98 S70 Stuck hood, broken hood "thing"

[theWIFES_S70]

Hey MrAl, I read on here, somewhere, that some guys have had luck with the right thickness and density of foam in the right place to push up on the hood. I don't see where that would go... Thanks JRL, I'll give that a go as soon as my wife comes back. I like the idea of a spring though! I am going to replace the cable soon and I really hope this takes care of this problem. And you hit the nail on the head, the previous owner was a big meatloaf of a guy. When I purchased the car, he ripped the hood open. I was never able to open the hood so I'm pretty sure he broke it.

[MrAl]

Hi again theWIFES,

That's interesting to hear because i thought that if the cable snapped or something else went wrong that there would be no way to open the hood at all, so i measured the placement of the catch thingies in case i had to drill to get to them. A hole in the right place in the hood would allow a screwdriver to go down into the latch and release it i think.
But if you can pull up on it hard and break the mounts, that might actually be better because then there is no damage to the hood itself that would be visible once everything is fixed up right again.

The hoods on these things are just so ridiculous. It's amazing how stupid some designers of some things can be sometimes.

[abscate]

Its a different philosophy in Europe. The concept is, when it starts to get hard to pull the wire handle, instead of just pulling harder, you lube the locks, and if that doesn't make it easier, you replace the cable.

If you take your BMW into the Teutonic Tantric Theater with a broken hood cable..the look at you and say "Why did you break the cable?"



Of course, Lexus dealer apologies profusely for the failure, fixes it free, then goes back and laughs at you for paying 50k for a Toyota...

[theWIFES_S70]

I couldn't sworn I read that the only way to open the hood if the cable snaps is by breaking a side light? I thought I read that somewhere. I can't seem to find it now. Hahaha, Steve, you're crazy. But yes, we need to be gentle with our cables... oh so gentle...

[MrAl]

I couldn't sworn I read that the only way to open the hood if the cable snaps is by breaking a side light? I thought I read that somewhere. I can't seem to find it now. Hahaha, Steve, you're crazy. But yes, we need to be gentle with our cables... oh so gentle...

Hi,

Yeah i thought i saw that somewhere too, but then again i am not too keen on breaking a side light either
Unless it can be repaired easily.

[JimBee]

I probably mentioned that in a similar discussion a while ago. On my 850's, I have installed a safety cable that snakes down from each latch to below the radiator in case the main cable should break.

While doing that, I studied the latch trip arm and posted that if you know where the arm is located you can pull the corner light out, cut the spring or just break the lug that holds the light's retainer spring, then get a screw driver or some sort of pry tool onto it through that hole and trip the latch.

The problem is locating it, it's tough to see. In a couple of hours I'll go out and see if I can get a picture of it so you might be able to give it a shot. It's a stinky problem and you have my sympathy.

[JimBee]

Well I should have read the thread from page 1. Seems like your main cable and the cross cable are both in tact, so both latches are probably tripping. Like JRL said you need to be able to pop it.

My '96 850 had a stuck latch when I bought it. A local shop guy dropped his weight hard with palms of his hands on the hood over the latch while I pulled the cable release, then he pulled up hard on the edge of the hood. It took a couple of times but it released. That might work. The latch might be a little stuck or the hood part could be jammed in the latch even though the latch is releasing.

[MrAl]

I probably mentioned that in a similar discussion a while ago. On my 850's, I have installed a safety cable that snakes down from each latch to below the radiator in case the main cable should break.

While doing that, I studied the latch trip arm and posted that if you know where the arm is located you can pull the corner light out, cut the spring or just break the lug that holds the light's retainer spring, then get a screw driver or some sort of pry tool onto it through that hole and trip the latch.

The problem is locating it, it's tough to see. In a couple of hours I'll go out and see if I can get a picture of it so you might be able to give it a shot. It's a stinky problem and you have my sympathy.

Hello there JimBee,

I am interested in your first solution, actually very interested. That's where you said you connected a cable from each latch down to below the radiator in case the main cable should break. I would like to do that too so you think you can provide a little more detail? A pic would be really really nice

I wanted to do something too in case i ever have a problem so i dont have to drill the hood or something. That would be quite a pain and then i'd have to install two of those racing lock latches (one on each side of the hood) and i didnt really want to have to go through all that trouble. I was once thinking of doing that to eliminate the silly volvo latches right from the start, but it means drilling the hood so i delayed that mod for now.

Thanks for any additional info you can supply.

[abscate]

It's a lot easier just to put five drops of oil onto each latch four times a year. If the cable is tight after this, pull it out and try the drip lube trick, if that doesn't work replace it, and mark you calendar in 2026 to inspect again

[MrAl]

It's a lot easier just to put five drops of oil onto each latch four times a year. If the cable is tight after this, pull it out and try the drip lube trick, if that doesn't work replace it, and mark you calendar in 2026 to inspect again

Hello there,

Did that already so i was looking for a second safety method in case all else fails.
If you have another idea that would be interesting too.