How to open the hood if the cable is broken?

Car owners know that a breakdown of one or another system can occur at the most inopportune moment. If you urgently need to open the hood, but the cable is broken, you can take a number of actions. This will help solve the problem quickly.

Most often, breakdowns in this area of mechanics occur in severe frost. In order not to tinker with the car for a long time, every car enthusiast should know how to open the hood and why such a nuisance occurred. You can eliminate it with your own hands, and quite quickly.

What is a cable?

To understand how to open the hood lock, you need to understand the structure of this system. For obvious reasons, it is impossible to pick it up from the street. The lock can be opened exclusively from the interior.

Its drive is characterized by a rather simple circuit. It consists of a cable that creates traction. It connects the lock from the hood to the interior. An electromagnetic mechanism is connected to the cable and activates it. This system has a switch. It is he who sets the electromagnetic mechanism in motion. When closed, the circuit receives an electromagnetic pulse from the controller.

The coordinated operation of the system allows you to open the hood. It goes off when the car is disarmed. If the cable breaks, the process will not be able to take place. The rope may break at the point of movement of the lever that the driver is pulling. But in rare cases, a breakdown can occur under the hood.

The cable drive, which is used to open the hood lid, is an important element of the entire locking mechanism. Its breakage or failure will make it extremely difficult for a car enthusiast to access the engine compartment. Moreover, such a technical problem is not uncommon and, according to the classical laws of meanness, occurs with enviable regularity, unexpectedly and at the most inopportune moment.

For example, on a cold winter morning, hurrying to work, the driver gets behind the wheel and tries to start the engine. A discharged battery will not allow the car to start and the driver, when pulling the lid opening lever, hears the characteristic crack of a torn cable. All! You will have to get to work by public transport.

What to do in such a situation? How to open the hood if the cable is broken? Should I try to open it myself or call a specialist? Let's sort things out in order.

In order to independently open the hood of a car when the cable breaks, you must first understand the basic principles of operation and the design of the locking mechanism.

So, the drive is a simple mechanism that includes a cable connected at one end to a lock and the other to a traction lever located inside the car. On modern models, an electromagnetic mechanism can be used instead of a lever. In this case, when you press the button of the control device, the circuit is closed and an electromagnetic pulse occurs, affecting the cable.

In the vast majority of cases, failure of the hood lid opening drive is caused by a broken cable, which most often breaks at the junction with the traction lever.

Main causes of drive breakage

breakage of the hood cable due to natural wear and tear. The material from which it is made is deformed and abraded in places of contact with other parts.
Late maintenance and lack of lubricant coating.
Negative temperature at which the hood lock jams and the cable breaks.

Algorithm of initial actions

In order to open the hood of a car when the cable is torn off, you must first determine the location of the break. This is not easy to do, since the mechanism itself is hidden for obvious reasons.

Select tools. A standard auto mechanic kit will be enough.
Read the vehicle manual. This will help you understand more deeply the features of the locking mechanism of a particular model and find answers to malfunctions in which the hood is stuck and needs to be opened.

Cause of failure

When wondering how to open the hood of a VAZ or other car, you must first find out the cause of the problem. Such problems most often arise in winter. When cold weather sets in, the lubricant begins to thicken. The cable simply frays and breaks.

Sometimes the cause of problems can be the long life of the vehicle. Some new cars may also be equipped with rather low-quality components. The cable may break for this reason.

The rod can be a stranded or single-strand steel wire. It is in a protective shell. There is also a special metal braid on top of it. But even such materials can break under the influence of unfavorable factors.

Helpful advice

In order not to encounter the problem of a flying or burst cable in the future, lubricate it periodically with lithol or a similar product.

And when buying a new one, pay attention to multi-core models. As reviews note, they are much more reliable than standard ones and are very difficult to break. When opening the hood, do not pull the handle sharply. In 80 percent of cases, the cable breaks because of this.

Special hood opening systems

In some cases, more serious difficulties may arise in deciding how to open the hood. The Focus, whose hood opens in a rather original way, may require the intervention of an experienced auto mechanic.

The fact is that in some car models the mechanism works in a rather complex way. The cable is not driven by a lever, but by a lock located on the radiator grille. Moreover, access to it is hidden by the manufacturer’s logo. It needs to be turned, but very carefully.

