[DML] Hood UN-locked!!

[Tom Watkins <outatime81@xxxxxxxxx>]

I got it open!  After jacking the car up and trying the "underneath" method, I quickly discovered that I didn't have enough hands to hold a broomstick for the carpet board, a flashlight and a wire to snag the latch!!  Plus it was a bit cramped underneath.  A shop lift would have helped but none was available.
   
  So.......Ken K. saved the day with his wire suggestion in a previous post!  It literally took me longer to find the correct gauge wire than it did to open the hood.   I tried a coat hanger wire but the "L" shaped end would not hold when it grabbed anything.  I found a really heavy gauge wire in my barn that was from a 3 foot high, 3 prong wire basket-type unit that you stick into the ground to support tomato plants (all you farmers out there will know what I mean!).
   
  I bend the tip into an 3 inch "L" with pliers, went over to the car and did some guessing as to the additional bends in the wire to get it in the right position.  It slipped easily into the trunk space past the rubber seal.  It took only 5 minutes of fishing to grab the latch and "POP! the hood came up!   The only damage I caused was some small scratch marks on the plastic cover on the latch mechanism....I can live with that!
   
  The real key was getting a wire thick enough that would not re-bend as you fish for the latch.   So, I would say that if this happens to you, DON'T try cutting the latch.  If you've got a ahop lift and an extra person to help with the underneath method, great! but give the wire a try first,  I am now not afraid of this happening again as it was super easy to open.  
   
    


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