2002 Ford E350 hood stuck closed - HELP!

[Henro]

I guess it’s not that bad. I’m not stuck inside the engine compartment!

But I think the cable that activates the hood release the may have broken. And I can’t get access to the mechanism. Without opening the hood. And I can’t get the grill off for a better view, if there is a better view when the hood is closed.

I can feel in there with my fingers and I think I feel the cable but I’m not sure what I’m feeling cause I can’t see it. I do have a cheap fiber optic camera but the cable is like 20 feet long and it’s a bit cumbersome to use but it might work to take a look and get a better idea what I’m feeling with my fingers.

This van has air conditioning so there’s a condenser coil in front of the radiator which helps block things.

What is the next step? Anybody know? I was thinking MAYBE I could slip a small strip of 24 gauge stainless steel that I have (that is pretty stiff) in the crack below the hood lip, and perhaps get lucky and push that latch out of the way so the hood springs up. But expect that won’t help, because I think that hook thing is the safety hook that you have to release after the hood pops open a couple inches. So I’m not gonna bother even trying that.

So it comes back to having to shift whatever the cable from the drivers compartment pulls on to release the hood. The problem is not the safety latch mechanism because that only is needed after the hood pops open a couple inches.

Kind of at a loss when trying to think of a solution. I do need to get in there because I either have a bad battery or an intermittent bit of leakage, and if I don’t run the van regularly, which I don’t normally, there’s times when I have to put my charger on the battery to bring it back up so I can start the van.

As I type this, I’m coming to the conclusion that my only choice is to get a look in there with this fiber optic camera/display unit, and hopefully see something and move on from that point.

That’s my sad story… am I missing anything? Perhaps there’s an obvious answer. Like: Take it to somebody who knows!

Other than that, any ideas?

PS… thinking outside the box… I have hole saws up to about up to 3 inches in diameter, and the next stop for this van is the junkyard when I’m done with it. I‘ve owned it since new. Also have some fiber discs for my angle grinder… I guess I could cut a section of the hood out and use that stainless steel sheet I have for a patch! I’d rather not do this but I’m not joking! (The van is a kind of metallic gray color, so the stainless would kind of blend in…)

 

[BBFarmer]

I guess it’s not that bad. I’m not stuck inside the engine compartment!

But I think the cable that activates the hood release the may have broken. And I can’t get access to the mechanism. Without opening the hood. And I can’t get the grill off for a better view, if there is a better view when the hood is closed.

I can feel in there with my fingers and I think I feel the cable but I’m not sure what I’m feeling cause I can’t see it. I do have a cheap fiber optic camera but the cable is like 20 feet long and it’s a bit cumbersome to use but it might work to take a look and get a better idea what I’m feeling with my fingers.

This van has air conditioning so there’s a condenser coil in front of the radiator which helps block things.

What is the next step? Anybody know? I was thinking MAYBE I could slip a small strip of 24 gauge stainless steel that I have (that is pretty stiff) in the crack below the hood lip, and perhaps get lucky and push that latch out of the way so the hood springs up. But expect that won’t help, because I think that hook thing is the safety hook that you have to release after the hood pops open a couple inches. So I’m not gonna bother even trying that.

So it comes back to having to shift whatever the cable from the drivers compartment pulls on to release the hood. The problem is not the safety latch mechanism because that only is needed after the hood pops open a couple inches.

Kind of at a loss when trying to think of a solution. I do need to get in there because I either have a bad battery or an intermittent bit of leakage, and if I don’t run the van regularly, which I don’t normally, there’s times when I have to put my charger on the battery to bring it back up so I can start the van.

As I type this, I’m coming to the conclusion that my only choice is to get a look in there with this fiber optic camera/display unit, and hopefully see something and move on from that point.

That’s my sad story… am I missing anything? Perhaps there’s an obvious answer. Like: Take it to somebody who knows!

Other than that, any ideas?

PS… thinking outside the box… I have hole saws up to about up to 3 inches in diameter, and the next stop for this van is the junkyard when I’m done with it. I‘ve owned it since new. Also have some fiber discs for my angle grinder… I guess I could cut a section of the hood out and use that stainless steel sheet I have for a patch! I’d rather not do this but I’m not joking! (The van is a kind of metallic gray color, so the stainless would kind of blend in…)

Its an absolute mother, but that grill can be slipped off with the hood still closed.

If memory serves me correct (and probably wont lol) there are 4 8mm bolts on the sides in the middle of the grill. Then 3 7mm's across the top. The hood molding may be in the way to see it.

