Hood wont open, broken cable??

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Chaz

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Anyone know how to open the hood when the release cable is broken, disconnected??? I cant reach if from under the radiator, cant see how to reach the mechanism from under the hood from the front.
 

89Suburban

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You can use a wood wedge shim or screwdriver to lift the driver's side of the hood up a little to make a gap. Then put a short "L" shape at the end of a coat hanger, and you want to fish under the lip of the hood to the right of the latch and reach behind the latch towards the bottom and try to catch the trip release and pull it towards the driver's side. It should not take much to trip it, the trick is to hit it on the money. I was just staring at my latch this past weekend thinking about this situation.

Here is a pic for reference:

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Some other ideas:

http://www.gmsquarebody.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3073&highlight=hood+latch
 

Chaz

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Thanks I already removed most of my grill,,,,don't want to break it cuz its a nice orig one,,,gonna try the coat hanger,,,,it should pull to the drivers side right????
 

Chaz

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Got it open with the coat hanger,,,cable wasn't broken just slipped off the latch,,,thanks for the link I was looking for it but couldn't find it,,,
 

SDJunkMan

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Ok, having trouble opening the hood on my CUCV, think the release cable broke. Tried the coat hanger thing, but no luck, not sure if I'm getting the right place or not. Looked at my 78, but the release is totally different from the 84. Wedged the hood open a little but can't see the latch. Any other options or do I just keep fishing?
 

SDJunkMan

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Well, took a break to write this, went back out, and it opened on the first try! Cable isn't broke, not sure what the problem is, think I'll look for a new latch.
 

Camar068

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mine releases but it doesn't pop up. So I give it the bump bump smack (Right to left from center).
 

scrap--metal

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mine releases but it doesn't pop up. So I give it the bump bump smack (Right to left from center).
Thanks to the forum, that's now how I open the hood on my K10. Every time. Except mine only takes one good hit to the center of the hood to make it pop. Prior to learning then Fonzie trick, I would apply upward pressure on the safety latch bolted to the hood while applying downward pressure from outside to get it to release just right. This would often take 3 to 5 trips back into the cab to pull the hood release after it would accidentally latch. And I ended up breaking a little piece of grill reaching through it.

The Fonzie trick is so much easier.
 

PrairieDrifter

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My suburban needs the good old squarebody hood bump to open when the mechanism gets too gritty. Wash and lube. Make sure it's adjusted good as well.
 

SDJunkMan

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I've had to do the hood bump on almost everyone of my vehicles, including my Ford. I'll try cleaning it up and lubing it real good.
 

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