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Hi All,
Today I had the same problem. I am in the UK so my X type is right hand drive. The passenger side latch is stuck. I jacked the car up as suggested in this thread and can see the latch and cable which has come out of the latch.
While laying under the car and looking up towards the latch, i tried to push the latch with my hand (towards the left wing) and the latch move about 1-2 cms but nothing happens.
Does anyone have any picture or any idea where I should be pushing / in which direction / and how much force is needed?
It took me a long time trying to actuate the latch with a 25" long pry bar like the one pictured below. For me the problem was not locating the latch or reaching it with the pry bar, it was getting the bar in there at an angle that allowed me to push the lever in the correct direction. Mostly when I got the bar near the latch there was so much stuff in the way I couldn't move the pry bar.
Once you have the hood open and are ready to put in a new cable I would run the cable from the outside in to get the firewall grommet to seal correctly. I followed the advice on the video and was not able to get the grommet through the firewall.
One other piece of advice is to get a new cable before you start. I managed to open my hood and figure out the cable was garbage but I still had to drive for a couple of days before the new cable arrived so I was stuck with closing the hood again before I could fix it. I tied some wire to the latches to make it easier to open when the cable got there, but it wasn't fun wondering if I would have to be on the ground again trying to spring the latch a second time.
Thanks for your quick response. I have seen this video already this morning. I can get to the latch and i can push it (even with my finger) about 1 cm towards the passenger wing.
In other words, with laying under the car and looking up towards the latch (which is like a strip with a semi circle hole for the cable to go in), I can push it to the left about a 1 cm easily but nothing happens. I would have thought it should require more force as the bonnet is still locked in the hook above. Do i need someone to press firmly down on the bonnet while i push the latch.
I will try to take a picture tomorrow although I think it may be very hard.
So really the main question right now is? If I can move the latch with my finger about 1 m to the left, does this mean that it needs to move more to the left and needs more force or has something else in the latch mechanism broken?
Also to clarify, should the latch be pushed towards the left? towards the passenger wing direction (it is a right hand drive UK model)
Thanks again.
Your description is self explanatory. The latch releases when pushed towards the CENTER of the car. LH or RH drive has no effect on the direction the latch releases. It does however not release until nearly all the way "inwards". If you did indeed view the above video, it shows the latches release when moved towards the CENTER of the vehicle.
Another way to think about it is the cable can't push it can only pull on that little lever so you need to move the lever toward whichever side the cable release pull is on regardless of RH or LH drive. As Dell points out on the passenger side latch that means it always goes toward the center of the car.
Mine didn't take much force at all to open but I had read this was a problem so I kept the latch mechanism oiled up, to no avail. I have no idea how hard it is to move if it isn't, I only have experience with the one latch. I would suspect it would be easier with someone pressing down on the bonnet.
I had that problem just last Thursday, July 25th 2019. My hood passenger side would unleash but the passenger side wouldn't. my neighbor got something to lift up the passenger side of the hood and got a curtain rod and beat the latch until it piped open. It took about 20 minutes. He had to take the passenger side latch completely off, sonic got to order passenger side latch.. But the driver side latch is keeping the hood locked down.. FYI...
You have to jack it up high enough to get underneath the car. Then you can reach the latch with your hand. I have an 04 and didn't remove a thing. I originally posted the pictures so you would have an idea what you were looking for. Good luck..
I originally posted this in 10/08/2015. Scroll down the thread until you get to 10/08/2015 dvd711 and you will see pics as well.
I'm having the same issue as described in this thread. The issue is on my driver side. I have the car jacked way up where my whole body can get underneath, but I can not locate the latch. There's a lot of things that seems to be in the way. i just spent 3 hours searching. There was a rubber piece that I could move straight up and that's it.
I'm going to try again tomorrow, but it seem like the radiator hose is blocking it.
Similar problem, both hood and fuel door don't open
Seems like my 2002 x-type with only 25k miles is rebelling from neglect. The hood doesn't open at all, the hood release lever does absolutely nothing. In addition now the fuel release door doesn't open either. Seems all the cables have disintegrated.
Moreover, when I used to drive it recently, it ran ok, but after driving and then turning off the car, it wouldn't restart, the starter kept cranking but never turned over. After about 15-20 minutes of waiting, it finally would restart. Pretty predictable.
Nowadays, it doesn't even start up at all, same issue, cranking but not turning over. Now the battery finally died after cranking and failing to start up the car every now and then for a week or so.
So now I have a dead battery, dead engine in a lovely car whose hood and gas cap won't open. What to do, any suggestions?
Newbie, first, watch the video in the links above. This will have you remove the plastic tray under the radiator and then you can get a long reach rod or even possibly get your hand up there to manually do the latch on the hood latches. May need a second person with you to apply a little bit of downward pressure on each side as you release the latch as this will make moving it easier. Then you simply hold the latch in the release position as they let off the hood and possibly lift up slightly. YOu will then want to put something between the hood and body to prevent it from re-latching as you do the other side. Note that the latch is just inboard of the high/main beam lens. An above picture where someone cut open the hood shows you the latch at the edge of the cut.
As for the rear fuel cap, you will need to remove the wheel well liner and then reach in and trigger the release that way. This would be a good time to get new cables.