Then you got 3 clips at the bottom to release and she should pop out. From there it may still have the plastic shroud across the rad support which may be covering most of the latch. Once removed, you'll see the release for the latch.

Is the inside latch broken or is the cable completely done for. If it just the inside latch, you can remove the cable from the back of it and pull on her with some needle nose pliers or something.

 

[Dustball]

Maybe this video will give you some ideas

 

[GeoHorn]

It’s a FORD…Correct..??

 

[Henro]

Its an absolute mother, but that grill can be slipped off with the hood still closed.

If memory serves me correct (and probably wont lol) there are 4 8mm bolts on the sides in the middle of the grill. Then 3 7mm's across the top. The hood molding may be in the way to see it.

Then you got 3 clips at the bottom to release and she should pop out. From there it may still have the plastic shroud across the rad support which may be covering most of the latch. Once removed, you'll see the release for the latch.

Is the inside latch broken or is the cable completely done for. If it just the inside latch, you can remove the cable from the back of it and pull on her with some needle nose pliers or something.

Wow! Thanks so much for getting my thinking going in the right direction. Your description, and Dustball's video which seems to illustrate the same thing, is so helpful!

I really appreciate your taking the time to give me some help.

 

[Henro]

Maybe this video will give you some ideas

That video is SO HELPFUL! Thank you so much for posting it. I did try to find a video on line, but did not succeed much. Did find one, but it was different than you video shows.

So I now have a basic plan of attack. Hopefully I won't be crying too much along the way...I will report back, and in the meantime drive it a bit every couple days. I guess worst case I could get a battery maintainer and hook it into the system through the cigarette lighter port, which is now called a power port probably.

Thanks again for that link!

 

[Henro]

It’s a FORD…Correct..??

View attachment 159364

Even though it is not a Chevy, I will keep that option in my back pocket! For sure!!!

 

[Bee-Positive]

Even though it is not a Chevy, I will keep that option in my back pocket! For sure!!!

 

[Lil Foot]

Probably no help in your situation, but back in my fire fighting days, we had an under-the-hood car fire, and couldn't contact the owner.
Spraying water from below wasn't getting the job done, so I ran to my nearby LandCruiser, grabbed the hooked shaft for the jack, and reached up under the hood, an yanked down on the release cable, housing and all.
The hood popped open, and we were able to cut the battery ground, and put out the fire.

Later, the owner threatened to sue us for "opening his car without his permission."

Moron.

 

[Daren Todd]

Even though it is not a Chevy, I will keep that option in my back pocket! For sure!!!

Work on stuff long enough and you start wishing for the days that they still sold dynamite at the hardware stores

Might not fix the issue, but you got to "Blow" off some steam

 

[Daren Todd]

Probably no help in your situation, but back in my fire fighting days, we had an under-the-hood car fire, and couldn't contact the owner.
Spraying water from below wasn't getting the job done, so I ran to my nearby LandCruiser, grabbed the hooked shaft for the jack, and reached up under the hood, an yanked down on the release cable, housing and all.
The hood popped open, and we were able to cut the battery ground, and put out the fire.

Later, the owner threatened to sue us for "opening his car without his permission."

Moron.

View attachment 159395

I wouldn't expect anything less from a land cruiser owner

 

[GeoHorn]

Probably no help in your situation, but back in my fire fighting days, we had an under-the-hood car fire, and couldn't contact the owner.
Spraying water from below wasn't getting the job done, so I ran to my nearby LandCruiser, grabbed the hooked shaft for the jack, and reached up under the hood, an yanked down on the release cable, housing and all.
The hood popped open, and we were able to cut the battery ground, and put out the fire.

Later, the owner threatened to sue us for "opening his car without his permission."

Moron.

View attachment 159395

Back in MY youth…(late ‘60’s)…. We were stopped in-traffic down in Dickinson, TX… when we realized the second car in-front of us was the problem…. It had smoke POURING out from under the hood and the owner was just standing-by.
My boss’s son, ..Bobby, …popped our work-car’s trunk and grabbed the fire-extinguisher stored there….ran up to the burning car, popped open the hood…..(this was back when cars didn’t have inside-latch-releases…only had to grab a lever in front on in the grille)…. And he Dis-Charged ALL that extinguisher onto the top of the engine and put out the carburetor-fire.
….ALL THE WHILE the OWNER was screaming at him “STOP….STOP”….and then started beating on Bobby’s back with his cowboy-hat!

When the fire was Out…Bobby turned on the owner and yelled, “Why the Hell are you beating on me..?? I”m Trying to HELP You! “..

