Hood Latch won't release hood.

[bstone]

Went to pop my hood today, pulled the latch beneath the steering column heard a small click and nothing... Hood didn't pop up and now I can't get it open. When I pull the cable, there is a tiny click coming from what sounds to be more of the front toward the actual latch itself. I crawled under the drivers side floor area and inspected the cable, seems fine and not broken of any sort.

I need to get into my engine compartment, anyone know how I can manually do this? Also has anyone experienced the same problem, if so what was the fix?

Thanks.

 

[Mike&Ike]

Have someone pull the lever while you smack your hood above the latch or pull up on it. When open spray some silicone lubricant on the latch.

 

[bstone]

Have someone pull the lever while you smack your hood above the latch or pull up on it. When open spray some silicone lubricant on the latch.

Tried that already and nothing... is there a way in otherwise?

 

[02_SE_Runner]

I may be overthinking this, but take your bumper off, then if possible grill, the try to unlatch it there.

 

[IntrstlarOvrdrve]

So..I'm bumping a pretty old thread but I need help here and can't seem to figure out if I'm missing something?

Went to pop my hood (dead battery:mmph and had the same problem as the OP, heard a click but the hood didn't pop up. Looked at the cable inside of the cabin and it's fine, so had my brother pull up on the hood while I pulled the release on the inside and the hood opened. Tried shutting it and opening it a few more times to exercise the latch but still the same problem. I looked at the hood itself and I don't see a spring to push the hood up. Is that something that I'm missing?? I can't see where it would have actually gone, but I'm used to cars having a spring to push the hood up.

 

[mtbtim]

There is no spring that helps lift the hood on our trucks. You have to use your muscles. If you want it to stay open without holding it, unclip the metal bar with the hook on the end on the front of your engine and insert it into the hole on the hood thus propping it up.

As for the sticking latch. Spray some WD-40 or other lubricant into the latch area and that will fix your problem. Now, I'm not talking the latch inside the cabin of your truck. I'm talking where the bar on the hood locks into the mechanism on the top front of your engine compartment. Spray a good deal of lubricant in there, then close and open the hood a few times to exercise the lubricant into all the moving parts.

 

[IntrstlarOvrdrve]

Thanks!

Yeah, I meant a spring where the hood latch is. I've really only had GM trucks up until this point and all of them had a little spring that pushed the hood up when I pulled the latch. Something like this is what I'm talking about:

I tried spraying some white lithium grease in the latch assembly and opening/closing it a few dozen times with no luck. Guess I'll try again when I get a second set of hands.

 

[SpidermanGeek]

I tried spraying some white lithium grease in the latch assembly and opening/closing it a few dozen times with no luck. Guess I'll try again when I get a second set of hands.

First, degrease the entire assembling and then drown/soak it in penetrating oil while working all the moving parts. Once everything feels sufficiently freed, degrease the assembly again and lube it properly with some white lithium grease.

That should do the trick.

I had to do this to both my hood and hatch latches. Haven't had a problem since.

 

[IntrstlarOvrdrve]

I'll give that a try..will report back by the end of the day.

 

[IntrstlarOvrdrve]

I pulled the latch assembly off, pulled the spring off and soaked it in degreaser and then sprayed penetrating oil on it while working the latch. I then lubricated it with white lithium grease, worked it some more, re-installed the spring and bolted it back on the truck. It still doesn't pop-up like it used to but at least it unlatches and I don't need two people to open the hood. Gotta celebrate the small victories I guess. :bluejump:

 

[Run 4 Fun]

I pulled the latch assembly off, pulled the spring off and soaked it in degreaser and then sprayed penetrating oil on it while working the latch. I then lubricated it with white lithium grease, worked it some more, re-installed the spring and bolted it back on the truck. It still doesn't pop-up like it used to but at least it unlatches and I don't need two people to open the hood. Gotta celebrate the small victories I guess. :bluejump:

Also check the round black pucks on the corners are adjusted correctly. Twist one way to lower and the other way to raise. The hood wont latch properly if they are not at the correct distance. The hood rest on these pucks and can put too much tension or not enough on the latch.

 

[Troybylt]

Also check the round black pucks on the corners are adjusted correctly. Twist one way to lower and the other way to raise. The hood wont latch properly if they are not at the correct distance. The hood rest on these pucks and can put too much tension or not enough on the latch.

This would be my suggestion as well, OP mentioned the GM spring, the rubber twisties work as somewhat of a spring as they supply tension against the latch. They should be slightly compressed when the hood is latched. Twist them out (counter clockwise as I recall) like a screw to raise them and put enough tension in the hood to bump it past the safety catch, but not so much as the hood won't fully latch and pops up and gets caught on the safety latch at 60mph. Done that before.

 

[Dave_K]

My problem was similar, the hood of my 2007 4Runner wouldn't close completely and the latch looked closed (only looks that way). I could see only very slight movement when my wife pulled the under dash lever. I lubed with PB Laster. The real trouble appears to have been ice between the hood and bumper. Cleaning that away with a plastic scraper seems to have solved the problem.