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Frozen hood release cable

AndyS

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Shrewsbury, MA
Great...I've gone out in the cold to replace my oil filter flange o-rings, only to find that I can't budge my hood release cable. It gets stiff occasionally, but usually a shot of WD-40 helps it out. This thing aint moving like it sits right now, though...

How else can I pop my hood??
 
All you can do now is reach up through the engine from underneath with a pair of vise grips. Get ahold of the cable close to the T-connection which is toward the driver side, and then pull sideways. I think unlatch requires a pull to the driver side but I'm not sure, jerk it both ways until you hear the latch click open.

I keep meaning to attach some kind of quick release wire on mine. Haven't had any problems yet but it's a poor design cuz you're SOL if it fails. I've heard of people who had fires then couldn't get the hood open to limit the damage.
 
I've heard of people who had fires then couldn't get the hood open to limit the damage.


Sheesh...terrific.....I hope I can reach up that high from the bottom. Isn't all the electric fan stuff in the way when you reach up that way?
 
AndyS said:
Sheesh...terrific.....I hope I can reach up that high from the bottom. Isn't all the electric fan stuff in the way when you reach up that way?

Yes, but there's just barely room to get your hand through. I've done it on a friend's jeep. And you have to come up off the ground to reach high enough (unless you got really long arms) but it is possible to reach it, using full size vise grips. Then you have to get a pretty good force sideways pull to pop the latch with almost no room to manuever. It's tight as hell, you'll skin your knuckles up and drop the wrench on your head 3 or 4 times, it's a royal PITA but it *is* possible. That's why I keep meaning to rig some release wires on mine, so I never have to do that again.

It's sure no fun on a cold day, and the latch is gonna be harder to pop too with the cold - can you wait til it's warmer, or get in a warm garage? If not, maybe drive it a bit to let the engine warm everything up, but then let it cool down some so you don't burn your hand on something hot.
 
Hmmm...not sure how many more "warmer" days we're going to have up here in New England, at least not until April next year.
Well, thanks for the advice - I might try it when I get home from work tomorrow with the engine compartment warmer.

Andy
 
If you get it open you will need to do one of two things, replace the entire cable or hit up a motorycycle shop and get a cable lube kit, it has a fitting that goes over the end of the cable and a can of pressurized lube that you spray into the fitting, this forces lube the whole length of the cable so put some newspaper or other catch device inside under it cause the excess will come out the other end. Need to do the wifes olds once the weather warms backup, hers is stretched. If you replace it tie a strong nylong string to the old one and pull it back thru to the cab, the WHOLE THING, cable and the tube it is in, then use the string to pull the new one back thru.
 
I'm just going to replace it; ten years of salty N.E. winters is enough, and it's not worth the hassle of trying to limp another season or two out of it. They can't be that much, even at the dealer...$20 - $30 max?? I'll gladly spend that much to be able to check my oil, put out fires, etc.!! ;)

Andy
 
I think the issue with fires is independent of age or condition of your cable. The problem is that it runes right over the fuel rail where a bad fire is likely to start. The fire melts the cable and you are bugered. If you want to mitigate this problem first you should keep an eye on things under there so you don't get a fire and you could cover the cable with some fireproof insulation.
 
Ya got me curious now, is there anything in particular that starts these fires? You mention that they usually start around the fuel rail; are there inherent problems with older fuel rails? Do the injector o-rings go or the pressure regulator fail or some thing like that? I have no fuel leaks, but quite obviously, I'd like to avoid any possible issues if there are any known defects. Mine's a '94 4.0 AW4, if that's any clue...

Thx
Andy
 
I don't know of any major problem with the XJ but in general under hood fires are related to fuel or electrical, so the two likely places under the hood of fire are the fuel rail and the electrical junctions. Thus the legends of the cable not working in the case of a fire…
 
Back to the cable issue - make sure that the latch mechanisms themselves are well lubed. I've found that that is more often an issue than the cable itself. Also make sure the hood isn't out of line, binding against a fender. It sometimes helps to push down on the hood before trying to unlatch it.
 
