DIY: Hood Won't Release or Open Latch Stuck Fix

Joe@ZSpeed · 03-31-2017, 01:05 PM

A local customer came in today with the passengers side latch not releasing on his 2011 370Z Nismo, Rather than letting the body shop cut a hole in his hood as they wanted to I told him to bring it down and see what we could do for him.
Getting into it I removed the bumper as I could not find the cable from below or find the latch or see it for that matter.

We removed the front bumper by releasing the drivers side latch with the hood release lever as normal, By doing this we could access the clips holding the bumper on the top part under the hood with a small screw driver and release them than continued to remove bumper as normal.

Found I could have got to the cable if I knew where it was placed.

Pics below will show the small black cable you need to find, Just by pulling the cable it will release the latch if the same thing has happened to your hood cable and the end has broken off where it connects to latch, Someone had already tried to zip tie this on evidently when it was broken installing the dual intakes.

This picture is looking up from the front of bumper opening (bumper removed at this point) but should be accessible from front of car without removing bumper.

Reach through front of bumper, Grab cable and pull to the right and down. This should release the hood latch, This is possible for drives side by removing the rubber hood trim to the left of headlight and pulling the cable there as it runs directly underneath the black rubber foam seal.

Jayhovah · 03-31-2017, 01:36 PM

Thanks Joe! Nice to see vendors making this kind of contribution to the community.

TerribleONE · 03-31-2017, 02:36 PM

Repped

Trips · 03-31-2017, 04:14 PM

Thanks Joe for taking the time to document the fix

I've stickied the thread so it's easy to find.

Z_ealot · 05-15-2017, 08:07 PM

Lol, just had this happen to me....ordered a replacement cable....surprised how fragile those retaining clips are.

03-31-2017, 01:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
Joe@ZSpeed The370Z.com Sponsor Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,304 Drives: Nissan Rep Power: 342999	DIY: Hood Won't Release or Open Latch Stuck Fix A local customer came in today with the passengers side latch not releasing on his 2011 370Z Nismo, Rather than letting the body shop cut a hole in his hood as they wanted to I told him to bring it down and see what we could do for him. Getting into it I removed the bumper as I could not find the cable from below or find the latch or see it for that matter. We removed the front bumper by releasing the drivers side latch with the hood release lever as normal, By doing this we could access the clips holding the bumper on the top part under the hood with a small screw driver and release them than continued to remove bumper as normal. Found I could have got to the cable if I knew where it was placed. Pics below will show the small black cable you need to find, Just by pulling the cable it will release the latch if the same thing has happened to your hood cable and the end has broken off where it connects to latch, Someone had already tried to zip tie this on evidently when it was broken installing the dual intakes. This picture is looking up from the front of bumper opening (bumper removed at this point) but should be accessible from front of car without removing bumper. Reach through front of bumper, Grab cable and pull to the right and down. This should release the hood latch, This is possible for drives side by removing the rubber hood trim to the left of headlight and pulling the cable there as it runs directly underneath the black rubber foam seal. Trips, TreeSemdyZee, jaytirbhaw and 5 others like this. __________________ Phone *937-506-7224* E-Mail Sales@Zspeed.com www.ZSPEED.com

03-31-2017, 02:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
TerribleONE A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Socal Posts: 10,203 Drives: WOT Rep Power: 5850	Repped __________________ 638WHP 541WTQ @ 13.5PSI Build thread

03-31-2017, 04:14 PM	#4 (permalink)
Trips Administrator Join Date: May 2009 Location: Disneyland, Ca Posts: 8,728 Drives: 🔰 Rep Power: 10	Thanks Joe for taking the time to document the fix I've stickied the thread so it's easy to find. __________________

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05-15-2017, 08:07 PM	#5 (permalink)
Z_ealot A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 2,044 Drives: 09 370Z Touring/Sprt Rep Power: 10090	Lol, just had this happen to me....ordered a replacement cable....surprised how fragile those retaining clips are.