Hood wont open

[mlavoie87]

I have read all the advice on pulling the hood release cable to open my Vue's hood and nothing helps. Is there some other way to open the hood? Underneath? screwdriver? Any advice greatly appreciated.

[schoolcl]

Did you try pushing down on the hood while someone else pulled the release?
Sometimes the catch will bind and will not release until it is unloaded. Hope that helps, if not I have no idea how to open it from underneath.

[mlavoie87]

Tried that and the pliers too. Nothing. Feels like the cable isnt attached or pulling on anything.

[schoolcl]

I went outside to look at my. Your cable may have come lose from the anchor at the catch. You might be able to slide something flexiable like a metal yard stick under the edge of the hood and hit the release. It appears to be about one inch and a half to the left of center. The problem will be that it is also about 1 inch below the support at the front. Good luck.

[mlavoie87]

Are you talking about the yellow hood latch? Thanks for looking into this for me with your car.

[schoolcl]

No , the yellow handle is a safety catch to release the hood after the the main one is released. The one you need to release is hidden from sight until you get the hood opened. I try to post a picture in a minute.

[schoolcl]

http://www.saturnfans.com/photos/data/12789/thumbs/100_0037.jpg (http://www.saturnfans.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=42874)

Ok , you can see the release to the RIGHT of the latch hole. I screwed up when I said left. I hope you can see the cable tie in on the latch. It's located at about 4 O'clock from the latch hole. There is a little lip that you may be able to hit. Push it straight back toward the motor.

[kodak_jack]

I don't have an answer, but hope one of the service guys can answer this because I don't see an easy answer. I've had other GM vehicles where the cable snaps, but I just went at it from underneath to release the latch. This thing is not one that lends itself to that!:xeye:

[Badmotorfinger]

I posted this on the Vue General Board:

The hood latch cable on my 03 Vue came loose from the release latch two weeks ago. It's a royal pain to release the hood but it can be done with a simple home made tool, a mirror and a helper holding a flashlight.
1st, pry the hood up as much as you can, I used door shim wedges to get it up about 3/4". Put the mirror in the space and locate the latch mechanism with the helper casting as much light into the area ; the mechanism is located on the drivers side of the latch. Take a piece of heavy guage wire (like a welding rod and put 2 - 90 degree bends in it so it looks like a "Z" wlth an elongated top leg to hold on to. Using the mirror, position the rod so it engages the latch, then take the tension off the hood and push forward. The hood will release.
Once opened, run a length of safety wire around the latch and down behind the radiator so if this ever happens again, you can pop the hood by pulling on the safety wire.
The hood latch is a VERY poor design and it's not a matter of if it will fail, but when. The safety wire backup is a must.