Broken hood latch cable :(
 

Welp, went to open the hood and the interior hood release lever was loose and wouldn't open. Pulled apart the lever mechanism and tried pulling the cable with some pliers but it sounded like I was ripping the cable off the clips under the hood or something.



I jacked the car up to reach from under, but the greddy turbo setup is making it extremely difficult to reach it. I'm not sure I can really even do anything from below at this point. :bonk:



I also have no idea how to release the mechanism even if I could reach it.

Anyone have any ideas or recommendations on how I can get the hood open?
I attached a couple of images of the hood latch mechanism I found on ebay here: https://imgur.com/a/EbUW56r

maybe try asking a locksmith? they might have a tool that could reach in and unlatch it without damage

Maybe something like this guy is doing?


https://www.google.com/search?q=how+..._K0w_Pv72QDg30

Thanks! Now I know what to push to unlock the mechanism!
Next part is seeing if i can even reach it somehow.

Bubba suggests you take a length of #9 wire, bend a hook on the end of it - then go fishing - :iono:

Hmm, from the outside from under the front of the hood? It doesn't seem like I'd be able to get any lateral pull if I managed to get the wire hooked onto the latch.


From under, I can barely touch the latch housing due to the intake, turbo, and manifold in the way. Navigating a wire there is damn near impossible. I went in with an endoscope to give a look see, but it's not looking very feasible.

Any opinions on sawing off the hood hook with a hacksaw blade and then welding the hook back on? I can slip it under the hood and cut... Not sure if the welding part is viable, however.

I'm not understanding that if you can get a hacksaw blade against the hook of the latch, why you can't push it over (unlatching it)? - :iono:

OK, plan B. Have someone push down on the hood just above the latch while you pull on the wire that was attached to the latch handle? - :iono:

Plan C: pull the fender liners and go in from the sides.

plan c. locate the hood release cable anywhere in the front end and yank it like nothing matters anymore.

Where is the cable broken? It might have come loose from the lever in the cabin. If so. you might get to it from in the cabin.

This happened to a car at the shop last year.
If I remember the tech went in from under the car, he just removed the lower underpanel and reached up to unlock it manually.

I can push the lever that unlatches from the outside, but the first release mechanism that you pull from the interior is still latched. The hook I'm talking about sawing is the one attached to the hood.




It looks to have come undone from the hood latch mechanism. Pulling won't help in this situation :bonk:



Have gotten this far, but the Greddy turbo set up blocks any kind of practical access to the mechanism.



Anyone know if the hood hook is replaceable? I attached a pic and looking at this picture, it seems there are two bolts that might belong to it, but I don't see a way to actually remove it if that were the case. If I can replace the hook, I'll just saw it off.


Will try the fender liners in the meanwhile.
Thanks for the help everyone! :thumbup:

Welp, tried the fender liners but the chassis and crash bar are making it a no go.
My forearm is looking like ground beef after going in with a wire hanger from the bottom for almost 2 hours.

This is not looking good. The hacksaw blade is looking like the only option right now :cry:

OR ............ :iono: