Hood Won't Pop Open - Fixed!

Thanks to @llamasmurf for helping me fix this problem that's been bugging me since I bought the truck. The problem was that when I go to pop my hood the hood would not "pop" up to allow you to reach under and unlatch it up front. I would have to either jam my fingers under the hood or pry it open with the plastic part of my key. Annoying to say the least. Now here's the fix....

Unscrew these two rubber knobs/standoffs. That's it. I unscrewed them 2 complete turns and boom, problem fixed. I couldn't believe it was that simple!


Here is the before pic....this is after I have already pulled the latch inside the truck to pop the hood. This is how bad it was....




This is after I adjusted the rubber stops.....



I know this is a such a small thing that won't matter to some of you, but this was a life saver for me (or finger saver). I hope this helps someone out who's been struggling with the same issue! Again thanks to llamasmurf for helping me.

 

Thanx for the tip. Up till now I thought they were just side to side levelers.

 

I had a friend help me when I was doing mine, and got it a little less out of alignment. So I dont have as much of a gap. It is very easy to do once you realize what does it. Try turning them in 1/4 turn at a time until it 'just' engages the latch mechanism.




Glad I could help, @3JOH22A was the one that told me what to do. I just put it in my build thread where you found it.

 

There’s also a little lever thing behind the grille, sort of next to the Toyota logo, with which you can use to push the hood up a bit more to allow more room to get your fingers under after releasing the latch.

I use this all the time it’s muscle memory by now, but I’m definitely going to give those knobs a twist next time I’m in there to make my life easier.

 

Just bought a 2014 Tacoma that does the exact same thing, so I'm going to def try this. Thanks!!

 

Just got home from work and tried your fix and it's good to go now! Only took half a turn. Thanks again.

 

Mine has stuck in the past. Some white lithium grease on the mechanism, some silicon lube in the cable, and I haven't had an issue in a long time.

 

Mine was not stuck, it was well lubed. It takes upward pressure once it latches to engage the latch correctly for release.

 

Good post @Tah-koh-mah .

Consider adding “Fixed” or something similar to your thread title - helps when others are searching for the problem in the future.

@llamasmurf is an encyclopedia

 

Good idea.

 

Glad it worked out for you. And thanks for coming back to tell us it worked for you too.

 

Thanks!

 

The latch is spring loaded to unlock when the cable is pulled. Something is sticking somewhere.

 

I think you are missing OP's point. The latch DOES release when you pull on the under the dash handle. You can hear and feel it. The problem is that the hood doesn't pop up enough or at all to get your fingers in there too move the lever to actually open it up. Mine did the exact same thing.

 

I think what @llamasmurf is trying to say is that the latch does not pop open the hood. The latch has a spring that moves laterally to unhook itself from the hood. The rubber stops I unscrewed are actually what "pops" the hood up once the latch unhooks itself.

Dang, @Mistermegabyte typed faster than I did. But yea.

 

Exactly

 

Just did this over lunch hour. I really like this one! Thanks.

 

No problem. Just paying it forward from great people on this forum. Figured I wasn't the only one with this problem.

 

Thanks for the tip. My 2014 does this sometimes as well when I haven't opened the hood for an extended period of time.

 

Son of gun. Fixed that simple! I have lived with this irritating little issue couple of years now.