dkas Posted February 27, 2012 Report Share Posted February 27, 2012 Ok, this has been a day from hell. Hood latch is broken on my 1994 Cutlass. How in the world do you get into the this car when it breaks? It broke inside the car and of course the wire when inside th housing so you cannot get it. Day started with the battery being dead from storage. Tried to charge it but it set off the alarm the idiot before me put in the car and I could not turn it off because the receiver for the alarm did not have enough power because the battery was dead. So pulled the battery out to charge, it does not have posts and we did not have the right connections to charge it. Put the battery back in the car, tried to jump start it but could not get enough power to get it going. Called the auto club (listened to the tow truck guy bitch because he was missing the Dayton 500) got the car started. Drive it for an hour, shut it off at my parents house...dead...no power at all. Called the same tow truck guy to jump start it (listened to him bitch some more), he cannot get enough power to start it. Tell me either the battery is dead or the alternator is dead or the alarm is short circuited draining the battery. Tow it back home. Get new battery, go to open the hood and latch cable snaps. Ready to give the &%#$##Q car away! I am so frustrated. So, I pull off the housing around the latch pull in the car...no wire to be seen, so I see you can open it by fishing a wire by the headlight and trying to find the latch thing to pull. The only thing this accomplished was stratching the front of the car. Now I am really ticked off. My hubby's recommendation is to sell the piece of shit for whatever I can get for it immediately and stop spending money on it. Just what I did not need to hear after today. Long and short is the car is worth nothing not running....so I have little choice but to pour more money into it and if I am going to do that I am going to keep it. Need suggestions on the fix for a hood latch issue??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted February 27, 2012 Report Share Posted February 27, 2012 had this happen on the 90GP. what i did: get a length of good wire (steel, solid copper, etc) and you'll need to reach up between the bumper and radiator/condensor and loop the wire around the hood release cable there. then just pull down and it will release the hood. keep in mind i didn't care about the 90GP and it was quite ghetto, but it worked for over 3 years and hundreds of hood openings. i used 10 gauge solid copper and a wire nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkas Posted February 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2012 Thanks will try from under the car as you suggested. Honestly I am so frustrated with this car. All the little problems seem to turn in to major complications. This is the not the first time something straight forward has turned into nightmare with this car. It is one thing after another. The car is appraised at 4750.00. I have 5000.00 into the car, plus whatever all this ends up costing me. Do you think I should just cut my loses and sell it for whatever I can get for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breakdown Posted February 27, 2012 Report Share Posted February 27, 2012 Thanks will try from under the car as you suggested. Honestly I am so frustrated with this car. All the little problems seem to turn in to major complications. This is the not the first time something straight forward has turned into nightmare with this car. It is one thing after another. The car is appraised at 4750.00. I have 5000.00 into the car, plus whatever all this ends up costing me. Do you think I should just cut my loses and sell it for whatever I can get for it? I love the look of the black hood bras, I had one on my cutlass, once you get the hood open, just take a coat hanger wrap in black electrical tape, and wedge it between the bra and the headlights, absolutely no one will see it, and it's fixed for under $2. Did that with mine, you can't even pic it out in a picture. That was sedan, hopefully it will work with the miniquad setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White92Cutlass Posted February 27, 2012 Report Share Posted February 27, 2012 You can fix it properly for cheap. The hood latch lever, hood cable, or underhood latch could each be had for $25.00 or less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 olds vert Posted February 27, 2012 Report Share Posted February 27, 2012 I just got a steel wire and attached it to the hood latch mech under the good and now I just pull on that and it opens the hood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted February 27, 2012 Report Share Posted February 27, 2012 Where are you located? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 I would just fix it right. The parts are cheap. Car problems are always frustrating and sometimes I want to smash mine when something like this breaks, but keep in mind these cars are ancient and stuff is going to break. On the bright side, these cars are considerably easier to work on and WAY cheaper to fix than anything newer. Most likely, a battery and hood release are all you need. Appraised at $4750? My 94 Cutlass convertible has a trade-in value of $119 on Edmunds! Is it super low mileage? I don't even think they were worth $4750 10yrs ago (actually paid $3k for mine almost exactly 10yrs ago). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brake Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 New cable from RockAuto is like 10-15 bucks, shipping might sting a bit if you're outside of the U.S but I'd rather pay a few bucks than lay in front of the car to open the hood whenever I wanna check the oil or top off the windshield washer tank. been there, done that....no fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Nightmare Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Once you are able to fix it or whatever, or for those who have not had it break - just put in an auxillary wire to open the hood just in case the actual release quits working. It is easier to do with the hood open then to try to fight with it when the cable is broke. Yes I have a lot of faith in my car and try to be prepared for the next emergency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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