Any way to lessen the force needed to open the hood? Thx

[Elp_jc]

Ever since I opened the hood of my Bullitt at the dealer for the first time, I knew it wasn't normal to require that much force to open. I thought it was just too tight... which it was. But that wasn't the issue. I adjusted the hood properly when I got home, by raising the latch a little (after removing the radiator cover), and also screwing in the rubber bumpers on each side of the hood. The hood is now aligned as best as possible with the fenders, as well as with the part in front of the hood. But the hood still requires the same herculean force to open. I'm afraid the cable might snap one of these days, and how the hell would I open the hood then? My 'problem' is I like to open the hood almost every time I use the car in summer, so it cools down faster (or less slow, rather. Ha ha), before I have to close the garage... which gets REALLY hot, even when doing that.

The culprit has to be the heavy a$$ spring Ford put on these cars. I even have to push the damn hood down just for the secondary lock to latch. To actually latch the hood, I have to let it fall from close to a foot high. If I wanted to push it closed, I'd probably dent the hood. I scrutinized the spring, and I see no way to modify it. And yes, already lubed the crap out of it, and no relief. Was thinking of maybe lubing the cable, but it shouldn't be an issue on a new car, no? At any rate, I'm open to all suggestions . Thank you.
JC

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[dh3605]

Back to the dealer. Not normal at all.

 

[Cobra Jet]

You should be able to open the hood with just 2 or 1 finger, it should not need excessive force. As soon as you pull on the hood release it should have an initial “pop” and you should see the hood raised slightly (it isn’t going to be raised all that much from a driver perspective).

If you feel that excessive force is needed to get the hood release lever to “pop” - then there is an issue with the hood cable and the Dealer should fix it under the 3/36.

Also to note, the stock release lever is garbage, the plastic it’s made of is too flimsy and people have broke those levers. Steeda designers an aluminum hood release lever which is superior to the stock part - get it.

 

[Elp_jc]

To be clear, it's not that I can't barely open the hood, but it requires more force than any other car I've owned. Plus I feel that something is very close to giving out. I'm not going to take it to a dealer... but I might go to one to try another GT, and see how it feels. I know for a fact the spring is too strong compared to my other cars, so that's the main source of the extra effort.

I'll look into the Steeda hood lever. What's involved on replacing it? I didn't want to remove any more interior panels on this damn car. I could also try to lube the cable, but would need to buy a device to do that, probably from a motorcycle shop (to lube clutch and brake cables). Thanks for the help gang.

 

[Tacswa]

I also feel the lever to pop the hood is fairly damn stiff. You could try lubing the hood latch, I've been meaning to just haven't got to it yet.

 

[Elp_jc]

Thank you for posting that. I figured I wasn't the only one with that stiff hood spring. As I mentioned earlier, I've lubed the crap out of that latch with very little results. That's why I'm planning to lube the cable next, and see if that helps. But ideally, I'd like to replace that damn spring. I feel the cable or the handle is not going to last my ownership of the vehicle.

The system is a lever, a cable, and the latch. There's nothing 'defective' to take it to a dealer, since it's been like that since day 1. They'd just tell me it's the way it is... and to bring it in if it breaks. If there's no solution (like I suspect), I'd like to replace both the lever, AND the cable, to avoid the damn thing breaking, and leaving me with no good options.

 

[lacanteen]

I'm assuming you've tried the lever with the hood up (no load). If it's difficult when un-latched your cable might be pinched or kinked somewhere. Just my .02

 

[Michael_vroomvroom]

Become stronger.

Same force will be required, but the force required will be a smaller fraction of your 1RM (one repetition max) and it will feel easier.

Concentrate on finger strength and the rhomboids, levator scapulae, and trapezius muscles of the upper back. Bent-over dumb-bell row are a good starting point, gradually progressing to pull-ups. Can start with negative-only pull-ups first. Consult a strength and conditioning coach if the problem persists.

I can pull that lever all day with my right pinky now.

 

[Calvin]

Have had latch problems from day 1. Just learned to live with it even though it makes me look like a fool finger banging my hood latch to get it to unlatch. I've also accidentally pulled off the cabin hood release lever a few times due to the force needed.

The fix for me is I typically spray the latch mechanism with some graphite lube whenever I remember to, makes the latch butter smooth.

 

[IrishStallion]

Lol...

 

[Elp_jc]

I'm assuming you've tried the lever with the hood up (no load).

Yup! A little harder than my other cars, but smooth and consistent all the way. So not a lever/cable issue, as I mentioned before.

I can pull that lever all day with my right pinky now.

Me too, so what's your point ? I said it feels like it's going to break, not that I couldn't open it.

Have had latch problems from day 1. Just learned to live with it even though it makes me look like a fool finger banging my hood latch to get it to unlatch. I've also accidentally pulled off the cabin hood release lever a few times due to the force needed.

That sounds more serious than mine. So the ferrule actually slips out of the hood lever? That's unusual. Typically the lever breaks first. Anyway, was your car like that since day 1? You need to change the lever, at the very least. I'm going to check the cable and ferrule on the hood side, which is the one that could put us on a bind. How the hell do you open the hood with the latch side messed up?

 

[ice445]

My hood release was really stiff when new, but at about 5,000 miles now with a few dozen hood openings, its gotten a lot better. Just give it time to wear in.

 

[fatbillybob]

Back to the dealer. Not normal at all.

Agreed!

 

[Elp_jc]

My hood release was really stiff when new, but at about 5,000 miles now with a few dozen hood openings, its gotten a lot better. Just give it time to wear in.

Hope that will be the case with mine too; thanks. I must have opened it 2 to 3 dozen times already. Added silicon spray to the entire latch mechanism, and some chassis grease on the hood's rod, and where it touches to close. I'll look into lubing the cable too; it might benefit from that.

Finally, how about HOW to open the hood? Would it be better to quickly yank on the lever, rather than the medium speed I'm doing it now? I feel like if I do it quicker, I might break something, but curious how others do it. Thanks gang. Oh, and I already said I'm NOT going to take my car to a dealer now, so stop suggesting it .

 

[Burgo]

Mine requires a fair degree of force but once its open it's like butter. I'm guessing that when the hood latches there is a fair amount of load holding the hood down and it's this force that you have to overcome not something within the lever/cable/latch assembly. I bought the Steeda lever, apart from looking sexy it doesn't improve anything, I'm not sure it's stronger as the aluminium lever clips onto a plastic boss.

I think if your prepared to do some adjusting you could get it so that the latch has less load on it.

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