The cable seems to have too much slack on it. If i push down on the hood while someone else pulls the latch it seems as if the drivers side unsnaps but the passenger side is still locked.

Funny thing is the owner's manual states there's only 1 latch in the middle.....

It appears the grille can be removed from the outside - is there a way to get to the latch that way?

 

My 98 v70 gets hung up on the driver side. Almost always have to pull latch handle, lift hood a little pull latch again and it opens.

 

If you cannot open it with the handle it is a major pain to get open. There is no easy way.

 

On mine, the passenger side loosens up first. I have to go up front and pull upward on it, then when I return, and pull the second time, the driver's side releases. I can then move the latch and lift the hood. A bit frustrating, but I haven't had time to further work on mine personally.

 

Well... 2 of us spent 15 minutes trying to get it open w/ the latch. Just ain't happening.

Any tips on where to start?

 

Is this on the 01 V70?
What might be the easiest is to remove the front bumper cover then work from there.

 

Yep 01 V70.

Well that's sweet - another project. I guess I'll go through the grille.

thank goodness you jumpstart these things from the trunk hahaha.

 

LOL on the jump start. Keep us posted on the progress.

 

I have a 1999 XC70 and this happens with the car is not sitting flat. I mean, when the car is parked with driver side on the curb. I use the jack to bring the car to level and push the hood down to lock positon and then pull the latch again. It opens.
If you wonder why don't I drive the car to flat surface/ Usually when I have to open the hood it is because the battery is dead.

 

Took the grille out today..... what a retarded design.. that's all I can say.

Anyway... the drivers side releases, the passenger side doesn't. I soaked it in lubricant for a while and messed with it for an hour. You can very clearly see the lock in there but it just doesn't move and there's no easy way to get to it. I'm about 10 minutes away from going to get a grinder.....

 

I undid the 2 bolts that hold down the locking mechanism and wouldn't you know it .... there is not enough clearance for the whole thing to come out this way. Again ... retarded design.

No progress there so I bolted it back in.... still stuck. I can't believe this is happening.

 

I had to do this for nearly three years until I discovered the fix was simple. before i would pull the latch once, go out and pull up on hood until it hit second latch. Then go pull release latch again and the drivers side would then relase and i could pull center latch and raise hood.

the problem is a simple adjustment I could not find before.

Whichever side is catching, loosen the two screws that hold the latch to the car body, where the cable is attached. This latch has slotted holes which you cant see, and if the hood is closing to tight or to lose on on side it puts pressure on the lever so the lever cant unlatch when the hood lever is pulled. In my case the drivers side was closing too tight putting pressure on the latch on the bottom side, so I loosened the two screws and slid the latch all the way down in the slots and that cured the problem and hood opens first pull every time now.

You can tell if its closing too tight or too loose bu looking at the latch on the hood for where the wear marks are on the metal latching bar.

 

I've been doing this too now for a real long time on my 98 V70XC AWD. Just gave into the fact as Iceracer. Always have been able to open the hood after pulling once, raising the one side, then pulling again. I even tried a fix of adjusting the cable I found at Volvospeed forum. It helped but didn't fix it.

I will check out what you said Brew tomorrow. It will be great to finally get it right.

 

It should work. The problem is that when the hood closes, its putting too much pressure on one side or the other. When you pull the latch the first time and pull up on the one side thats unlatching, it relieves just enough pressure off the other latch that it allows it to release the next time you pull the cable latch inside the car.

I looked all over for cable adjustments etc in the past, but never noticed the slots on the latch itself, because they are not very big slots and the bolt heads are so big they hide the slots, so it looks like its not adjustable.

Let us know if this fixed your problem. good luck.

 

i am having the same problem but it will not budge... the passenger side will not open for the life of me.... im about to sell the car because this is so annoying..

 

I've always suspected Volvo of discouraging owners from working on their cars, but this technique is a new approach. You have to be inside the secret Volvo circle to get the hood open? Long ago, I had an old junker Ford where the hand operated latch was at the base of the grille (I told you it was long ago) but I you had to press down on the hood at the same time you pulled the latch with your other hand to open the hood. And I thought that was a pain.

My '06 is different (I hope) so no problems yet. Is there a way to adjust the
cable? (Harley experience will help here for those who have experienced throttle cable slack or breakage). If its the same set up, I see this problem in my future since I do check fluid levels so the hood is open at almost all fill ups. Any triggering events to avoid?

 

there IS a way... I now have VADIS on my pc (but it is having some issues at the moment) and I am certain there is a diagram that shows how to "hook" the latch(es) from the bottom. Anyone able to look and post a pic? If not, I'll keep on trying to get back on the pc and find it.

 

I own a 2000 v70 xc se I found that if you closely inspect the two latches you will find that one is a little lower than the other.a 10 mm socket/ratchet and a minor adjustment up or down will fix the problem.make sure that the bolts are tightened well when done.