below). I removed it so that I could reach up from below and push up on the hood.

[Cadillac Jim]

The one on the bottom is intended to control airflow through the radiator as well as protect the A/C condenser and PS cooler from road debris; without it the car may overheat under some conditions. I don't know what the one on the top is supposed to do but I suspect that it has something to do with air flow control too. Without it, air can flow over the top of the radiator instead of through it, for example.

I don't think it is a good idea to throw away anything on the car unless you really understand what it does, which can be very difficult without somebody like the guru to tell; it won't be in the FSM or owner's manual. For example, the "beauty cover" over the fuel injection of the 1995 and up Northstars is intended to control noise, but it also keep the very high underhood heat out of the FI, which will help performance and probably gas mileage.

We once had a filling station "tune up" my wife's car by throwing away the air cleaner element. Many years ago I referred to a "Texas tune-up" as putting in some used spark plugs and throwing away the air cleaner and hub caps. That might be OK on a high school kid's 1948 Plymouth which is headed to the junkyard in a year or two but it's not good policy with a digitally controlled sensor-driven drivetrain like the Northstar system and other drive trains seen in just about all modern cars.

[Chris]

I suspect youre right that the cover is to control airflow. I only took it off until I was sure that I would be able to open the hood by myself.

As for the tar paper, I don't remember ever having it... Not too worried about the AC, but hopefully the pwr steering cooler will be ok another year or so.

Thanks again for your help!

[Ranger]

I believe BOTH of those air dams, deflectors or whatever they are called are the to ensure that air flows through the condenser & radiator and not over or under them.