850 Hood latch cable broken - how can I get the hood open??
 

Hi...my hood latch cable broke when I pulled on the handle. Tried opening the compartment to find the broken part of the cable to pull with pliers but it's too far in. (The cable part is still sttached to the handle so it broke off up front somewhere) Can't get the hood to BUDGE no matter what. Does anyone know how I can get the hood open? Need to check my tranny fluid ASAP. Thanks!!

95 850 Turbo Wagon

They are a nightmare to get open when they break.
Did one side unlatch?

Unfortunately no...nothing is unlatched...it'c closed SOLID...=( Is there any hope?

There is always hope but it is always a major PITA.

If you can and it seems possible depending on how much came out with the handle. Can you cut the outer part back under the dash close to the firewall to get to the center part?

Here are instructions for opening the hood without a cable

1. You will have to remove your marker light...maybe you can even do this without removing it. Its spring loaded, you might be able to pull it out far enough to do this.

2. Take a look at the picture with the marker removed. See the hole in the well that makes its way into the engine compartment. Note# The radiator support will be covering this area and will need to have a hole opened in it to have visibility. See post# 16

3. Next picture is zoomed in...see the little tab with the hole in it? Thats the release. Take a hanger and make a bend in it to grab that tab and pull...that should do it.

yup, thats the best way of going about it... good luck man.

do the driver side first because that releases the passenger side.

STICKY !!!
I vote sticky, this is not only useful, but a valuable safety tip.

Ditto Great tip

Basically make it on the top of the forum no matter what.

Wow, I would feel honored

Done!!!!!

Hey you guys, we have the same problem with a '94 850 automatic sedan- the front hood latch fell inside the car. However, we took the marker lights out and don't see anything like the tab shown in the pics posted by Boxpin. Instead, we see this...

http://www.me.com/gallery/#100024

Do we need to remove the headlights too? This doesn't seem possible without damaging them, as the marker lights were both damaged during their removal...

Help up get our hood open! Thanks.

Okay, let me try to post those pics again...

http://www.me.com/gallery/#100024

The link takes me to a Mobile.me login...no pic.

Sorry, here they are in my public folder...

http://public.me.com/thedouglas

Okay, gotcha. Makes sense now. Your looking at the radiator support. Its made of a fiberglass compound. You have two options here. First, pull the lower trim off below the headlight. Then size up the angle you need to access and pop a hole in the radiator support to gain access to the path.

Option two, and I dont know if this will work, remove the top and bottom radiator support bolts and see if you can pull out the support far enough to access the holes. I doubt this will work but worth a try.

If you can and it seems possible depending on how much came out with the handle. Can you cut the outer part back under the dash close to the firewall to get to the center part?

hood cable
 

I have recently noticed my hood release is not as smooth as usual, is there a precaution to take(lub) to keep this from breaking?

What if you have installed projector headlights with integral turn signals.

How do you get to it from underneath the car?

And yeah, what can you do to make sure the cable never breaks?

Could you pre-install lengths of aircraft cable hanging down from that latch eyehole, so you can pull down from under the car? Or does it need to be moved sideways?

And what is this comment about the driver's side latch releasing the passenger side of the hood?

Excellent idea.

This is exactly what I did when the bonnet release cable on my reliable old 240 wagon snapped. After replacing the cable I then attached about 600mm of wire to the trip mechanism and hidden behind the grill, which can be easily accessed and operated from beneath the bumper bar.

My tip is the bonnet release cable will never break again now that I'm adequately prepared for it to occur (Murphy's Law).

mine was stuck.. i took the front grill out and i was able to get it.. so thats always a possiblity.. but i dont think mine broke.. just didnt release right

I just broke the clips that hold the grill while trying to unlock the passenger side latch. The passenger side upper section is broken. While I'm at it I will replace the release cable too; it's rusty & in bad shape.

Instead of doing the junkyard search, I thought about buying it from VolvoWholesaleparts.com, until I saw the price, $51. ouch.

Anybody know of a cheaper website for a new latch?

Thanks,
Kevin

mine had the same problem and I discovered taht removing the corner lamps and tagging as above by 850stony is the easiest way around it

What if this solution doesn't work ?
 

I have read this thread several times. I consider it extremely useful. In fact I figured --Hey why wait until the hood latch breaks ? I opened the hood, found the 'latch' on the driver's side lock that opens it and the lock on the passenger side. The 'lock-latch' has a small hold in it. I connected a heavy gauge line to it and I ran the other end out through the driver's side turn signal assembly. I pulled on this and it moved the lock-latch but the hood would still not unlock. What am I doing wrong ? Is there something electrical here? I thought I saw electrical wires going into the lock.

