gtoden1

I have a 93 LS400.

Today I did a stupid thing.
My hood release was not working so I decided to see if I could fix it.
I disconnected the cable at both ends thinking I would replace the cable. Checked all over and couldn't find a replacement, the next day I had to run some errands so closed the hood and that's when it hit me that I just closed the hood and now have no way of opening it.
Anyone know of how I can open it?
Thanks for any ideas.
Den

dicer

Something happening to the hood release is one of the worse things that can happen on these cars, patience and a good video bore scope and stiff wire maybe if you know
what to hook on. Best bet is to find one at a wrecking yard and study it real well. Even if you end up wrecking the grill it will still be difficult mess to try to release it.
No matter what its going to take awhile.

CELSI0R

Other owners have faced this issue. I did a quick search online, and this thread may help you.

Also, even though this video shows a Jaguar, the process described here by ChrisFix may aid you in solving the issue. Unfortunately, this may be quite a bit more difficult to accomplish on these cars, since the latch is in a very awkward spot. Take extra care not to damage your fans or the radiator.

dicer

LS's are not that easy.

CELSI0R

Yes, the fans are primarily in the way, but the procedure is similar once access is gained to the latch.

dicer

And the latch is all protected so you can't access it like that at all even if you could see it. I wish he'd come back and let us know if he got it open yet and how.

CELSI0R

Same here.. I would like to know of a better solution, without needing to destroy the grille.

In August, I was able to manually open the latch, after disconnecting the cable. It was tricky to get the right grip, but inserting a screwdriver from the side to push the latch did the trick. Of course, this is much harder with the hood closed.

dicer

I'll get a good picture of it when I can. There is only one way I can think of to unlatch it, if the cable was missing the end, that is if the latch isn't broke some how.
And it would be extremely difficult with the grill in the way. I'll explain better when theres a picture of it.

dicer

Pictures of hood latch. So the first picture on the left side would be the rear that is in front of the radiator and condenser. The middle picture is the front and is obscured by the radiator support assembly. The right picture shows the groove that the cable fits in, the screw driver is in it, and is also pointing at the release lever that the cable hooks to and pulls to release the latch.
I went to the wrecking yard the other day and the latch was ruined, it looks like someone took a slide hammer and pulled it towards the front of the car and bent it to get it to release. It did not appear that the radiator support got hurt from that, so that maybe an option in a pinch. The grill was also not damaged so???? When something goes wrong with latches on these cars its a very difficult thing to deal with as far as not wrecking some good parts. They were designed not to be broke into. This is a 1st gen latch in the photos.

gtoden1

Well I tried everything with no luck. The only thing left is to break in thru the grill.
Thanks to those who responded.
I'll let you know how is goes.

dicer

Yeah sorry to hear that. I would hate to be dealing with that, or even the common driver door not opening deal. The only option to try to not wreak something is to use a video scope and thin gas welding wire with a hook on the end of it and try to hook that release the little screw driver is pointed into. Its something that would take some major time to attempt to do.

gtoden1

I found a used grill and had to break the current grill and did get it opened.
Now I need to find a new cable.
I’m going to sell the car as soon as I can.
I don’t think I can list on here cause of the rules you have to have so many posts.