HELP: cant open my hood WORSE then the normal broken plastic!!!
 

I need massive help. i cant open my hood. ive read all the threads about wedging stuff between the bumper and hood and pick the cable with a hanger. tried that nothign happend...

some how i think the whole assembly just came off...........
i can see the end of the cable which ends in a ball thingy. as i looked at the whole thing through the crack of the hood/bumper doesnt look like ANY of the plastic parts were broken. so im assuming some how the cable got unattached from the spring? since there was no tension from the beginning.

i also tried to take the hood off by unscrewing the latches.... not gonna work i cant angle the flex wrench in there to get a grip... if i try anymore it will prob round out..

any suggestion? i need help BADDD.
im in south brunswick/jersey city if that helps...
-benny

Is the cable still attached to the pull handle under the dash? If not try using a pliers to pull the cable and see if that pops the latch. The cable could have snapped somewhere in between too. Are you sure you tried it right with the hanger? If you hook it right it'll work. I'd say just keep trying with that.

yes i did it right with the hanger.. the only thing is the end ball of the cable was unhooked. therefore no tension no nothing. if i pull the latch from the car nothign happens because the cable is completely unhooked.

i guess it unhooked from the spring end of the underhood hatch?

The hanger is the only option I know of.

Isn't there a small hole that you have to poke through?

I remember using a cut-off hanger to poke through the small hole and it popped.

okay.. maybe i can word it better?

how would you open the hood if there was ABSOLUTELY NO CABLE mechanism in the car?

THATS basically the point im at.... the cable miraculously unattached SOMEHOW?!?

Take a saw and start hacking away at the hood. If you're lucky and skilled you can make your hood look like a scoot hood.

thats what i was expecting to hear and hoping not to hear..................:wallbash:

Don't do anything stupid like sawing up the hood or unbolting the hood ! Use your head, have patience and think it out. Without a cable attached at all you can still get that hood poped. You need some tools. Inspection mirror, strong light, and some probing devices - strong bendable wire ( coat hanger wire may do ). Now I have not been in this situation before but I can tell you that I am damn sure I can get out of it. Knowing the latch assembly well and having replaced several latch cables ( also disassembled them and painted/greased them ) I can say that the goal is to get to the striker/latch assemble and move it toward the driver side ( side the cable would pull it to ). You may have to make a tool out of a long thin screwdriver.

This is going to be tough working up thru the nose of the car, but look at it like this - you have plenty of time to achieve your goal. And in the end you'll be very satisfied that you did NOT hack up your hood ! If you cannot do it, drive it over here to my home and I'll take care of it for you.

Later

Why don't you jack up the car, take off the under tray and reach up to it from the bottom?

i was looking at another fd and i cant figure what to hit to pop the latch.. it sits BEHIND the latch mechanism so i cant even reach it..

ill give that a try but im pretty sure some ducting or cooling thing is in the way.. i tried reaching up there the other day and my hand was hitting something blocking the way to the latch...

dam! wish i can help you out...

any suggestions? more then willing to listen to whatever people have to offer... god i dont wanna hack this hood open.............

How many mods you got in there??

OK just looked under the hood of mine. I'm pretty much stock minus a couple plastic ducts i removed, one way is to be right under the car and to reach up from the RIGHT side of the car on about a 45deg. and across the car to the latch. Up in front of the support that crosses the engine bay which supports the stock IC, up over the Fans between the air box or (air filters) & IC and over to the latch. This will be tricky but it's do-able. Maybe try with a flashlight and a bent coat hanger from the same position if your arm is too thick to reach in. Good luck! here's some pics to help guide you!

hmm...sounds like what happened to me...

i just got a hanger and bent a little hook on one end...then just go from the front of the hood and hook it into the latch where the ball would go and pull to the right

Or you can try reaching up right in behind the bumper cover to the latch.

ok so i edited rx7pilots pic to show what to bend hanger like and where to put it ^_^

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...d3s/hanger.jpg

Wouldn't you bend the piss out of the hood by prying up on it with a screw driver or crack the bumper cover?? I gently tried to pry my hood up and she didn't move enough to jam a coat hanger in there! Unless you have an awfully loose hood.
but if it works for you good stuff!

hmm dont gotta touch the hood or bumper at all...i had to help lotta people here pop their hood open with a hanger...haha...can do it in about 5seconds

Bubbles - you need to take your car to a Professional mechanic that will not screw up your ride. It would be VERY helpful if you could bring a friend with another FD with you so the Pro could see what he is up against. I say he will go up thru the nose of the car with a custom made tool, lights and inspection mirror.



