hood stuck closed... please help

[mattgood]

Well, my hood is stuck closed on my 83 c10 with dual headlights. Not sure if the cable broke or became disconnected at the latch. I tried the usual tricks like getting someone to move the hood while working the release cable, and I also tried to get a screwdriver inside the latch hole behind the grille to free it, but no luck so far. Any ideas? 

[heavychevy91]

do you have a fan shroud?

[mattgood]

No fan shroud... just the metal piece at the top of the radiator/core support. I tried to get my hand up to the latch but could not reach it.

[mattgood]

I guess I will have to keep tryin with a screwdriver or something coming in from behind the rad.... with alot of swearing haha. Hope someone has another solution though.

[zieg85]

You are going to have to pry up the hood enough to slip a 3/8" extension with a 1/2" swivel on it.  You can loosen and remove the latch assembly from the core support...

[454Man]

Try having someone (150+pounds)sit on the hood where the latch is. Then see if you can pull the handle inside. If the handle springs back to its original position then it should still be connected to the latch. My hood was somewhat stuck on my c10 I had my wife sit on the hood and walla it unlatched hood popped up. Hope this works. Then spray some sort of lube on the lach mechanism

[bake74]

     What ever you do to get it open, make sure you take the time to go through everything and fix the problem and lube everything.  I absolutely hate it when this happens, makes me so mad. 
     Our flat bed 1 ton at work did this yesterday, could not get it open, then driving down the street it popped open, luckily the second latch system caught it.  Problem was I was not driving it so the driver just slammed it shut, so I still have to screw with it.   

[joel]

Here is what i did and it worked on my 86. take two wooden door stops, wedges, and start driving em in between the hood and the top of the grill until you can see the two bolt heads of the latch assembly. youll need an extension to get in there and thats it. just go slowly.

[thirsty]

Here is another idea.
Find an old political sign or something similar (the kind that stick into the ground with a wire frame) or a good old coat hanger to make a hook out of. Get another square body next to yours to use to see what you have to do. Bend the wire to fit on the other truck. Practice a few times on the other truck with the hood only hooked to the safety latch. Pry your hood up as much as you can and get it hooked. Remove whatever you pried up with to take the pressure off the latch. Repeat as many times as necessary. It probably won't be easy.

Good luck.

[78 Chevyrado]

Can't you pull the grille out and mess with it from there?  Seems like that's all I had to do when the hood stuck on my 87.

[mattgood]

Thanks for the input guys.... Yeah I sprayed it liberally with WD40. I tried the trick with someone pushing down on the hood but no success. I will try to pry the hood open enough to unbolt the latch. I could not get the grille out because it is bolted to the core support at the top. I will mess around the truck some more and hopefully get it to open.

[joel]

I heard all sorts of things too and all of them would end up with something broke. The wedges worked amazingly well, just go slowly with driving them in, and you'll see the bolt heads on the latch assembly. a half inch socket with an extension should get the bolts loose enough that you will just have to pop the secondary latch (just like the cable worked). Then support the hood after its open and re-assemble the primary latch assembly.  Could be the problem is a broken cable, loose bolts under the dash where you pop the hood, or a stripped cable end. Let everybody know how it's going and good luck, just go slowly.

[mattgood]

Well I managed to wedge the hood open enough to unbolt the grille. I tried releasing the latch with a screwdriver but ran out of time. I could not maneuver a 3/8 extension to get enough angle to loosen the latch bolts. I will get my 1/4" sockets and swivel from work and try again tomorrow. What a headache for such a stupid problem! haha. Again thanks for the input. I will let u know when I get it open.

[mattgood]

Well I just figured I would mention I got my hood open and my cable was disconnected. (Actually my dad ended up getting it open with a coat hanger haha). The next time I was in the garage I ended up taking apart the top end of my engine... but thats a different topic all together. Thanks for the replies.