Pro Tip - Opening a stuck hood latch by yourself

How to open a car or truck hood when the latch is seized and you are by yourself.

[biffmercury]

I have to admit that I honestly didn’t expect this to work. I’d tried other methods and none worked, so finally I figured I might as well give this a shot…and I’ll be damned if it didn’t do the trick. THANK YOU SO I really appreciate your posting this.

[MarySchultzRN_BSN]

Yours was the third video I watched and the only solution that worked! I will have to lubricate the mechanism and see if that keeps the cable working. Thank you!!

[lonkaufmann]

You're a wizard! Thanks, this worked for me. With a plastic spoon wedged under the hood, the release went 'twang' when I pulled it back and the hood was up an extra 2'' !

[richardoswald]

This very simple trick worked FANTASTIC. I just slipped a 3/16 sheet metal plate where you used the plastic bar then pushed down on it to raise the hood.Went back in the Tacoma truck and pulled on the release cable and the hood popped up. Shot some silicon lubricant into the latch area. Now it works like new. Thank you for the great tip this fix is super easy and takes about 2 min.

[kylemcguire]

Thanks for the tip it worked great!! For everyone out there make sure to spray some silicon spray all over the latch mechanism and it worked by pulling the cable next time I went to try it.

[geoffh]

Didn't think this was going to help much with my VW Golf bonnet which was not releasing at all as it seemed to simple compared to plenty of other video's i had watched, but it worked like a charm for me, as others have said, so many many thanks for taking the time to do this.

[dj_ridam]

Bro. It worked! You saved me.. 10* you're a credit to YouTube tutorials.. much love from London UK 🇬🇧

[willybilly]

Thanks Keeney garage you helped the most, I was able to unlacht my hood.

[stumplifter]

Like others said - thank YOU. Other videos are long winded, over explaining, telling me to remove, blah, blah, blah. Instead of Just Show Me!

This was the ticket. Thank YOU

[marktlumacki]

Absolute genius idea, you are the man worked first time!, I used a ice scraper the the tapered scraper fit in perfectly, can’t thank you enough saved a lot of aggravation…..

[mrguppy]

I AGED TWENTY YEARS BY LISTENING THIS DUDE
OMG
😜 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Healing_to_elevate]

This video is awesome 👏🏾 thank you thank you !!! It worked the first try . I’m so glad I found this video this was a blessing

[Evilmusician_]

Thanks so much worked like a charm ! I used a couple wooden wedges I had in the shop same result and it took like five seconds ! you saved me alot of hassle cheers! keep up the great content !

[tedkord]

That worked on the first try. You're the best. Thank you so much.

[melrobinson]

This brings back memories... Back in the early 70's I had a typical for the era, POS '68 station wagon and the hood latch apparently became worn and so one time I thought I had closed it, but soon found out I hadn't. Well, on the freeway, the hood opened and lifted up and slammed back against the windshield. I didn't realize how fast I could open the hand crank window so I could see ahead with my head sticking out of said window.... Cars of the era had no secondary hood latch. Little wonder the Japanese cars quickly earned a reputation for superior quality.

[RobertoAguilar-meqm]

Don’t jank the plastic lift get pliers n pull the cable with pliers till open take ur time when open spray wd 40 on latch bottom part

[xoringe]

Thanks! Cable was fine but latch arm was sticky. This plus WD40 did the trick!

[unkwnrook]

Out of everything this worked. If I could like this video a million times I would

[melrobinson]

Hot damn! I was watching videos of guys taking wheels and fender liners off to get to cable junctions and replacing the latches and cable sets and came across this video. So I said: Why not try it, I have the exact same plastic tool you used. Bingo, as soon as i inserted the tool, up pops the hood on my 2020 QX60 since the hood release was already pulled in the cabin.. So I lubed up the latch and cable end while the hood was up. Many, many thanks for this video. 😂

[HAL]

It's worth the wait. I guess any plastic tool that you can jam under there will do. I used a small pair of pruners with a plastic grip. Opened up a 1997 Ford Escort hood. 😀