my hood release cable is broke, and I can't get my hood open. Any suggestions?

vw2p5 said:
it's broke at the hood release latch, I can't pop it from inside the car.
Click to expand...

How do you know that if you can't get the hood open? Sometimes they break right at the handle and you can grab the cable with some pliers under the dash and pull the broken cable to open the hood.
 
^ That's what I was thinking, but if its broken at the latch, my only idea is to bust the grill to get at it, but I'm sure theres another solution...
 
pasadena_commut said:
How do you know that if you can't get the hood open? Sometimes they break right at the handle and you can grab the cable with some pliers under the dash and pull the broken cable to open the hood.
Click to expand...

well I hit someone a while back and the plastic piece from the cable that connects to hood latch broke, so I cut a grove in the plastic on the cable and reattached it to the latch. well as the weather got colder and i closed the hood one day, it tried to pop the hood the piece that I attached to the latch broke.
 
You'll have to get the grill out (break or cut) and grab it or jack it up remove the plasitc piec under it and reach up and get to it somehow. It won't be easy and just jbweld or solder it next time or get a new cable
 
Jack it up and try to pop the latch from underneath using an old piece of rebar or copper pipe or something? Otherwise I dunno.
 
I just went and looked at mine and it appears that one might be able to slide a thin flat piece of metal (like a ruler, but sturdier) below the edge of the hood to the right of the latch and under the lever. Then push down, which will lever the latch release up, and the hood might release. A very thick coat hangar might work if you can slide it in sideways and then rotate it to get under the lever. Otherwise this is going to be a pain, as the plastic "shelf" is in the way, so even if you take the grill out there isn't direct access to the lever. Also there isn't a lot of space in which to snake something up from the bottom of the car. That said, you know the tools they use in retail stores to put clothes which are on hangers up on high hooks for display? They are about 3 feet long with 4 or 5 inches of "L" on the end? I think that you could slide one of those past the radiator, rotate it to get under the lever, and lift.

Good luck...
 
****, I got it open, I actually thought I could take the bottom grille out without breaking it..... WRONG, I busted all the tabs off that hold the lower grille on. reached my hand up through there, and was able to push the tab over and pop the hood. no I gotta figure out if I can reuse the cable or have to get a new one. Don't wanna have to go through this bulls*** again. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions
 
Your choice of grill to break was best... the bottom grill can be had for about $23 at the dealer.
 
Or get some mesh metal and paint it I think it'd look good or just some chicken wire would work too...
 
not to many protege in the junk yards around here. the yard I was at the other day might of had 4 mazdas total, and they all had been gone through over and over again, not much left other then the shells.
 
There is no need to break the grill. Here is how you remove it. At either side of the grill there is a 10mm bolt that points down through the bumper cover and the headlight assembly. Use a pry tool to gently lift the hood and you can slip a 10mm flat wrench onto the head of the bolt to loosen it and remove it. With both bolts removed, you have to pry between the grill bottom and the bumper cover to disengage the three posts that protrude from the bumper cover into the grill. Now, the grill is held only by the two clips that go back into the top frame member, at either side of the grill. A firm yank will get them out, You can now access the latch mechanism to pull the cable, or, if worse comes to worse, you can even unbolt the latch mechanism from the frame member, it's easy.
 
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