a few 1995 850 problems

[bottlecap]

hi, hope someone can help me out. here's the two problems i've had with my 1995 850.

1) hood won't open. i have no idea how this happened, but the latches on either side of the car release when the handle under the dash is pulled. the center latch, however, will not release. no matter how far a lift the hood or how hard i pull on the plastic lever, it just won't disengage. it worked fine last week.

anyone know how to get this thing to open? i've tried pushing it back towards the engine with a screwdriver through the grill, and also pulling it foreword after threading string through it with a coat hanger. just no luck, it doesn't even budge.

i've taken a close look at the grill and the front of the hood and it looks to be dented in slightly. i'm not sure what the condition used to be as i bought it used a few months ago. i'm thinking that it was hit in a parking lot or something. the hood also seems to be on crooked, as the spacing on each side is different. this was not the case, however, when i bought the car as i specifically checked to make sure the hood was on evenly. it's a good way to tell if the car's been involved in an accident as the hood almost never gets put on correctly.

2) car stalls in rain and won't start 'til it's dry. this does happen in the cold on occasion also. i'm thinking this is due to faulty plug wires, spark plugs, or a dist cap and i plan to replace them... once i can get under the hood that is. it's not the starter or the battery as both are brand new. the car stalls and won't start because of misfiring cylinders. while the hood was still working i checked the fault codes, three of the five cylinders were misfiring. again this only happens when the car is wet.

any ideas? anyone think i'm on the right track in thinking it to be an electrical problem and replacing the plugs, plug wires, and/or dist cap?

thanks to anyone who can help!
-mike

[matthew1]

Can't help with the hood.
Click the search link, at the top of this page, and type in '850' and 'stall' or 'stalling', without the quotes. You'll get some hits on those experiences.