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I am new to this site and was wishing to obtain information about a passenger side hood latch stuck on my 2002 C5 Corvette. Has anybody had this happen and what was the remedy to release the latch. Thank you.
I removed both latches and cleaned them with solvent then regreased with synthetic grease. As in the parking brake handle assembly, the old grease was dirty and dried up causing parts to bind. It's also possible that the large spring in the latch that pushes the hood out of the latch is broken, if it is you can replace it. I replaced both internal latch lift springs with lighter ones so the hood doesn't have to be slammed close to latch, now when the release handle is pulled the hood smoothly pops open without all the extra force. There is no snow buildup on the hood to overcome so the lighter springs work better.
I removed both latches and cleaned them with solvent then regreased with synthetic grease. As in the parking brake handle assembly, the old grease was dirty and dried up causing parts to bind. It's also possible that the large spring in the latch that pushes the hood out of the latch is broken, if it is you can replace it. I replaced both internal latch lift springs with lighter ones so the hood doesn't have to be slammed close to latch, now when the release handle is pulled the hood smoothly pops open without all the extra force. There is no snow buildup on the hood to overcome so the lighter springs work better.
Thank you for the reply "Fast One". I think I listed the problem wrong. My problem is the passenger side latch won't release so I can open the hood. I don't know how to release the latch with the hood down. Any ideas? Thanks.
My best suggestion is to get the car on a lift and attempt to spay the latch mechanism with a penetrating lube from within the engine bay. It will be a very tight squeeze and may take a long extension on the lube can to reach the latch. The passenger side is the worst side to reach because the battery box blocks access. The latch might release if you can get some lube on it. Good luck with it!
It sounds like the release cable for that side is broken or disconnected. Here's a looking down photo of the latch, a screwdriver points to the release lever where the cable at the left connects and moves the lever to the left to release:
If the cable is off or broken at the latch it's possible to fish a coathanger through the open door hinge area and pull the release lever back but seems very difficult. If the cable is off or broken at the handle assembly then that is where to try pulling the cable end. There could be a how to video somewhere. As these cars age and the cables wear, these sound like a good investment; https://www.corvettemods.com/C5-Corv...e_p_10899.html.
Hi tbrowne,
No I haven't been able to gain access to the mechanism. Tried a digital inspection scope and can see the mechanism but not able to activate it. It was suggested to add lubricant. I am going to use flexible copper tubing and spray Kroil through the tubing using the scope as a guide and hopefully it will release otherwise I am in a real serious situation. Thanks for checking back with me. Highly appreciated. I will post as soon as I remedy the situation
Best Regards
Hi tbrowne,
No I haven't been able to gain access to the mechanism. Tried a digital inspection scope and can see the mechanism but not able to activate it. It was suggested to add lubricant. I am going to use flexible copper tubing and spray Kroil through the tubing using the scope as a guide and hopefully it will release otherwise I am in a real serious situation. Thanks for checking back with me. Highly appreciated. I will post as soon as I remedy the situation
Best Regards
Although I have never attempted to release the hood latch, from the PCM access panel area, it may be feasible from the PCM access panel in the right front wheel house.For clarity, the below photo shows the battery/tray removed but in your case, the battery/tray is installed, it will be a bit tighter area to work in…At this point, you have nothing to lose from trying to release the latch from the PCM access panel.Hope it works, Post up if it does work.
you might try, with another pair of hands, to pull the hood release while another gently pushes up and down on that side of the hood (at the latch...) if the cable is still connected and the latch us stuck, perhaps getting a little movement there will allow the latch to release. GENTLY, NOW.....
I remember, after reading this., that when I had got my C4 a friend advised me to hook up a set of cables to open the latches if one of my cables broke. Had them coming out near the windshield wipers. I need to looking into doing the same on my C5 just in case of this same problem.
Hi TUF-NUF,
That technique was attempted multiple times. We appreciate your response and it was a great suggestion. By the way that Yacht sounds so good.
Best Regards
GRANDMASTERSTJOHN
Hi tbrowne,
Those are excellent pictures. It looks like we could reach up and access the latch, yes? Also where does the hood latch cable run. Is it under the wiper grill or is it under the hood? Thanks. Also of the current subject we was informed we could run a trickle charger through the cigarette lighter in the actual ash tray. We bought a CTEK kit along with the cigarette lighter plug and it won't fit in the lighter socket. We measured the CTEK plug and it measures 21mm.. Really don't know why it won't fit. Like they say when rains it pours. Its all good. We would like to at least keep the battery charged. Thanks.
Best Regards
GRAND MASTERSTJOHN
Sorry to hear you're still struggling with it. To clear things up, the most recent photo was actually posted by 69, although I see how you could make the mistake. The latch lever is on the bottom of the latch body and could be snagged with a stiff wire if you could get one in there. The latch lever needs to be pulled or pushed toward the rear of the car to release the latch. I doubt there is any room through the PCM access panel with the battery and battery box in place, but someone might reach it from under the car through the engine bay with a bore scope camera and a long wire. Having the car on a lift where you could walk around under it would really help. A camera would allow you to see where you're working. Bore scope cameras that plug in to a cell phone are anywhere from $20.00 to several hundred dollars. A $40.00 camera from Amazon or eBay works pretty well and would probably suffice. I circled the lever that needs to be tripped to open the latch in the photo below.
Thanks tbrowne,
I might have to wait till the weather breaks to get it up on a hoist. I hope to build a 36 x 36 garage this year. I have three Mohawk System 1 9000 hoist to install in it. I have a digital inspection scope. I will keep you posted. Thanks for the photo.
Best Regards
GNANDMASTERSTJOHN
...
The latch lever is on the bottom of the latch body and could be snagged with a stiff wire if you could get one in there. The latch lever needs to be pulled or pushed toward the rear of the car to release the latch. I doubt there is any room through the PCM access panel with the battery and battery box in place, but someone might reach it from under the car through the engine bay with a bore scope camera and a long wire. ...
I wanted to (maybe) help clarify the goal. I just installed a couple hood release cables and was searching for an installation thread and found this one... TBrowne is correct, you'll have to pull or push the circled latch towards the rear of the car. The (circled) picture shows the secondary latch exactly as it looks, installed on the car. That is to say, the OEM release cable is a horizontal black tube housing about 1/4" thick that runs from near the bottom of the frame (closest to the rear), but it's not connected to the latch that's circled.
If you can hook a wire over the circled hook from underneath the car, you'll have to have a fulcrum set up to allow you to pull the (circled) lower latch horizontally towards the rear. Pulling a hooked wire down from underneath the car won't move the latch unless there's a (fulcrum) point (somewhere off to the left of the pictured latch) that would allow the hooked wire to pull horizontally.
My only other thought is, maybe you could feed a LONG wire through from the door hinge gap and hook it to another wire that's hooked over the latch. This method would use two wires and probably require two people, but at least you connections would be horizontal. No method is gonna be less than extremely frustrating. There's damn little room around the hood latch mechanism.
12-17-2018, 12:52 AM
2002 C5 passenger side hood latch
