Anyone with experience replacing a new Hood Release Handle on a 1973 Mercedes-Benz 450SL? OR, know how to open the hood without the Hood Release Handle inside the car? I replaced and correctly re-attached the release cable, but it still will not open the hood. I tried pulling the cable with vice-grips to open, but still could not get hood latch to open. I’m trying hard NOT to break the cable itself!
Check with a good body shop. They usually have all kinds of tricks for opening damaged hood releases.
Sometimes a little metal-surgery has to be done to open a hood with a stuck latch. This may seem difficult to believe, but some car owners anticipate this “catch-22” (no pun intended) problem and add hardware to the latch mechanism so it can be unlatched without having to create any new openings. In any event, no worries, whatever needs to be cut open to open the latch can be repaired and painted to look good as new. I concur w/ missleman’s comment above, next step is a well-recommended body shop.
Have someone pull the cable while you’re looking in with a flashlight. Could be nothing more than the hood being slightly off kilter and not popping up when the cable is pulled. If that’s the case, just pull the hood up while someone is pulling the cable.
Id jack it up, get under there and try to push it open with a broomstick or something while someone is holding the latch out. If you do get it open make sure to spray the latch with plenty of white lithium grease. Our toyota yaris did the same thing recently. Once open, the grease fixed it.
Have you had someone pushing and pulling on the hood while you’re pulling the cable? That’s what I’d try next.