If you can't get it open by reaching underneath, you can take out the headlights and un-bolt the latches.

I've had the same problem and noticed that it's the latches that give me the problem. Now whenever I open the hood, I just spray the latches with wd40 to keep them lubed.

Good Luck.
 
If you can't get it open by reaching underneath, you can take out the headlights and un-bolt the latches.


Ahhhhh, now THAT'S the kind of workaround I'm looking for....I'm lazy, so I'll try the easy route before I try the knuckle-buster method...!

Thanks guys
 
wyrdvans said:
If you can't get it open by reaching underneath, you can take out the headlights and un-bolt the latches.

I've had the same problem and noticed that it's the latches that give me the problem. Now whenever I open the hood, I just spray the latches with wd40 to keep them lubed.

Good Luck.

I try to relube mine whenever it starts feeling stiff, and so far I've kept ahead of it.

I've used white lithium grease before, but the last time I just hit the latches with PB Blaster - seemed to work well, depsite stinking to high heaven. I'd wager the Blaster would work better and longer than WD40, but YRMV.

Rob
 
Use lithum grease, works better and lasts longer than PB or WD. The other alternative is to use powdered graphite, thats what I use for my door locks. Keeps them from freezing in the winter.
 
Nope; I don't think this is the latches; while they are a bit crusty, I also hit them with a bit of WD whenever the hood's open. I'm 99% sure this is the cable; on the occasions that the release has gotten stiff, I try to lube the cable with WD40 as best I can, and after a little working back and forth, it does improve. I find it odd that it gets worse in cold weather; I wouldn't think that temperature would really be that much of an issue with corrosion. Moisture, yes; salt, yes.
 
AndyS said:
Ahhhhh, now THAT'S the kind of workaround I'm looking for....I'm lazy, so I'll try the easy route before I try the knuckle-buster method...!

Thanks guys

Here are the juicy details on how to do this:
1. remove grille
2. remove headlight bezels, headlamps, and headlamp "buckets"
3. there are two bolts that hold each latch striker to the radiator core support. One is mounted horizontally, with the bolthead facing forward. The other is mounted vertically, with the bolt head facing downward. Both of these bolts are accessed in the area behind where the headlight bucket mounts. REmove both of these bolts on both sides, and the latches will come up with their respective strikers attached.

A PITA, but nothing is destroyed.:D
 
Well, I didn't know about the removing the headlights thing, that's good to know. If I were you I'd still try the vise grips thing, it's really not that bad and saves a lot of disassembly. But it's nice to know there's an alternative if it doesn't come free easily.

If you want to try the vise grips, crawl under, peel back the engine shroud if necessary and look up between the fans and the engine with a flashlight - you'll see if you think there's enough room.

On your question about fires, leaky fuel injectors are one common culprit (not that fires are common) and as mentioned the fuel rail is directly under the cable. If you ever smell gas around the injectors, don't drive it. A guy I know smelled gasoline and drove 3 miles to the dealer to get it fixed, and watched it burn up right outside the dealer's shop.
 
if its any help, follow the pics link in my sig to some pics of my hood latches. Might help to give you a visual before you go pulling at your washer fluid rez:D (let me know it the link doesnt work)
 
I spray anything related to the hood cable/latches w/ white lithium grease, one of the first of many things I do when I first acquire an XJ/MJ.

I've tried WD40 and...white lithium grease works far better and doesn't need to be resprayed.

Gone as far as 3 years with the same XJ/MJ w/ no probs AFTER the white lithium.

I just hit the two side latch springs where the latch goes into, both latches on the hood, the point where the cab cable hooks up to the riveted bracket, and whatever else might benefit from it.

Why ruin your knuckles?

I use mechanix gloves when I have to reach up there(ruined the knuckles once doing it, never again).

Teron
 
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