hood problems

June 9, 2009 5:26 PM

1988 Chrysler Le baron - can't get hood open!

I can't open the hood on my Le Baron. It is a 1988 Convertible, premium. To the left of the seat, there are two levers, one for the gas cap, and the other is horribly mangled and inoperative. There is also a chunk of plastic with the word HOOD on it, but it is only hooked up to a cable leading to the front of the car. If this is the hood release, I'm in trouble, because my battery is dead. How can I open it?

posted by Kudos to travel & transportation (15 comments total)

I suspect that the chunk of plastic that says 'HOOD,' with the cable attached, is the hood release. They're usually purely mechanical, not electric--even if the battery's dead, try the hood release anyway.
posted by box at 5:30 PM on June 9

It actually doesn't do much, the 'lever' isn't connected to anything mechanical. If anything, it is electrical.

Is there a way I can force the hood open, without breaking or scratching much?
posted by Kudos at 5:32 PM on June 9

There's no way it's electrical. How stupid would it be to build an electrical hood release? How would you jump the battery? It could be broken, though.

Do you know about the safety catch? You need to push on that, too, if you want to get to hood open.
posted by mr_roboto at 5:39 PM on June 9

You need to crawl under the car and find out how to manually release the hood latch. I had an old Cadillac with the same problem. It shouldn't be that difficult to figure out.

It's definitely a mechanical release, not electrical.
posted by torquemaniac at 5:45 PM on June 9

Your hood release is not electric.

If you can, find someone to apply light pressure to the hood while you pull the handle that says "Hood". This will take any strain off of the latches and make the cable easier to pull.

The hood should now open from two to four inches, at which point a safety latch will prevent it from opening further.

Peek into the gap to see if you can figure out how to disengage the latch - usually there is a metal lever that has to be pushed up, down, or sideways.

Again, try to make sure that there is no strong upward pressure on the latch, as this makes it difficult to release.

I feel that it would be almost impossible for an inexperienced person to open a hood with a broken latch release without damaging the car.
posted by davey_darling at 5:49 PM on June 9

You need to get hold of the chunk of plastic, or the cable that it's attached to, and pull, possibly quite hard.
posted by buxtonbluecat at 5:51 PM on June 9

Even if you get under the car the likelihood that you'll be able to reach up and release the hood is slim. There are a lot of obstructions and it is a long way up. Further, the force needed to move that latch is surprisingly high. This is because most hoods are set with springs so that it will pop up slightly when released. To overcome the spring force, usually, a hood release mechanism uses a lever arrangement somewhere to give a leverage advantage to ease the pull. Working on the latch directly will require a significant prying force. You can alleviate the force somewhat if another person presses down on the hood while you are trying to pry the latch.

Sometimes you can get a hood to release by prying the hood sideways somewhat. Use a piece of strong wood as a lever between the front fender and the side of the hood. Try both directions but not so much that you'll bend anything. Try doing this while someone is in the car pulling on what's left of the hood release.

Otherwise I think it is a job for a mechanic.
posted by bz at 5:55 PM on June 9

I have NEVER seen a car with an electronic hood release and I am 100% positive that your LeBaron has a cable operated hood. I don't even think they exist.
So, you pull on the HOOD lever and nothing happens? Is the lever stuck or is it really loose? If it's stuck, have someone push down on the front of the hood while you pull the lever. If it's really slack, see if the handle is still hooked up to the cable. The cable will have a ball or something on the end that clips into the crappy plastic handle and the plastic gives out.

If the cable has broken off of the handle, just grab it with some pliers and use them to pull the cable. Vice grips are the best for this. If the cable has snapped further up (much less likely) then you'll have to look through the grille to where the other end of the cable hooks up to the hood release. There's a chance that you can get a really long set of needle nose pliers in there to grab the cable. If the pliers don't fit, get a coat hanger in there to yank down on the cable, causing it to actuate the hood latch.
Once you get it open, spray the latch with a whole bunch of WD40 so you don't have to go through this headache again.
posted by Jon-o at 5:57 PM on June 9

I have a car with an electric hood release. Also, the battery is under that hood.

To jump start the car from a completely dead battery, you have to open up the fuse box under the steering wheel and attach the jumper cables to a metal bus bar. This provides power to the anti-theft system. Then you insert your key into the driver's side door, turn it, then press the hood release button. This releases the hood. Then you disconnect the jumper cables, close up the fuse box, connect the jumpers to the battery, and jump the car as normal.

Yes this is complicated and stupid. No, my car is not a LeBaron. But purely electrical hood releases do exist.
posted by ryanrs at 6:29 PM on June 9

My first car that was actualy my own was a 1988 Lebaron Convertible. Sweet christ, I loved that car, even if the digital spedometer always said either 0 or 90, no matter how fast I was going. Bucket seats! So comfy. I miss that car.

Anyway. The hood release is definitely not electric. The cable that goes from the hood release to the actual lever thingie in the front is either broken or stretched out. Do you have AAA? I would suggest calling them to come out. Otherwise, you're at the whim of a mechanic that will either come to you (perhaps you have a car-tinkering type friend?) or have it towed to your mechanic.
posted by AlisonM at 6:33 PM on June 9

I have a car with an electric hood release.
What kind of car do you have?
posted by Jon-o at 6:48 PM on June 9

2 vice grips. 1 on the "handle" & 1 on the cable housing. pull hard
posted by patnok at 6:57 PM on June 9

or i should say hold the one clamped to the housing & pull the one clamped to where the handle was/is. You should be able to buy a new cable asm. aftermarket to fix it with. Didn't that come with the Corinthian leather? & that Ricardo dude was in the tv ad?
posted by patnok at 7:02 PM on June 9

Thanks for all of the help. I'll give patnok's idea a go tomorrow in the morning!
posted by Kudos at 7:17 PM on June 9

I had a Le Baron (a few years younger than yours). The hood release was not electric, but you had to pull much harder and more abruptly than you thought you should have to in order to get it to pop open. Yank, man, yank.
posted by Scram at 10:16 PM on June 9