I must have bent the latch mechanism on my truck?? Here's what happened:

I closed the hood after working on it, (involved climbing in the engine bay) and I havn't been able to get it open (or closed all the way) since. Its stuck it the "safety" position. I can move the release lever in the grill, but it doesn't want to open. I can't tell what its stuck on, but it seems like its stuck pretty good. Any ideas?

at least I just changed the oil in it, so I've got 3000 miles to get it opened.

thanks alot,
scott

 

Hmm,ask this question again at 2999 miles....lol sorry can't help ya

 

lol. scott . try a "Fonzie".........lol

 

Thats a good one. The only thing I can say is to pry it open the only drawback is you will damage the hood so if you want to get a cool custom hood for it to replace your damaged hood start saving up now since you have 3000 miles until you have to have it open again.

 

is the hood clip stuck at all? if so that might be the issue. i would order it from ford or a salvage yard and take a sawzall to it. if it took me this long i would just order a hood and cut it off. btw did you check the hood hinge, maybe the ***** at the end are stuck. curt

 

If its in the safety position you might be able to unbolt the latch by reaching inside. Hack saw the latch is another option. Latches cant be that much.

 

Thanks for the replies!

Here's what i think i'll do:

1. try the old "fonzie" lol

if that doesn't work

2. I'll try prying it up with a couple hockey sticks or 2x4s while someone else pushes over the release lever.

if I still can't get it open,

3. I'll try unbolting it or, hack the latch off as a last resort.

I'll let you know what happens

Curt, you mentioned the hood hinges, are you talking about the hinges in the back near the firewall, or something else?

Thanks again,
scott

 

BFH. The hockey sticks and 2x4s will look pretty cool when those are sticking out the hood! Lol.

 

Good luck and hope you get it open

 

you are desperate to do the air box mod i take it ...lmao ......

 

Get out the torch!

 

Just so happens I'm getting a iduction hood soon and you can just buy my old hood....yay!!!

 

Great ..... I got it open. I ended up using a 10mm wrench and unbolting the latch. It took a while, and there wasn't much room to work but I got it unbolted.

There was a little lock or "ear" on the latch that got pushed down somehow and this was locking the hood in place. I pushed it back into the release position, and it works fine!

Thanks again for your help, and support lol.

scott

 

Glad you got it open and glad it was an easy fix.