What to do if the hood does not open
Useful tips for motorists

What to do if the hood does not open

With very few exceptions, car hood locks are opened using sheath cables. The principle of operation is simple - a compression-hard shell is attached to the body, and a tensile-hard cable is attached to the handle with one end, and the lock tongue with the other.

What to do if the hood does not open

As an insurance against emergency opening on the go of the "alligator" type hoods, an additional, manually pressed latch is provided. It is always easy to open it, but if the main lock drive fails, problems begin with access to the engine compartment.

Reasons for blocking the hood lock

Most often the drive fails. Especially when, for reasons of economy, instead of a full-fledged cable, an elastic wire in a sheath is used. The castle itself is also sought to be as simple as possible.

Results appear over time:

  • the cable or wire breaks, most often this happens in places of the greatest structural bend, that is, at the handle or when exiting the shell to the lock;
  • the shell can be deformed, it is also simplified up to being used instead of a twisted metal ordinary plastic tube of moderate rigidity, such a cable works normally only for the first time, until the shell material has aged, or its temperature decomposition has not occurred;
  • The lock itself may also fail, it is subject to clogging, washing out and drying of the lubricant, wear and bending of individual parts;
  • there are also electric locks, they are made with great attention to quality, but due to the relative complexity of the design, the probability of failure does not decrease, moreover, such a lock requires a supply voltage;
  • in addition to the main lock, they often put an additional one in the form of a blocker controlled by the security system; if the electronics fail or the battery is discharged, the hood will be blocked, which will exacerbate the problem.

What to do if the hood does not open

A sign of a broken cable of a mechanical lock may be too easy movement of its handle. In the same way that excessively required force will be the signal to lubricate and adjust the mechanisms and drive, if it is ignored, then failure will occur very soon.

Ways to open the hood

Ideal protection against outside interference is not provided, therefore, if the hood lock fails, opening is possible. Although it is intended precisely for this, so that it is impossible to get into the engine compartment without first providing access to the cabin.

What to do if the hood does not open

Broken cable

If the cable breaks near the handle, as it usually happens, then it is enough to determine the place of the break and evaluate the possibility of catching a piece of cable with a tool.

As a rule, it turns out that ordinary pliers are quite enough. The procedure is so simple that many people continue to use it, postponing the replacement of the cable.

When a cliff occurs at the castle itself or somewhere in the depths, there will no longer be a simple solution. It all depends on the design of the drive of a particular car. It can be learned from another one of the same kind.

Opening methods are similar:

  • through decorative or constructive niches in the body, you can get to the cable sheath by pulling on it, exposing the broken end of the wire, then use the same pliers;
  • from below, for example, on a lift or reliable supports of a jacked body, use the lever to get to the lock itself and act directly on the latch;
  • disassemble (possibly with partial destruction of the fasteners) the front part of the radiator lining and press the latch mechanism fixed on the radiator frame.
how to open the hood if the cable breaks, solving the problem of such locks

A far-sighted solution would be to install a safety rod in advance with a ring in a secret place connected to a latch. And so that the cable does not break, it is worth checking its layout for dangerous bends, and most importantly, do not apply much effort to the handle.

A well adjusted and lubricated lock opens very easily without harming its drive.

Frozen or jammed lock

Usually the lock does not fail suddenly and irrevocably. With his jamming, he will warn of poor technical condition. In such cases, it helps to remove part of the load from the latch when trying to open it.

The closed hood is elastically clamped between an elastic seal and rubber stops on one side, and a lock on the other.

The greater the force of reaction between these parts, pressing on the hood in opposite directions, the more effort will be required to apply to the opening mechanism. Loosening is very simple - one person presses on the hood, the second pulls the handle.

If water got into the castle and it froze, then the methods of dealing with this are traditional. Just do not need to water it from the kettle, it ends badly for the body, and then the water will freeze again.

What to do if the hood does not open

You can use an industrial hair dryer at low power, a can of a special car defroster, or a warm room. Rushing here will only lead to breakage of parts.

After opening the lock should be cleaned, dried and lubricated. What matters is not the amount of lubrication, but the frequency of renewal. It will work as a motorcycle lubricant for open chains, as well as a regular protective (universal). Do not use silicone.

How to open the hood if the battery is dead

When the electromechanical drive or interlocks fail due to a voltage drop, the only way will be to supply external voltage from devices such as power banks or jump starters, which are a backup battery with wires.

They can be connected, for example, through the cigarette lighter socket, but access to the salon is required. Stories about connecting light bulbs to cartridges should be attributed to tasks from popular textbooks on electrical engineering.

Much more serious is the advance installation of a secret emergency outlet with external access.

If the interior is blocked for the same reason, and the mechanical door locks do not work, then the situation comes down to breaking into your own car. There can be no general advice here, everything depends too much on the model of the car.

Some open quite simply, but for obvious reasons, these methods should not be advertised. Although it is not difficult to find the necessary information if you wish.

It is hard to imagine the owner of the old classic VAZ, who does not know about easy access to the lock through the ventilation grilles. Approximately the same weaknesses are in most of all other cars.

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