[luxury1]

I can't open the hood on my Rover. I did a little research out here and found a couple of suggestions but none worked.

Here is the issue: I pull the inside release lever all the way. However I didn't hear the normal hood popping sound but instead just a light click. The hood also doesn't pop up enough on its own to allow you to reach the release lever. Thus I pull up on it a bit and pulled the release lever. However, this doesn't allow me to raise the hood as the passenger side is still stuck down.

Here is what I have done so far:
Closed it and tried it again (and again and again).
Pushed down on the hood while someone pulled the lever.
Pulled up on the hood while someone pulled the lever.

Nothing seems to be working. My suspicion based on some reading is that this is possibly due to a release cable being broken but I am not sure. Any ideas?

 

[adara]

I had this! Remove the plastic cover from the cabin lever by pulling it towards you. Then remove the screw and the lever. In my case the cable was broke just a centimeter away from the end. I use pliers to pull the cable untill i'll have the courage to remove and change all the cable... Now THAT doesn't look easy...

 

[luxury1]

Hi Adara and thanks for the reply! I am going to have to look at this later this afternoon. I am not one that works on his car much so this is pretty foreign to me.

I am sure that it will become more obvious to me once I open it up but how did you replace the wire? Also, did you just buy it from a local parts store?

 

[adara]

I haven't replaced the wire yet. I use the pliers to pull the cable, it doesn't require much force really. Therefore I can't figure out why it broke in the first place. Luckily I don't open the hood often... I think it's gonna be funny to replace it, surely it involves dismantling part of the front and let's not forget it goes through the firewall!
As for availability I think any LR dealer can get you one...

 

[luxury1]

I looked closely at this and found that the wire is still connected and is pulling back correctly at least on the interior release handle. A very good suggestion though.

 

[garty]

I had this very same problem recently, the dealer fixed it $20 for the part and $240 for the labor.

 

[adara]

$240 labor!? I'm receiving the part today ($30 ) and I'll try to change it over the weekend, I'll tell you how long it took...

 

[adara]

By the way, here's the exploded view of the hood and lock mechanism:

 

[garty]

$240 labor!? I'm receiving the part today ($30 ) and I'll try to change it over the weekend, I'll tell you how long it took...

Yeah well what can you do, I don't have the time or the inclination to do that sort of stuff myself. Too busy!

 

[luxury1]

Mine is at the dealership today so we will see what they say. It should be covered under warranty anyway but I was hoping to knock it out myself without having to bring it in. Usually my problems are underneath the hood and not the hood itself :wink:

 

[adara]

OK, it was really a 30 minute job. The trick is, when removing the broken cable (through the cabin) to attach a wire to it so that the new one can be pulled easily in place. If someone is interested I can post the procedure with photos.

 

[luxury1]

It just arrived back from the dealer and it was the hood latch that needed to be replaced. That is all the info I have since I picked up the car late after the service department left.

 

[luxury1]

It just arrived back from the dealer and it was the hood latch that needed to be replaced. That is all the info I have since I picked up the car late after the service department left.

 

[brad s1]

OK, it was really a 30 minute job. The trick is, when removing the broken cable (through the cabin) to attach a wire to it so that the new one can be pulled easily in place. If someone is interested I can post the procedure with photos.

You still have those photos?

My cable has gone up into the sheath... Did you just run a new wire through the old sheath, or replace the whole thing... I ordered every 4.4L322 hood release part roverparts had for sale, I'm thinking about cutting the sheath with wire cutters and grabbing the cable like that... TIA

 

[artvark]

Wow, hoods that don't open and doors that don't close? What did we get ourselves into buying RR's? I love my RR but sheesh. Doors and hoods should be pretty basic engineering!

 

[brad s1]

Wow, hoods that don't open and doors that don't close? What did we get ourselves into buying RR's? I love my RR but sheesh. Doors and hoods should be pretty basic engineering!

Yes, they over complicate simple things to the umpteenth level, they basically design imminent failure into every part. The hood latch is not just one cable, but several connected by no less than to plastic couplers... All strung up with thin gauge wires. Genius!

They build no redundancy into anything electrical either, one short or fouled connection causes multiple issues with multiple systems...

Here is the broken logic we're dealing with here... Like all land rovers, the l322's gas door gets stuck frozen in the winter, rather than design a functional replacement that resolves the issue, they fit a string/lever in the rear kick panel that will force the gas door open when it's stuck. So rather remedy the core issue, they design ANOTHER part to help when the gas door fails... and they know it will.

The suspension has more sensors and weak links than I care to get into, plus they route air lines strategically to get ruined causing leaks. Under the battery, next to electrical stuff, etc etc etc etc... Notice if you don't position the spare tire perfectly it will crimp an air line causing very slow suspension response...

If anyone from land rover is reading this, you should seriously consider hiring me as a consultant, I will alert you to the 50 million weak links in the current l322 model :dance:

rant/off

 

[adara]

Brad, I didn’t remove only the sheath, I removed the whole cable, but first I attached a wire to it. It clips in a plastic box close to the upper part of the left shock absorber to the next cable, so that’s where I tied a wire and then from the cabin I pulled carefully and got the cable and the wire attached to it out. Next I used the wire to pull the new cable from the front of the car.