I'm storing my buddies truck while he's deployed, and after a normal start-up, run to the gas station and stabil in the tank, i pulled it home, locked it up, shut the door, and forgot about it for three weeks. went back out, and the battery was dead, so the automatic door openers wouldn't work, and his keyed locks are completely broken (both sides). i tried coat hangering the the handle through the door-cab gap, but the handles are stiff and keep bending my hangers. i really don't want to go and buy a slim jim just for his truck, and i really don't want to pay for a company to come open it. if i can figure out a way to get the hood open from the outside i can put a new battery in it and the door openers should work again (swapping batteries doesn't clear the codes does it). which brings me to my question:


Is there any way to open the hood from the outside of the truck without causing damage? if i unbolt the two small screws holding the latch that are visible from the outside will it allow the hood to open? I really don't want him coming home to a non-functioning truck while i'm in asscrackistan...

(99 f-150, crew cab, 2wd, 4.6L power locks)

 

are the locks actually broke, or do the keys just not turn them? if so, pump em full of wd 40 and go to town slowly working back and forth. the lock will break lose. other wise i dont know about opening the hood. is it possible to get jumpers on it from the underside? like on the starter maybe? i dont know if it would work or not... just throwing it out there.

 

the locks themselves are broken. looks like someone tried to hammer a key into them at some point. i tried finding a way to get jumpers on from underneath, haven't found a way to make that work.

 

you would not need to be jumpered directly to the battery. If you could find a wire that was hot with the key off, that would work to charge the battery. There might be a hot wire in the trailer harness if he has a 7 pin plug. If not, the harness for the 7 pin plug is to the drivers side of the spare tire, tied to the main frame at the cable connector. I think the red wire is always hot from the battery ????? Does he have a sliding rear window that could be jimmeyed?? With the right side front tire off, could you reach up around the A frame and inner fender to feel the battery terminals??

 

i'll crawl under and check it one of these nights when i get home while its still light out and check for the harness next to the spare tire. it does not have a sliding rear window.