Turns out….the owner has had Nothing But Trouble with that New Car stalling-out in traffic ever since he’d bought it two months previous…. The Dealer could never duplicate the problem….. And now that it finally Caught-Fire…..He WANTED IT TO BURN! …so he could claim Insurance on it!
...But Bobby had SAVED IT!

 

[torch]

and reached up under the hood, an yanked down on the release cable, housing and all.
The hood popped open, and we were able to cut the battery ground, and put out the fire.

Depending on where the cable is broken, one can often simply pop the hood by grabbing the cable itself and pulling. The outer jacket will pull away from the mechanism and at some point either the inner cable jams and tugs or one ends up with access to the inner cable, which can then be grabbed directly. The OP did say he was able to get his hands on it.

Later, the owner threatened to sue us for "opening his car without his permission."

Interesting. I wonder what exactly he figured the fire department was there for?

Legal frameworks differ from region to region of course, but up here a firefighter has pretty much a carte blanche right of entry without warrant any where, any time, in case of fire, threat to the environment, rescue or other emergency. And pretty much a carte blanche to do any damage and destruction required to accomplish the task.

A lawsuit wouldn't make it past even the hungriest lawyer's secretary. To quote from the act:
"No action or other proceeding for damages shall be instituted against a firefighter, a fire co-ordinator, a community fire safety officer, a member or employee of the Fire Safety Commission, an assistant to the Fire Marshal, a Deputy Fire Marshal, the Fire Marshal, or a person acting under his or her authority, for any act done in good faith in the execution or intended execution of his or her power or duty or for any alleged neglect or default in the execution in good faith of his or her power or duty."

 

[BAP]

It’s a FORD…Correct..??

View attachment 159364

Awful lot of money to waste on a Ford. A rag and match for the fuel tank would be enough money spent!!!

 

[Henro]

After doing all the important things around the homestead this morning, like taking out the garbage and whatever else REALLY needed to be done, when I could find nothing else, I decided to embark on what I just knew was going to be an aggravating and frustrating experience!

Got the fiber scope out, and the battery was only 50 percent. Gee I'll bet that is only good for about five hours...better charge it before I get started. Decided to follow the advice given here, and started at the release end in the cab hoping that the cable end would be there and I could pull it somehow and release the hood. Things started out well. There was a panel on the lower dash, that pulled off and allowed great access to the mechanism.

To make a short story shorter, I can report that contrary to GeoHorn's implication, the problem was not that the Van is a Ford. While checking out the mechanism, and other things under there, I realized the problem was the Van's owner. Seems he had to tug VERY hard on the release Knob in order to get the hood to pop open the last time. Hard enough that cable breakage was a likely possibility.

Before closing the hood he had lubricated the latch mechanism, then went to try it and it pulled with no resistance at all. It was obvious the cable must have broken on that last tug, just after the hood popped open.

The fix ended up pretty simple. It seems pulling on a similar handle/knob/whatever-it-is-called only works if you pull on the one that opens the hood, NOT the one that releases the parking brake that you never use!

I going to have to give another talk to the owner about making assumptions! We have had this discussion before and he knows better!

Don't you love it when a story has a happy ending, when the equipment is not to blame?

Oh, and the lubrication did the trick. Hood release now works like new...

 

[Bee-Positive]

THAT'S IT??? Pilot error???

Where's all the death and destruction, bleeding knuckles, filling of swear jars, paying $$$$$ for a $ part?

Actually glad it was an easy fix.

 

[torch]

A lot of nursing homes will have an Alzheimer's ward or floor for patients with dementia. To protect those patients who might wander off from themselves they typically have electronic locks on the exit doors, controlled by a nearby keypad. The code will often be posted on the wall above the keypad forming a means test: if the patient is not able to understand the correlation then they are presumed to lack the mental capacity to safely leave the ward un-escorted.

Maybe this incident is a sign that your days under the hood are numbered? <lol>

 

[Henro]

A lot of nursing homes will have an Alzheimer's ward or floor for patients with dementia. To protect those patients who might wander off from themselves they typically have electronic locks on the exit doors, controlled by a nearby keypad. The code will often be posted on the wall above the keypad forming a means test: if the patient is not able to understand the correlation then they are presumed to lack the mental capacity to safely leave the ward un-escorted.

Maybe this incident is a sign that your days under the hood are numbered? <lol>

Torch, Are you offering that observation to me or to the owner?

Perhap’s time for a movie sequel titled " One flew over the Ford Van’s Hood…"

 

[torch]

Torch, Are you offering that observation to me or to the owner?

the next stop for this van is the junkyard when I’m done with it. I‘ve owned it since new.

I'm offering to whichever of your personalities is trying to open the hood by tugging on the parking brake release.