Hood does not 'pop up" nor open

My 89 Buick hood will not open. Pulling the release does something but does not release the hood. I'm working alone so can't have someone pull the handle as I try to open.
Any suggestions on how to get the hood open?

Yep, have someone pull the release handle while you make a fist and bang on the front of the hood over the hatch area. They ALL do this. Once it pops open, clean and then lubricate the latch with white lithium grease.

You can also add a couple of fender washers and a bolt to the area where the hood spring hits, to give the spring more tension.

-Michael

After pulling the handle, go to the center front of the hood and lightly try to bounce it (only way to describe the action) a few times. Not enough to re-engage the latch but just enough to get some movement in the latch assembly. It should pop up eventually.

As these age, the latch gets gummed up with dirt and starts to bind. Once open, remove the latch and soak it in oil ( I use heated brake fluid) for an hour or so and try to remove as much of the crud as you can. When clean, soak it in a solvent of some sort, like Varosol, to clean up the residual oil, dry it off then hit it with a graphite based lubricant. Make sure all the parts move easily and reinstall.

Hope this helps

Bill

If the cable has stretched, or the sheath shrunk, and the cable appears too long, you can put a small split shot fishing weight on the exposed cable, and clamp it down.

Cleaning the latch with carb cleaner will get any crud off of it. WD 40 or garage door lube can be sprayed on the moving parts to get it moving smoothly. Sometimes no lube is required, just clean parts. Lube can often attract more dirt and cause more issues than just clean and dry. A light lube would only be necessary to keep the parts from rusting.

Pulling the release, and smacking the hood is the usual method when it is sticky. Sometimes a well slammed door will also jar the hood loose.

Once you get it freed up, you might need to snoop around under the hood more often. They can be spiteful if they feel ignored.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

If the cable has stretched, or the sheath shrunk, and the cable appears too long, you can put a small split shot fishing weight on the exposed cable, and clamp it down.

That's a fantastic idea. I have this exact problem.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

Sometimes a well slammed door will also jar the hood loose.

HA! For a year or so, before I finally pulled the latch completely off, to thoroughly clean, lube and adjust it, I use to pull the latch, get out of the car, and slam the driver's door which caused the hood to "pop"!

It's been almost 15 years since my last "boxie", but as I recall: there's enough room on these to take a long tool, such as a long prybar, or similar, from underneath, and go up between the grill and radiator to snap the latch open. A buddy with a flashlight, looking through the grill is very helpful with this approach.

ok, so I've had the stuck hood issue on these cars before, but today something bad happened... the actual cable sheered off directly behind the handle... i know because i can see it's no longer attached and there are sharp frayed wires about a 1/2" long still attached to the handle side... where'd it go? Anyone done this repair before? (96 roadmaster)

It's not too bad to replace a hood cable on one of these. Remove the lever (bolts to the body of the car itself, I believe two bolts) and put the ball end in the handle, then feed the other end through the firewall hole, run it along the wheel well, through the core support, and clip it to the hood latch.


I don't know if you can buy a new cable, though. Might have to get to the junkyard to practice.

thanks Red, but first problem is, how to get the hood open now? i read on a different topic someone had this problem and cut into the cable somewhere under the front of the car? obviously somewhere along the driver's side, but is it accessible from underneath?
With the amount of time and work i've done over the years on this car you'd think I would know where every part is by now

Hmmmm that's another issue entirely, I suppose.

Maybe you can try to push the cable out of the firewall from under the dash and then it should be long enough to be hanging below the wheel well. You may need to jack up the car and take off the LF tire to see it.

that's what i am afraid of... it's always the little things like this that are stupid pains in the butts to address.

You can get to the latch from under the car, but it is a long reach. The lever on the latch can be tripped. The other option is to unbolt the latch itself, then access the cable before opening the hood fully.

thanks Fred - i'll probably end up doing a mod once I do that. Can't justify $75 for a replacement cable right now.

I have a cable for a good bit less than that on hand. I do not think it is your cable. If it latches, and the cable causes it to make a clunk when you pull the handle, it is more likely that you have a misaligned latch. Some of them are hard to move when they are misaligned. If you reach up from the bottom, you can trip the lever, but like I said, it is a long reach. The lever is on the back side of the latch, so removing the grille does not help much, although you may be able to see better. The lever needs to move toward the driver's side of the car. If the end of the cable is broken, you can get a stop to slide over the cable, and it will have a screw that you tighten to clamp the cable. You can get that part at a hobby model store to hold the wheels on a flying model airplane.

The cable should be the same as the 91-96 B bodies.

i will have to see tomorrow after removing dash trim pieces etc to see if the cable is still reachable inside the cabin or if not, maybe it's dangling under the engine bay on the other side of the firewall... I get that the plastic trim over decades in florida does its damage, but a steel wire cable just snapping off? ugh....

The cable will be in a sheath all the way to the latch. The latch is the same as the 91-96 latch. The distance is about the same, so the cable should be about the same length as the 91-96 cable. The only cables that are a little longer than the 91-96 Caprice and Wagons are the RMS and FW. The shroud determines the length of the cable. There is no adjustment for the shroud, so the only adjustment you can make is to put a movable clamp on the latch end of the cable.