My hood is stuck SHUT, ideas?

[offthahook]

Yeah. My cable is not releasing the latch somewhere. I had 3 Acura techs. trying for an hour to open it and they couldn't. The cable feels tight from inside the car, but the latch doesn't move at all... I'm wondering if I pull the front bumper off, could I get to the latch to release?? Other than that, I guess I'll have to cut a big hole in the hood to access the damn latch. Anyone in the process of a front end rebuild could tell me if the front bumper removal trick will work? I don't think there's any trick to using the cable at this point. I tried it and it just won't release... :sad2:

[BITESIZE]

Thats why I have hood pins now my friend! Anyways that sucks, just keep dicking with the cable and it will come loose.

[A20A1]

There is a bolt that holds the bottom of the hood latch support... it's near the the base of the condensor/radiator... sometimes if that is loose the hood and latch will lift up as one and it keeps the hood from opening.
( but if the bolt is tight you could try loosening it to see if it helps in your situation but it migh make it worse. )

Also if you have something in the gutters of the fenders like a screw driver or something, and you forgot it there and closed the hood it can add tension to the hood and latch and can keep it from opening.

Other then that you can try pulling the cable itself by reaching behind the driverside front tire.

try sitting on the hood near the latch and pulling on the lever if the hood looks more open then it should and you have a lot of tensnion on the cable.

thats all of the quick cures I can think of at the moment

[AccordEpicenter]

yeah if you take the front bumper off you should have more than enough room to get at the latch. If you need more room, just take off the 10mm bolts holding in the front grille and youll have all the room you need.

[Neuspeed87lx]

try grabbing the cable itself under the dash.... like dissconnect it from the latch under the dash and grab the cable with pliers or something and really rip on it .... besides that i dunno ... is there room to spray some wd-40 on the latch part under the hood ?

[BITESIZE]

try grabbing the cable itself under the dash.... like dissconnect it from the latch under the dash and grab the cable with pliers or something and really rip on it .... besides that i dunno ... is there room to spray some wd-40 on the latch part under the hood ?


LMAO....sounds like me back in the day, before i got rid of the stupid latch! :pc: :bowrofl:

[Neuspeed87lx]

thats the way to do it .... either really rip on it or get a big hammer... one of those usually works

[jonrichert]

i broke the lever on mine, i have to use pliers on the facken cable every time i want in.

[BITESIZE]

i broke the lever on mine, i have to use pliers on the facken cable every time i want in.


Do I hear Hood Pins? :welcome:

[hondamanlxi]

how can you take the grill and bumper off w/o opening the hood?

[A20A1]

how can you take the grill and bumper off w/o opening the hood?


you remove the 4 main bolts holding the metal bumper... this is what supports the plastic bumper skin... also remove the 6 screws by on the fender wells holding the bumper skin.

[offthahook]

how can you take the grill and bumper off w/o opening the hood?

I'm sure the bumper will come off with the hood shut. Not sure about the grill though... You guys saying pull on the cable. Trust me, the techs. knew what they were doing and if I pull too hard, I will be in for a world of hurt. I gave the actual cable the old college try myself-- nothing! I know I'm getting a new cable and latch!

[A20A1]

Here is a pic of the bolt(s) location...
http://www.3geez.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3567

careful cause the metal bumper is heavy

http://www.3geez.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3095

If you look near the horns you'll see where the bumper supports were... those supports are covered I believe by the metal part of the bumper when it's installed... there are 2 bolts not shows in any of the images... that hold the metal bumper to the support.
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[hondamanlxi]

yeah yeah, i didnt think of that ;) Good thinkin!

[AccordEpicenter]

yeah the grill will come off... the 10mm head bolts are straight up under the front part of the hood, they come out easy

[offthahook]

Here is a pic of the bolt(s) location...
http://www.3geez.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3567

careful cause the metal bumper is heavy

http://www.3geez.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3095

If you look near the horns you'll see where the bumper supports were... those supports are covered I believe by the metal part of the bumper when it's installed... there are 2 bolts not shows in any of the images... that hold the metal bumper to the support.
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Good lookin' out. I'm thinking... Pop the horn covers off/disconnect the bumper lights and that exposes the 4 bolts (2 per side) that do most of the holding of the bumper. Then, the inner fender screws (again 4, 2 per side). Sound right? I see the holes for the bumper mounts by the horns.

[SteveDX89]

You have to take out the bumper lights to get at the bolts. There's nothing behind the horn covers that holds the bumper on.

[offthahook]

It's all good now. Thanks for the tips. Some slack had developed in the cable somehow. It's routed underneath the fender and we didn't want to mess with removing the fender to get to the cable. We just put a piece of plastic tubing near the latch (near the cable end) to tighten it up. You have to pull hard, but it's enough tension to pop the release.

Removing the bumper with the reinforcer bar is 6 bolts-- 2 each side behind the bumper lights, 2 on the bottom side of the bumper cover, and 4 screws on the back side. Pretty quick actually.