1998 NB hood will not open

[latinbob]

The hood latch on my 98 Beetle will not open. It worked fine until I wanted to tune up the engine! It feels like the cable is still attached at the latch, but no matter how hard I pull, it will not unlatch. I've had the car up on ramps and I can see the underside of the latch. Does anyone know what I need to trip to get this thing open?

Bob

[scarabY2k]

Cup (my beetle) had the same problem- at least I think it's the same. What I did was pull the hood release, go outside to the hood and press down on it- about where your hood emblem is. Then go back in and try your hood release. That should be enough to get it to open.

Also Cup's hood wouldn't stay up. The hydrolic cylinder lost it's steam. Went to the auto parts store and got a replacement. Come to find out, that that was the problem for the hood not opening. I guess the hydrolic hood cylinder thingy gives the hood an upward spring which pops it up when the hood release is engaged. Maybe this is your problem- hopefull I was a help to ya. Let us know how things work out

[latinbob]

Thanks for the reply, Scarab. My hood doesn't have shocks to hold the hood open, just the arm. I ended up breaking the hood release inside the car, so I took that off and pulled on the cable itself. I can hear it click under the hood like it is still engaged on the latch. I feels like the sheath around the cable has come loose from the latch, so I can't get any leverage on the cable when I pull on it. Does anyone have any pictures they can share of a 98 Beetle hood latch? There has to be something I can get a screwdriver on and move to get the lever to pop open.

Bob

[D2Beetle]

Could not get the hood open on '98 a while back. The hood would pop up, but the "tongue" lever (secondary safety catch) would not work. Is this what yours is doing?

If yours is doing this I can tell you how to get your hood open.

[jiggseob]

Before you bust your hood latch... ooops- too late ...

Get a buddy to push down gently but firmly on the hood while you pull the lever. When you hear a barely audible click at the hood, get the buddy to get under the edge of the hood with the fingertips.

After you break the hood latch, you have to pull on the cable from inside the car. I did that by putting a loop of sturdy steel wire around the cable where it goes into the latch arm. Then, I put some vise-grips on the two ends of the wire loop, and pull straight down like crazy, while your buddy is pushing down on the hood from outside. Remember, you have leverage working against you - you move the lever about three inches, and that pulls the cable about 3/4". So multiply that out, thats how hard you have to pull down on the vise grips. Just leave the vise-grips on that piece of wire hanging in the footwell until you get new latch and handle pieces from dealer for $125.

Or, I went to wrecker-pick-a-part and got an A2 Jetta hood release for $1. I drilled holes in the bracket that mounts the plastic-crap Beetle hood release, bolted on the Jetta hood release, and it works fine. However, the area inside the car near my left ankle is slightly unsightly looking. E-gad... how can I live with that - let me see... I pay myself the $124 I saved on the weak and wimpy stock latch handle.

Any more questions, just e-mail jiggseob@hotmail.com

Jiggs.

[latinbob]

Thanks for all the feedback so far. It has been helpful. After playing with it tonight, I think the cable has come loose from the latch itself under the hood. When I pull the cable like Jiggs suggested, I get no movement at all, no matter how hard I pull. I'll have to put it up on the ramps tomorrow and get back underneath and see what I can see. Does anyone have a good diagram or picture of the latch where the cable attaches? I'm at a disadvantage under the car since I don't know exactly what I'm looking at.

Bob

[latinbob]

I was able to figure out how to open the hood. The cable had come completely loose from the latch, so pulling on the cable was doing nothing. I was able to slip my arm between the engine and radiator from underneath the car and trip the latch. The trip lever didn't take much force. After I opened the hood and replaced the cable and ball end, I can now open it with my vice grips until I find a new handle. Here is a pic to show what I did.

[Kaitlinbelong]

Originally Posted by D2Beetle

Could not get the hood open on '98 a while back. The hood would pop up, but the "tongue" lever (secondary safety catch) would not work. Is this what yours is doing?

If yours is doing this I can tell you how to get your hood open.

Thats what mine is doing =\

[gammy40]

Just purchases a brand new hood latch assembly for my beetle. It does not shut down all the way. It closes, but not solidly. You can still lift it up but then it catches. How do we get it to close all the way and stay tight.

[Smileybug]

I know on mine, you have to really slam the hood down to get it to latch all the way.