i have a 2003 f150 and the hood will not open.. anyone know how i go about fixing this without bringing it to the shop and spending tons of money ????

 

Welcome to the site!

First thing suggested is to see if it's a problem with the latch, or with the cable. Does the handle in the cab 'feel' the same, or does it feel like it's not attached to anything? Can you see the latch mechanism by looking through the grille? (I'm not real familiar with that generation truck). Maybe watch the latch area while a friend actuates the hood release - try and see if the cable is working the latch.

Perhaps try pushing down on the hood firmly while a friend actuates the hood release from the cab.

If nothing works, going to have to try to trip the latch. Perhaps other members more familiar with your generation truck will chime in shortly on the specific how-to's.

 

this problem got me thinking about a similar situation last winter. my fellow coworker went out to pop the hood on our 03 f250 to check the oil. a few minutes went by and he returned with a broken handle in his hands from pulling to hard,i looked at the handle and noticed a p on it ,you geussed it,he had been pulling on the parking brake handle by mistake. lol. i'm not saying this is your problem,but never overlook the obvious. hope you get this figured out btw, our superduty,you have to actually get your fingers under the hood and lift on it while someone holds the hood release open.

 

You have probabally fixed it by now but, I had a similar problem with this and it turned out to be the spring in the latch had failed. I made the mistake of opening it using a tool at work called a haligan bar by twisting the cable to pop the latch. Needless to say, I have just ordered a new cable and latch.

 

I am about to replace my hood cable any advice prior to starting. I am a little concerned about going through the firewall area, not even sure which end to start at. Not much automotive experience here obviously but want to do it myself, would appreciate any help.

 

Unhook everythnig and pull it into the cab area. Then feed it from the cab to the engine bay.

 

how about taping the end of the new one right to the old one, so when you pull it through, the new one is already run?

and if your latch is stuck because of the cold, a heat gun and some wd40 will do wonders.