Hello. I have an 02 Z06. I had my oil changed on 09-22-05. On 09-24-05 I go to open the hood and its stuck. I'm not sure if they slammed the hood or not. I didn't see them close it. I was at the register paying for the oil change. The passenger side hood latch releases but the driver side will not. Any suggestions on how to fix this one? I have tapped, banged, pulled and anything else I could think of but no go! The driver side is stuck

 

Have you tried pulling on the drivers side hood corner at the same time you hit the release. I will bet that they left a tool that is causing the problem. Examine the spacing on the hood, it most likely is pushed to one side putting the release into a bind.I did it once myself, forgot a very large screw driver and then forced it closed. Only one side would release till I figured out what I did. I used a shop rag wrapped wedge to press the hood in the proper direction and viola, hood opened and I retrieved the screw driver.

 

Yeah I've tried that. I had others help. They would pull the hood and I would pull the release. I've tried several times on several different days and nothing. I lifted the passenger side and could see the driver side latch. There doesn't appear to be anything obstructing the latch

 

How about trying to push down on the hood above the stuck latch while someone pulls on the release?

 

When I get home tonight I will go out and examine the latches and see if i can come up with a recommended way to access the latch and jury rig it open. As a quick recommendation, there is an access panel in the drivers and passengers wheel well. Remove the tire and remove that access and the latch is right there. I bet that you could use a screwdriver and push the catch off of the hood bar.

Please let us know how you make out.

BC

 

Tried that one also. There has to be a way to get it to release without dismantling he front end. I can't be the only one in the history of Vette ownership that's had a hood latch to fail. There has to be a fix. Dunno what it is but I'm hoping to not take it to the dealer...

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I was thinking about removing the fender well but didn't wanna try something for nothing. I didn't know if the car had a manual release, sort of like the trunks have. Thanks again.

 

Lower, inner fender.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y29...s/100_0438.jpg
Windshield to the left...



As usual, Bill has the best suggestion. Just had a look at my hood latch and it seems there is 2 possibilities...

The spring is broken and won't pull the locking lever to release the hood.

Or the cable on the driver's side may be broken and won't release the catch to allow the spring to work.

I think in either case you are gong to want to do what Bill suggested. If you remove the wheel, then you can get at the lower, inner fender which appears to have about 7 or 8 small hex head screws holding it on. Looks easy to get at. With it off, there is lots of room to reach straight up to the hood latch and pull toward the rear of the car, the lever where the cable is attached. If the spring is the problem, you may have move your hand farther up and move the actual hood latch toward the FRONT of the car to release the hood. Hope you have long arms..

Dave

 

Thanks guys.

Yeah I'm 6'2", so this is one time my size may actually help. Usually big guys are at a disadvantage because things are so small and tight.

It may just be a broken latch. I had someone pull the lever and I listened to the driver side and I could hear the cable moving. I'll take a looky on Sat. I work long days and don't have a garage, only a open carport. I'll let you guys know how it goes on Sat.

 

 

You can't remove the fender until you get the hood open so that won't help, even if you could get it off you still couldn't reach the latch, it is on the wrong side of the inner fender.

First thing to check is feel the cables in the hood release inside the car. In the photo below you can see the brake pedal's view of the hood release. You can see the two cables in the release. You can pull the release and feel the cables with your fingers. They should both be kind of tight when you try to push on them. If one is broken it should feel looser than the other. It's possible the cable popped loose or the release broke, it's only plastic. To remove the release you remove the three screws, one in the middle of the release (under the handle). The the two all the way to the right, not the two in the plastic. It's easy to see the ones in the plastic looking under the dash but the two you need to remove is the one in front of the release, harder to see. If you remove the release you should be able to see how the cables are released. But you probably have to release the cable on the latch before you can release them for the release end.





If all looks good with the release then do like Bill said and remove the rear inner fender. Pretty easy to do, just a bunch of screws, you will need a 7MM socket. Once off it will open up a hole you can see up in and reach the latch. Looking at this photo you can see the red jack stand that the car is sitting on, this is the hole you need to reach up into.





The photo below shows where you need to reach into the latch. The release lever is the lowest thing in the latch. Just stick your finger in the bottom of the latch towards the front and push the lever backwards and the hood should release. I don't see anything that will get your finger when you do this.





If you can push the leaver back and the hood still don't come up, get someone to pull up while you push the leaver. You should be able to see the latch looking up in the hole with a light. It's possible they closed the hood with a rag over the latch and it got crammed down into the latch binding the latch. The latch is held in place with 3 bolts and it looks like it would be very hard to remove them through the hole. If you could remove the bolts then you could raise the hood an inch or two with the cable still attached to the latch which should give enough room to access the latch.

Good luck

 

SpeedyZ

Dude I am so thankful and excited I don't know what to do. It's inside the car!!! The cable came out of the release! I think it may be broken. It's dark outside so it's kinda hard to work with just a flashlight but when I crawled under the dash, the driver side cable is not in the release. It looks like it may have pulled thru. Like ya said, it's only plastic

Thanks to all of you for helping, especially you Speedy. Now that I've found this site, I think I'll hang around. I'm more of dragbike/streetbike guy but I like cars too. I hang out in bike forums all day but now I can hang her too.

 

Welcome to the forum... This place is THE BEST!!!!

 

YEP, you'll pickup more info here than your vette tech has..........

 

SPEEDYZ

GREAT POST!!

BC

 

WoW SpeedyZ



TJ

 

Thanks guys! I always try to give back anywhere I can. I have learned a LOT on this forum myself!

MCSPRO - If you remove the three screws the release should swing out towards the brake pedal where you can work with it much better. Just remove the single screw you see behind the handle between the cables, and the two screws to the far right behind the cables. When you look under there you will see the two screws in the plastic, it looks like they only hold on the plastic part. You should also be able to pull the cable with some pliers and open the hood. Just make sure you don't grab the cable itself with the pliers or you may damage the cable, grab the end and it should be fairly easy to pull. I guess if something happened to the latch outside and the cable got jammed then the release inside may break when pulled. But again, it's only plastic so it is probably your only problem.

Let us know how it goes!

 

Yeah I removed the screws and pulled the cable with needle nose plyers on 10-05-05 and the hood opened as it should. Then I went back in and posted that I had found the problem. I gotta figure out if it's the release that's broken and needs replacing or possibly the cable just came out and needs to be put back in its slot. Thanks again.

I will post pics of what it looks like and let ya know the fix.

 

You guys are great. It's nice to know when a problem arises there are some really knowledgeable and kind folks out there to take the time to help.

 

This what the problem is! It appears that the cable just worked its way loose. I can't see any damage to the plastic release. I'm gonna just re-insert the cable and see if it holds. If not, then I'll just buy a new one! Thanks guys!