The key is inserted into the lock and turned counterclockwise 90° until it clicks. At this time, the hood is partially released. Next, the key moves in the opposite direction. Only then can you raise the hood. This is a complex system, and if it breaks down, you will need the help of a specialist. But everyone can understand ordinary mechanisms with a traction cable.

How to open the hood if it is frozen or stuck

This method is suitable for situations where the hood does not open due to severe frost or the lock is stuck due to lack of lubrication and natural wear. You will need an assistant to press down on the hood near the lock while you pull the lever connected to the cable.

Pour warm water to remove ice

You need to press gently so as not to bend the hood, but hard enough to affect the lock mechanism.

If the frost is severe and the lock does not budge, you need to warm it up. This can be done by driving the car into a warm room, warming up the engine, or warming the mechanism with a hairdryer or warm water. If you have access to the mechanical part, you can fill it with a special defroster or alcohol.

Beginning of work

To understand how to open the hood if the cable breaks, you need to understand this procedure. The difficulty is that it is quite difficult to determine exactly where the rupture occurred. It can be in the middle of the cable, as well as near the lock or, conversely, at the start button.

To do all the work quickly and correctly, you need to prepare a set of standard auto mechanic tools. You will also need a long screwdriver. To protect your hands from dirt, you need to protect them with cotton gloves.

Next, you need to read the operating instructions for the vehicle. This will help you understand the location of the cable and lock in this car model. When working, the engine must cool to an acceptable temperature.

Break inside the cabin

When considering the technology of how to open the hood of a car, it is necessary to understand where the gap occurred. To do this, carefully inspect the lever. If the cable does not fit it, then the break occurred in the cabin. It will be a great success if, upon inspection, you can find the tail of the traction mechanism. Then it can be pulled out.

If you pull the tip, the hood will open. The problem can be fixed later. In some cars, you will have to completely dismantle the traction mechanism from the interior side. The end of the cable is in the opening. It is pulled out using pliers.

After identifying the break point, you will have to replace the mechanism harness. In some cases, it will be necessary to install a new lock and other parts of this system.

Break under the hood

If the cable breaks under the hood, the procedure will be somewhat more complicated. To do this you will need to remove the radiator grille. In this case, you can quite easily get, for example, an open hood of a VAZ-2109. The radiator grille of old Soviet car models is attached to plastic latches.

By removing the grille, you can get to the engine compartment, albeit a small part of it. Next, refer to the operating instructions. It describes in detail the layout of the hood lock, as well as its drive.

Next you need to use a long screwdriver. With its help, you can try to reach the part of the lock to which the cable is attached. This will open the hood. Then the tongue simply moves back and the hood lifts. In this case, the cable will have to be changed.

DIY cable replacement

This procedure must be carried out quite carefully. First, remove the broken cable. To do this, you should adhere to the following order:

in the cabin, remove the lever handle and look under the instrument panel; Squeeze the remaining cable with pliers and open the hood;
if there is a break inside the engine compartment, drive the car into a pit; remove the engine protection and, placing your hand between the radiator and the cold engine block, open the cover;
Using a screwdriver or pliers, remove the remaining damaged elements from the special fastening in the spring.

After completing these steps, you can proceed to replacement:

First, secure one end to the spring, securing it with a special plug.
On the other side of the cable, put on a special plastic cap and pass it inside the cabin through a special hole.
Secure the cable to the lever. In this case, it is better to ask someone to tighten it from the spring side.

Opening the lock when removing the engine crankcase

The most difficult way to open the hood of a domestic or foreign car is to disassemble the engine crankcase. If the previous two approaches were unsuccessful, this method will allow the lock to be opened. This is a rather labor-intensive process. It will require an overpass or viewing hole.

To get to the hood release lock, you need to remove the protection from the engine crankcase. Most often it is secured with bolts. They are unscrewed using tools. The protection is taken out of the grooves. A lot of dirt accumulates on its reverse side. Therefore, it is necessary to protect your eyes while performing this work.

Use a flashlight to illuminate the opened space. Here you can find the lock that opens the hood. If you can reach it, you need to perform the actions described above. This will allow you to open the hood and replace the cable.

Having familiarized yourself with the technology of how to open the hood, you can fix this problem yourself. At the same time, repairs will not take much time and money. But in especially severe cases, it is better to contact a service center.