[doyoulikeithere]

Hi. I went to move one of my vans. The battery was dead, so I needed to jump it...

The hood wont open when I pull the release in the cab.
So, I get my son to pull and wiggle the handle while I try to pull and wiggle the hood around, hopeing to pop it open. No luck. I really need to move the van. Can I get at it from the ground under the rad or something? Anyone else figured out this problem yet?

Any sugestions?

 

[RydQlty]

Mine gets stuck occasionally, it doesnt open if I pull it open.
But if I push it down, and have a friend pull the release and hold it, it opens after I let the hood go.
A little lube fixes that for me...hope it helps.

 

[CaptSquid]

Unless you have several U-Joints in your arm, you're going to have to resort to pushing down on the hood while a helper pulls the cable on the inside. Once you get the hood open, lube the latch with MOTOR OIL, not grease. You can get enough from your dipstick.

 

[doyoulikeithere]

Thanks, Ive tried and tried the push/pull scenario. not workin...

Thats why I've posted looking for further advice. Its snowing today, so maybe when it warms up...

 

[smokamoto]

Ok, same issue with mine. I've lubed, readjusted (bent) the latch so it works, it eventually goes back to stuck. Right now, it's stuck, so I grab the front edge of the hood with my fingers and wiggle up & down, it then pops up (of course after pulling the inside release lever).

 

[Matrixx]

Hi doyoulikeithere

Does the hood release handle feel like the cable is still pulling on the hood release mechanism or do you think the cable is broken? If it feels like it's still releasing the hood latch, then maybe get a set of needle nose pliers and grab the end of the cable where it hooks into the hood release handle and "gently" give it a pull that way.

If you feel the cable is broken then your going to have to think out side of the box and fashion a devise that will slip in between the hood and grille with an angle to it at the end to get up into the latch area to release it from that point. A long thin flat head screw driver may work with an angle at the end of it to grab the latch and release it. Just a thought.

PS: Here is a view of the hood latch in relation to the grille:
gallery2.php?g2_itemId=465

 

[Matrixx]

Hi doyoulikeithere

Just another thought here, is to take the dog house off and try to access the hood latch from their. I'm sure you could find something long enough to reach it from that point. Hopefully something here will help, please keep us updated, Thanks.

 

[astro355]

Hi doyoulikeithere

Just another thought here, is to take the dog house off and try to access the hood latch from their. I'm sure you could find something long enough to reach it from that point. Hopefully something here will help, please keep us updated, Thanks.

Isn't there two bolts that have to be removed from the engine compartment before the doghouse can be taken off? Or is that on 1st gen vans?

 

[Matrixx]

All the fasteners are on the inside of cab to remove the dog house with the 96 and newer vans.

 

[astro355]

Well, they did make some kind of improve from the 1st gen to 2nd gen vans, didn't they? :mrgreen: My bad, I didn't know what year the OP's van was.

 

[Matrixx]

Well you bring up a good point about the year of his van. I thought it was 96, but you have me thinking now, hmm, I'm not very good at this Cloak and Dagger stuff, hehe. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

 

[CaptSquid]

All the fasteners are on the inside of cab to remove the dog house with the 96 and newer vans.

On my 92, they're on the inside, not in the engine compartment.

 

[astro355]

And I wish my 89 was that way. Its only two bolts in the engine compartment but for some reason, it just makes it seem more complicated.

 

[gillbates]

I use to have this problem as well. I got pretty good at hitting the hood just above the grill about 4-5 inches from the center, on the drivers side, with the palm of my hand while someone pulled the release. I also had the interior piece the the release is mounted in off one time and it worked perfectly.

The problem, which I discovered on this board, is that the latch is binding against the side of the either the front or the back of the female side. You should be able to tell which by looking at the marks made from strikes. If you bend it away from where it's binding it will open correctly.