Good luck and report back on how he got it opened for others to learn from.


Later

rx7pilot Thanks a ton for the pics! to access that i assume i would have to take off the undertray aswell?

sideways thats what i originally did but that didnt work as the cable ball was already unhooked... if youre talking about pulling on something else please let me know..

thakns for all the help.. if i cant get it off this weekend ill take it to a body shop and see what they could remedy..

No problem!

And yes, you will have to remove the under tray first.

As i said earlier you could also try reaching up in behind the bumper cover to the latch if you don't have a FMIC or a grill !!

is it possible to take off the front bumper w/o popping the hood?

no.

hood off!!!! ended up taking off the front bumper... VERY tedious and time consuming...

basically this is what is needed to be done..
unbolt 3 screws from fender wells (right and left total of 6)
unbolt top of bump... VERY TRICKY. i took off the black plastic around the lens..
4 philips screws.. 3 are visable one is tucked on the inside of the lens under the bumper. holy shit was this hard. basically i took off the lower front lens and shoved my arm in it. with the screw BIT i loosened that screw.
1. i am asian so i was able to fit my arm in there.
2 mostlikely none of you will be able to fit your arm in there.
3 my arm is covered in red marks as i was loosing circulation lol
then standing on the side of the car you can see SLIGHTLY under the hood enough to squeeze a wrench in there..

i used a 10mm socket wrench and basically loosened the outer bolts notch by notch. PATIENTS IS KEY.
then somehow i was able to slide the wrench through the crack of the hood and bumper... and since i have a flex socket wrench i was able to unloosen those at about 2-3 notches at a time.. anddd wahhhhla! your front bumpers off!

if someone ever needs help just pm me and ill give you more details.

BTW hooked the cable back up and what not, and still wont pop. something is wrong with the cable itself.. i think it snapped? because once i connect the ball back to the latch it sits loosely and theres absolutely no tension and it basically comes undone..

lol yes. its the most ridiculous thing EVER... will post pics later

Glad to hear your issue is resolved! You sure would need a lot of patience to go about it the way you did. Wow! There's no way I could have done it that way, my arm never would have fit in where you reached through!

thanks for your help and suggestions, i just got the car so i didnt really know what was under the hood or remember what it looked like ahhah turned out i have the m2 box so sticking my arm through that route was a def no go... and i also have a diff intercooler with some duct that blocks reach up from under the nose...

but after 4 hours of toucher i got it!

You are probably the only guy to ever take off the bumper with the hood closed. Never would I believe it could happen. Now if you tell me that you did NOT put one scratch on the hood underside or the body while doing so - I will definitely raise the Bullshit flag....so don't

Well done though



Later

Wow, haha thats amazing.

Most likely is that the green plastic stop snapped. This will keep you from pulling the cable itself.

lol honestly. i will say i didnt put one scratch... i wrapped the wrench with tape so there was no metal on metal contact....

Remember the 3 screws on the side of the bumper were already off so i pulled the side out a little... this expanded the gap between the hood and the front nose...

Another thing.. ive only had the car for a week so idk what everything its suppose to look like 100%... the gap between my hood and nose looks perfectly fine but then again mine might be slightly bigger then other peoples...


i can understand the bullshit... when i got the bumper off i was like wtf this did not just happen..

Well you went and made me do it.....

hokay

the hanger wasnt supposed to pull the cable...the hook at then end is to hook in the latch where the ball wouldve went

haha oh well that makes sense now.. i think it would have been impossible to figure that out till now after seeing the rear of the latch and now understanding it.. that would be VERY tricky to fish for..

Anyone have a pic of where to hook the hanger
 

Taking the hood off is too risky for us. Has anyone a pic of where to hook the hanger to pull and release?

thanks