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Just found the solution to reducing force needed to release hood. Everything already stated is true, but even after removing rust, penetrating oil, white grease, working latch, and tie wrapping the cable to the bracket it still required Herculean effort to release. Unsat. Got out the grinder - I was going to reduce some metal on the two loops that are retained by the latching mechanism.
I then noticed that each retaining loop is surrounded by a plastic escutcheon held in place by a plastic screw and anchor. So, the solution is as simple as removing the plastic screw, the anchor, and escutcheon and unwinding the loop (turn counter clockwise) until pressure is relieved on the latch mechanism. Hood now opens with one finger.
Hope this helps someone else.
Thanks so much! This indeed did help and solved my whole problem. Great find!
This thread helped fix my stuck hood latch mechanisms.
My car is a 09 Clubman JCW and I experienced a stuck hood latch. The leaver was very hard to move. When more force was applied (in hind sight, that was not a good idea), the cable felt like it snapped.
I pried open the interior trim piece around the hood latch so I may see behind it. I did not remove the trim piece. I popped most of the retaining clips away then moved it between the brake & clutch pedals. Then I noted the cable snapped free from the leaver sheet metal. I reattached the cable to the leaver and then had an assistant press down on the hood (bonnet). Not much pressure was needed but the hood release mechanisms released without a fight. Once released, my assistant easily raised the hood from the latches.
After I opened the hood, I lubed the latches and cable ends with WD-40 then cycled the hood latch several times. I also tested the latch for ease of pull with and without an assistant pressing down on the hood. After 10 cycles, the hood opened and closed without the need of an assistant pressing down.
The lesson learned here is: do NOT force the hood latch open when it is stuck. Have an assistant press down on the hood to release pressure from the hood latches then move the leaver. It should open without much fuss. Once opened, then lube the mechanisms and cable ends as previously mentioned in this thread.
I have a 2012 S Clubman that I got from a salvage auction. One of the things I had to replace when I rebuilt it was the hood. When I first installed the hood it worked great, but it wasn’t totally aligned. About six months later I had time to work on lining up the hood better, so when I started adjusting things I must’ve put the latches in a bind and I had the same problem as the OP. I thought that the cable was broken, so since I had the inner wheel liners off already to be able to move the hood hinges I jus went ahead and removed them. Once I got the hinges loose I was able to lift the back of the hood enough to reach the hood release connection, open it up, and pull the cable to release the latches. After I got it all back together and was trying to make sure I could open the hood again when I closed it is when I noticed that my problem was inside the car like the OP.
question: My hood latch is not releasing, i heard a ping and noticed after pulling off the interior side wall that the cable is not connected to handle. How do you reattach the cable with the metal cylinder at the end to the black handle on the interior of the car?
can the cable be reattached to the handle? I tried opening last night, heard a ping and noticed that the end on the cable (the two inches between the white clip and metal cylinder) has become detached from the handle
You should be able to reattach the cable to the leaver frame. Other people used a zip tie around the frame and cable to prevent the cable from popping off.
Were you able to open the hood after the cable popped off the leaver?
how many pull does it require to unlatch the hood?
i have to pull twice. first pull to unlatch passenger side, then keep pulling (2nd pull) to unlatch driver side? this is right?
my hood has trouble closing on the driver side, it take at more effort pushing down on top of the light to get it latch. passenger side closes fine even with light push.
after some researching i think the cable to the driver side is slightly rusted/stuck.
how many pull does it require to unlatch the hood?
i have to pull twice. first pull to unlatch passenger side, then keep pulling (2nd pull) to unlatch driver side? this is right?
my hood has trouble closing on the driver side, it take at more effort pushing down on top of the light to get it latch. passenger side closes fine even with light push.
after some researching i think the cable to the driver side is slightly rusted/stuck.
It sounds like your hood may need to be adjusted. Check the gap all around your hood to see if it’s the same. If not then it definitely needs to be adjusted. Some easy adjustments are to screw in the two rubber stops towards the front of the hood on the metal U shaped bar that goes from the shock towers to the grill, that’s called the upper radiator support. Another easy adjustment is to screw in or out the part of the hood latch that’s on the hood. There is a little plastic screw that you unscrew part way then you can pop off the plastic piece that surrounds the part of the latch on the hood. Once that is off you can just twist that part of the latch to adjust it to where you need it to be.
Before doing all that try spraying some lube on the latches, unless you can see that the gap around the hood is messed up.
Not to resurrect a zombie thread. But I wanted to let folks know that I utilized this post and another. The pictures from ECS and @SlothsRUs made this a much more feasible task. It did take me several hours. One pointer I would like to add is if you remove the tension on the spring on right (as you are under the car) it makes this much simpler to do and you can even utilize your hand. You can get your hand on the driver side latch, but you can't see what you are doing. Well, I should say my wife's more slender arm could reach to the driver side latch.
So my procedure was to remove the tension off the spring in the attached picture labeled *1. Then I was able to rotate the latch *2 without any real push.
I know this is an old thread, but to help those with a 2010 cooper s turbo and getting at the drivers side latch. Mine was stuck closed , so after reading and seeing pictures I could fairly easily get my hand up to the passenger side latch to push with my fingers to open it, find the cable then end of it and push towards drivers side. The drivers side is a pain in the a$$, since its turbo you have the down pipe to the intercooler, if factory like mine also the resonator block. What I did was removed the pipe from intercooler, then un-did bolt that held the resonator on the fan assy, pushed it to the passenger side of car, the whole assy, then you can look up and see the latch assy. Then took long pry bar and looked up put it on the cable end where the ball is and pry against the that part of latch and the coolant over flow mount the rubber snap in part. it worked within 5 mins, slip a few times till i got in the right spot. If you follow this and look at the pictures posted, and hopefully have a lift like me you will have your hood open within a hour. took me about 4 hours to figure out how to get at drivers latch with the turbo piping in the way. Think while I have it apart will get rid of the resonator in the downpipe.
Hope this helps some of you.
05-10-2019, 10:31 AM
Speedmaster has the key!