No electrical wires are used for the hood latch locks. chances are that the locks are frozen or the cables are broken.

took my 850 turbo into the garage.. they called to say they can't open the hood.

I'm thinking they might have had this problem. Is the cable fairly easy to snap? How do I know if it is broken?

the cable is enclosed in plastic, with exception to the exposed cable that attaches to the hood lock. that being said I would have to say that it isn't easy to snap the cable. the cable on our 850s is similar to the cable on your bicycle that changes the gears or works the brakes. Unfortunately you won't know if the cable is broken or the hood lock is rusted shut until the mechanic gets the hood open.

Read earlier threads to get an idea how to pop the hood without damaging your front grill or breaking a hood lock. good luck

I have a 97,850 with safety latch will not release front hood. Can anyone help?

The answer you want is located on page one of this thread. Read the reply by BOXPIN. He explains how to open the hood. Although, my hood latch cable is not broken I tried the same method. My hood latch or cable is not broken. I hooked up a cable, so it will already be there in case mine becomes broken. It did not work. I could pull the tab with the hole in it and see the cable wires move--- but it still did not open the hood when the hood was closed. Perhaps his solution will work for you.

>My hood latch or cable is not broken. I hooked up a cable, so it will already be there in case mine becomes broken. It did not work. I could pull the tab with the hole in it and see the cable wires move--- but it still did not open the hood when the hood was closed. Perhaps his solution will work for you.
>

That's distressing. Maybe you need to pull on the lever inside the car at the same time as pulling on the "emergency" cable ?

Is the emergency cable pulling the latch as far as the lever does?

I have not yet gotten around to performing this modification.

Do we need an emergency cable on each side?

rigging a secondary hood release.
 

When I stand in front of my 1995 850 GLT with the hood open I can see the hood locks on both the driver's side and passenger side. If I pull the tab on the drivers side to the right, I can see that the connecting cable also pulls the tab on the lock on the passenger side. So this seems to work fine. As described by an earlier post, one need only 'jury-rig' the hood latch on the driver's side, as it also activates the hood lock on the passenger side.
I connected a heavy duting nylon line ( like a fishing line -- over 120 lb test strength). I ran that line out through the driver's side turn signal. I then close the hood. When I pull on the line nothing happens. It does not release the hood locks.
My hood release is not broken, so therefore it will release if someone in the car pulls the hood release from inside the car.

The cable is in tact, and the hood does the first pop up, but the tab in the grill broke and I cannot get the hood to release the rest of the way?????

This is what you are up against. I would think a coat hanger with a hook on the end would do you good.

My inside hood release is still working but the plastic piece on the outside of the front grill has come undone. Is there anyway to open my hood?

Come on Tracy. Did you read the post before yours?

I am in the same boat as Tracy was..
Anybody successful with the hanger idea? I have failed on multiple attempts. I can get the hanger around it but it won't budge. I even tried running a 3/4" metal pipe behind it and pulled the heck out of it...no dice. Will I have to brake the grille off to get this thing to open? Can anyone take a photo of the back of the grille so I can see where the clips are to release it? Thanks

@ ABVO850: Did you read the entire post? Here the deal, the car has 2 latches and the center clip behind the grill. If you pull the release and the edges don't release you will have to get them to release. I usually pull the handle, go out and pull up on the hood, go back in and pull the handle again and if it releases both sides, I then work on the center latch behind the grill.

What is NOT working for you?

As for the latch behind the grill... My '95 sedan was messed up and the handle stuck out of the grill all the time. When I released the hood, I had to push it in, pull the hood up a little, then pull it out and lift the hood.
On this wagon, it is in proper. So when I release the inside handle and the hood pops up a little, I lift the hood a little and the handle sticks out, then I pull the handle and it opens.

Mine is like your sedan. When I pull the hood release under the dash, the side latches release and the hood pops open a little. I then lift the hood a little more and then I can pull the central release handle to prop it open fully. My problem now is that the plastic release that sticks through the grille has snapped. I can slide a hanger around it or even a metal pipe behind it which you would think should do the job but it wont budge. So at this point, I think I need to remove my grille. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Try pushing the latch in a little, then lift a little, then pull the hook, and try to pull it the rest of the way up. Like a Chineese puzzle (as they say).