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Thanks for the suggestions, I’m was wondering if I can actuate the latch from through the grill perhaps with a long screwdriver or long pliers.
Given how cold it is removing a fender liner or crawling around under the truck is a last resort. I’ll wait for more info, perhaps someone has been in this situation already.
At -47F, doing anything outdoors in or around a truck is a serious safety hazard. We are talking life and death in minutes at that point... as you are fully aware. Dang man.
At -47F, doing anything outdoors in or around a truck is a serious safety hazard. We are talking life and death in minutes at that point... as you are fully aware. Dang man.
Ya it’s cold! When dressed for it I can tolerate 15-20min but the worst thing is how materials react to these temps, the yield point is greatly reduced(hence my hood latch cable snapping very easy) which makes doing anything with equipment a losing battle.
Ya it’s cold! When dressed for it I can tolerate 15-20min but the worst thing is how materials react to these temps, the yield point is greatly reduced(hence my hood latch cable snapping very easy) which makes doing anything with equipment a losing battle.
Did your truck not start? is that the reason you needed to open the hood? I would think a block heater is a must at those temps. here in Northern WI it does get to about -40 but its very rare.
Did your truck not start? is that the reason you needed to open the hood? I would think a block heater is a must at those temps. here in Northern WI it does get to about -40 but its very rare.
I’m off for the holidays so I wasn’t planing on using my truck until Jan 3rd so I didn’t have the block heater plugged in. Then it looked like I might need it this afternoon so I wanted to plug in the block heater. I didn’t try to start it and won’t until I can get the block heater plugged in for 4+ hrs
Since it's +20C here I thought I'd go out to my truck and give it a looky to see if I could figure something out to help you.
And my hood would not open.
So I rattled it and yanked on it until it finally popped up. Then I got after the latch with lithium grease. New trucks (3K miles) come with very little lubricant on the hood latch. Recommend lithium grease or WD-40 to keep moisture out of the workings. Takes less effort on the release handle now.
Then I turned my attention to your problem. I concluded Ford did a good job in designing a latch that could not be opened from the outside. I was stumped. Sorry. I did see where the ends of the 2 springs in the latch poke through the body of the latch (toward drivers side) and thought if you could reach those and cut them off the hood might open. Best I could come up with.
Since it's +20C here I thought I'd go out to my truck and give it a looky to see if I could figure something out to help you.
And my hood would not open.
So I rattled it and yanked on it until it finally popped up. Then I got after the latch with lithium grease. New trucks (3K miles) come with very little lubricant on the hood latch. Recommend lithium grease or WD-40 to keep moisture out of the workings. Takes less effort on the release handle now.
Then I turned my attention to your problem. I concluded Ford did a good job in designing a latch that could not be opened from the outside. I was stumped. Sorry. I did see where the ends of the 2 springs in the latch poke through the body of the latch (toward drivers side) and thought if you could reach those and cut them off the hood might open. Best I could come up with.
Thanks, it’s suppose to warm up to -20c tomorrow so I will try to start it and take it into a warm shop to see if I can figure anything out. Dealership can’t get it in until Jan 5th so hopefully I can get it figured out before then, suppose to be in the -30s quite a few days until then.
Are you positive that the cable broke where you have no access to it? Might the end broken where it attaches to the inside release? Or might the attachment point on the inside release have broken, rather than something out under the hood?
On my 2019 looks like a long screwdriver can push the metal tab that the cable attaches to. Going through the grill pushing it towards the drivers side.
Thius is exactly the reason I am now an Arizona resident!
49 years in the oilfields of ND, MT, and WY and it hurts to even read about these temperatures!
Sorry OP, no help for your situation though.
I might have a solution to getting the hood up, or at least the beginnings of one.
TOP PICTURE: Note there are two (out of focus) bolts that hold the hood latch to the radiator frame. If they can be removed the latch will come free of the radiator frame and the hood should raise enough to maybe work with.
BOTTOM PICTURE: View of the two bolts through the grill. (of my XLT) A socket on an extension should do the trick. I didn't note what size they are.
Once the hood is slightly up I guess you could cut the cable to open it fully. Then disable the main latch and rely on the safety latch only until parts are available. Or maybe you could see how to fix it. In either case I think this will get your hood up.
On edit: Maybe this will give you enough room to take the bolts out of the hook on the underside of the hood. Then you wouldn't have to cut anything. Maybe.
Anyone passing this way, it's a good idea to get some lube into this latch so it works better and maybe doesn't freeze.
