Broken Hood Release Cable

This is a fun problem...
I left a door open on my 2000 XJ and the cabin light drained my battery. Not a big deal, right?
Until I pull on the hood release cable and instead of a pop, I get a *ping* and a slack cable pull.
I pulled the plastic cover off the cable handle mounting point under the dash and was able to pull about 8" of slack cable through the firewall before it snagged on something.

I tried pulling the grill/headlights off, but that didn't allow access, so I pulled the front fender linings, also to no avail.

I'm stuck.

Any ideas on how to pop the hood without a cable release?

You should be able to access the rods from underneath. Right behind the radiator reach up with a long thin hooky tool of some sort. Might take a little trying but I'm pretty sure you can pop the hood that way...

Pull out the headlights and the buckets, and you can access the nuts under the hood latches. Take 'em off and lift the hood.

Thanks for the help!

I was able to reach the steel rod with a screw driver and managed to jiggle the hood loose.

What I found surprised me. The *ping* I heard was apparently one of the bolts which holds the cable in place on the hood falling out. With only one bolt left to support the cable at the junction, it was able to pivot when I pulled on the hood release.

Embarassing, but hopefully somebody can learn from my loose bolt...Go tighten them now!

the hood release mechanism should be eliminated as a whole, whenever possible.

xcm said:

the hood release mechanism should be eliminated as a whole, whenever possible.

Click to expand...

x2 ....... hood pin it before it breaks

Rmart30 said:

x2 ....... hood pin it before it breaks

Click to expand...

I thought about hood pins, then I figured I would rather spend my time and money on other things (yes, I know they are cheap... More importantly: I feel like I would f*** up the install somehow and have two mangled holes in my hood). I just spray my cable and all latches with white lithium grease every time I am under the hood and have the stuff nearby