Hello, I have a 2006 Ford F-150, and when I pull the hood release, the hood won’t open unless I’m holding on to the hood release handle while pulling up on the hood. I’ve been trying to figure out how to adjust it but I can’t find any information on it. The cable isn’t broken, as I can see the cable move, it just doesn’t seem to move enough to open the hood release. Does anyone know how I can fix/adjust it so it will work? Do I need to adjust it at the handle, or at the actual release under the hood? Thank you for any replies.
I had the same problem and all I did was clean the latch area and lubricate. You might try that first. if that does not work a body shop could solve it for you.
Thank you, I’ll give that a try!
Open the hood, and on each side of the opening near the fenders you’ll see rubber stops for the hood.
You turn those rubber stops to raise them so when the hood latch is pulled those stops pop the hood open.
Tester
Also, the cable may be unsupported somewhere. Look for a broken tie down. A missing one is slightly harder to spot. Control cables that slop around can’t always work.
Wait a minute…to me you sound like you are describing a problem with the spring that pushes the hood up after you pull the cable. The cable is working and doing its job… After you pull the cable…the hood should pop up a little bit pushing itself up and out of the locking latch. Then you use the safety release handle to get the hood open. The cable you have is working now because it releases the hood when you have someone hold it pulled…what is then required is someone to lift the hood up a bit so you can then use the safety release portion. What does not seem to be working is the spring that pushes the hood up to clear the locking mechanism. The hood should pop up as soon as you pull the release cable This spring used to be a separate entity entirely in the olden days, I fondly recall flicking it and making springy noises with it… now this spring is part of the lock latch where the cable goes.
Try lubricating the entire lock assembly…this may free it up enough to enable it to push the hood up and out of the latch as it was designed to do. You can use a spray like Blaster or WD-40, but after that I would use my trusty oil can with some 10W-30 or 10W-40 inside of it… I use my oil can all over the place… its surprising how nicely things work sometimes when they are a “Well Oiled Machine”
Blackbird
Cleaning (I use a spray solvent like WD40 or even carb cleaner) and regreasing solves 99% of hood latch problems. It’s always the first step in my book.
Yup… This issue will be resolved in the same fashion… The WD-40 will cut thru the gunk and free things up…but after that I hope he uses normal Oil…It works wonders… NO spray grease please…it cannot penetrate to the areas it needs to get to in the latch. But oil Will.
These new latches have the spring inside them…thats why they are so hard to push the hood down into before it latches…many times you can see the spring that controls this “push up” feature within the latch mechanism. Its usually horizontal in the front or back of the latch… Never seen one of these break or come off yet but thats possible too.
9-10 times this problem is due to no lubrication or gunk n rust on that latch. I think this issue will be fixed up in a Jiffy. Just lube and clean the latch…and then work the hood up n down into the latch while you have the hood cable already pulled out… I usually pull the cable in the car and use a pair of vice grips on the stem of the cable pull inside the vehicle in order to keep the cable in the “pulled out” position… then lube and oil the latch…and with the cable pre pulled out…just bring the hood down and push it into and out of the latch repeatedly…until it goes into and pops out of the latch on its own. Then remove vice grips…close the hood…pull the cable and smile when the hood makes that satisfying “Pop” sound when you pull the cable
AND…Let us know what fixed it please… Everyone seems to forget this little detail… It secretly makes us sad out here. 
Blackbird
Just wanted to give a heads up to everyone and let you know I got it working. I cleaned the heck out of it, and also raised the rubber stoppers and the combination made it work again! Thank you all so much for the help.
Congratulations.
Just as a curiosity, what did you use to relube it? Knowing what people have used successfully helps me to learn what works.
COOL BEANS! You probably did not need to mess with the rubber stops…unless it was not sitting correctly. Many times you just need to give each one of those a little turn out as the rubber collapses over time. Make sure the rubber stops aren’t pushing up too much… they can make it hard to close the hood if they are turned out too much. This issue resided in the latch itself for sure. This happens very often…simply because nobody likes to use their trusty oil cans anymore. I always have my trigger pump long nose oil can handy to lube all sorts of stuff like latches and hinges… Hinges just scream for the stuff…because they are always so dry…and they will grind themselves into oblivion without lube…then the doors sag…ugh…
Glad you let us know…and are all fixed up!
Blackbird.
the same mountainbike - At first I sprayed it down with some water and scrubbed it wish some car wash soap (it’s all I had!) then when it dried I sprayed some WD-40 all over it. I let that work in a little and then I will go get some lubricating oil today and put some on there. Blackbird - I did notice that the hood was sunken down quite a bit on one side, and the other just a little bit. So I slightly adjusted the right side, and adjusted the left side probably about 15 turns and after doing all that the hood popped up (to the safety latch) no problem.
Nice work. Congratulations.