Different Hood Latch Question

[ryanrahl]

I have a 2000 RX 300. The hood wont un-latch. The cable is connected to the lever located in the vehicle. I tried pulling with a pliers to no avail. Is it possible that it came off under the hood and if so what is my next step? I appreciate any guideance as I despretaley need an oil change...

[jamokrx]

Yes, I know it's years later but.....I have the same problem, apparently. Suddenly, hood release inside the cabin wouldn't open the hood. (As you know, lifting the hood is a 2 step process - pull release tab in the cabin towards you until the hood 'pops' - then go the the grille, reach under it, and find that release tab to open hood.) With a lot of trepidation, I finally got a pair of small pliers and pulled the cable on the inside release tab towards me, with the tab already pulled towards me. Given that, at first, there was no reaction nor increase in tension in the cable when I pulled it towards me with pliers, I feared that whatever that cable is attached to had come apart, and I might just make things worse by pulling it further towards me. But when I did so, it popped the hood up a couple of inches as per above, and then I could use the hood latch beneath the grill to get it open.

What's interesting and I have a question on, is this: During my attempts to get the hood open, I thought maybe I could pull the lever or the assembly up through the grill of the car by going through the grill with a stiff wire 'hook' mechanism (the idea is something like this: if you 'unwound' a wire clothes hanger and used the curved 'hook' part to get under that latch inside the grill, or hook onto the assembly to it and lift it up, I hoped it might pop the hood open. I used something of wider diameter and a good deal stronger than a clothes hanger for this - a file folder cabinet metal 'divider' - the thing that allows you to set where you want the files to be propped against usedin a lot of file cabinets. Something similar, and sturdier, such as whatever that thing is that thiefs and cops used to slip inside the window and into the door to open locked cars would be more ideal.)

Anyway, regardless of where I positioned that device, the latch mechanism would not budge.

My questions are twofold:

1. Like you, from the hood release tab inside the car, now that I know I must shorten the attached wire in order to get the tab doing its job of opening the hood a couple inches, I can't see a way to take the tab apart, much less shorten the wire that's attached to it. Any help would be appreciated.

2. Is the reason that my 'hook mechanism' on the latch behind the grille unworkable because opening the hood is a 2 step process, and without the wire on the inside tab 'triggering', pulling on the tab behind the grill will never open the hood? Or should I try to lube the joints of that part with WD 40 or some such lubricant and it might work? The other obvious questions is, now that I have the hood open, can I solve this problem from that end?

If anyone had an 'exploded' chart of both the inside and outside mechanisms, that might help, so please post link if you do. I'm doubtful it'll work, but I will search for that as well, and if I find something, post it here.

[jamokrx]

Yes, I know it's years later but.....I have the same problem, apparently. Suddenly, hood release inside the cabin wouldn't open the hood. (As you know, lifting the hood is a 2 step process - pull release tab in the cabin towards you until the hood 'pops' - then go the the grille, reach under it, and find that release tab to open hood.) With a lot of trepidation, I finally got a pair of small pliers and pulled the cable on the inside release tab towards me, with the tab already pulled towards me. Given that, at first, there was no reaction nor increase in tension in the cable when I pulled it towards me with pliers, I feared that whatever that cable is attached to had come apart, and I might just make things worse by pulling it further towards me. But when I did so, it popped the hood up a couple of inches as per above, and then I could use the hood latch beneath the grill to get it open.

What's interesting and I have a question on, is this: During my attempts to get the hood open, I thought maybe I could pull the lever or the assembly up through the grill of the car by going through the grill with a stiff wire 'hook' mechanism (the idea is something like this: if you 'unwound' a wire clothes hanger and used the curved 'hook' part to get under that latch inside the grill, or hook onto the assembly to it and lift it up, I hoped it might pop the hood open. I used something of wider diameter and a good deal stronger than a clothes hanger for this - a file folder cabinet metal 'divider' - the thing that allows you to set where you want the files to be propped against usedin a lot of file cabinets. Something similar, and sturdier, such as whatever that thing is that thiefs and cops used to slip inside the window and into the door to open locked cars would be more ideal.)

Anyway, regardless of where I positioned that device, the latch mechanism would not budge.

My questions are twofold:

1. Like you, from the hood release tab inside the car, now that I know I must shorten the attached wire in order to get the tab doing its job of opening the hood a couple inches, I can't see a way to take the tab apart, much less shorten the wire that's attached to it. Any help would be appreciated.

2. Is the reason that my 'hook mechanism' on the latch behind the grille unworkable because opening the hood is a 2 step process, and without the wire on the inside tab 'triggering', pulling on the tab behind the grill will never open the hood? Or should I try to lube the joints of that part with WD 40 or some such lubricant and it might work? The other obvious questions is, now that I have the hood open, can I solve this problem from that end?

If anyone had an 'exploded' chart of both the inside and outside mechanisms, that might help, so please post link if you do. I'm doubtful it'll work, but I will search for that as well, and if I find something, post it here.

[jamokrx]

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