As for your failing to start issue. I want you to try something. Drive the car and get the engine hot so you can have the problem recreate itself. Turn off the car. Now, when you go to start the car, turn the key to the RUN position (DO NOT take it to START). Let the car sit there for a few seconds, now rotate the key to START. Did the car start this time? If yes, your fuel pump is starting to go. Now, this is assuming you have the 2.5/3.0L motor. Please let us what motor you have so we can give more specific details. Where you are may help too (ie, in the US, UK, middle east, etc).
I know this may sound strange, but you may have a bad battery cable too. A check that you can do once you get the motor running is to let the car sit idle for a time to let the motor get ice cold (ambient). You will then start the car and turn on the rear defroster, dash fan on high, seat heaters, and the headlights. Let the car idle like that for about 5 minutes. Now, turn the engine off and open the hood. Place your hand near a metal part near the battery to get a feel for how warm that is. Now, move your hand to place it OVER!!!!! (DO NOT TOUCH!!!!!!!) the battery terminals. Is one of the terminals hot? If yes, you have a bad battery cable. Replace that and see what your car does now.
It will be a little bit of work, but nothing is terminal at this point. This is where you will want to lube the hood latches with some WD-40 to ensure they do not stick any more and check the cables to make sure that they are doing what they should. You can even take the WD-40 and squirt a litlte bit down the cables to keep them from rusting up (helps if you remove the cable so you can let gravity help you).
Newbie, first, watch the video in the links above. This will have you remove the plastic tray under the radiator and then you can get a long reach rod or even possibly get your hand up there to manually do the latch on the hood latches. May need a second person with you to apply a little bit of downward pressure on each side as you release the latch as this will make moving it easier. Then you simply hold the latch in the release position as they let off the hood and possibly lift up slightly. YOu will then want to put something between the hood and body to prevent it from re-latching as you do the other side. Note that the latch is just inboard of the high/main beam lens. An above picture where someone cut open the hood shows you the latch at the edge of the cut.
As for the rear fuel cap, you will need to remove the wheel well liner and then reach in and trigger the release that way. This would be a good time to get new cables.
As for your failing to start issue. I want you to try something. Drive the car and get the engine hot so you can have the problem recreate itself. Turn off the car. Now, when you go to start the car, turn the key to the RUN position (DO NOT take it to START). Let the car sit there for a few seconds, now rotate the key to START. Did the car start this time? If yes, your fuel pump is starting to go. Now, this is assuming you have the 2.5/3.0L motor. Please let us what motor you have so we can give more specific details. Where you are may help too (ie, in the US, UK, middle east, etc).
I know this may sound strange, but you may have a bad battery cable too. A check that you can do once you get the motor running is to let the car sit idle for a time to let the motor get ice cold (ambient). You will then start the car and turn on the rear defroster, dash fan on high, seat heaters, and the headlights. Let the car idle like that for about 5 minutes. Now, turn the engine off and open the hood. Place your hand near a metal part near the battery to get a feel for how warm that is. Now, move your hand to place it OVER!!!!! (DO NOT TOUCH!!!!!!!) the battery terminals. Is one of the terminals hot? If yes, you have a bad battery cable. Replace that and see what your car does now.
It will be a little bit of work, but nothing is terminal at this point. This is where you will want to lube the hood latches with some WD-40 to ensure they do not stick any more and check the cables to make sure that they are doing what they should. You can even take the WD-40 and squirt a litlte bit down the cables to keep them from rusting up (helps if you remove the cable so you can let gravity help you).
Amazing response Thermo, thank you! If I could get it started, and open the hood (!) I would definitely have tried those things you suggested, they make total sense. I just wish I had asked these questions earlier when the car was still drivable. Unfortunately I don't have these repair capabilities on my own, so I think at this point I'm relegated to a tow to my neighborhood mechanic to figure it out. The car is a 3.0L in the US. Thank you again.
X-Typenewbie, if you have the ability to get under the car, I can tell you how to charge your battery. BUt, this is kinda a back woods way of doing things. BUt, it would work. Then you can atleast drive the car to the shop vice needing to be towed. But ,you would be crawling under the car to access the point you would need to get to. UP to you.
X-Typenewbie, if you have the ability to get under the car, I can tell you how to charge your battery. BUt, this is kinda a back woods way of doing things. BUt, it would work. Then you can atleast drive the car to the shop vice needing to be towed. But ,you would be crawling under the car to access the point you would need to get to. UP to you.
I appreciate the help, but the battery actually is fine - the engine cranks on ignition, but just doesn't turn over anymore. Similar to what used to happen before when the car was warmed up, but now it happens even when it's cold and sitting. So even if we were to charge the battery, the engine just doesn't start. Thank you very much for offering the help!
the engine cranks on ignition, but just doesn't turn over anymore
Can you explain what you mean by the engine cranks but doesn't turn over? To me these are the same thing, the starter motor is causing the engine to turn. Is the starter motor rotating but the engine not rotating? Or is the starter rotating the engine as it should but the engine is not firing?
Is the check engine light on? Even if the car won't start you should be able to get a code reader on the OBD port and read any engine codes which would be a huge help tracking down your problems. A $15 code reader from Amazon and the free Torque app will serve you well if you decide to do some work on the car yourself.
Can you explain what you mean by the engine cranks but doesn't turn over? To me these are the same thing, the starter motor is causing the engine to turn. Is the starter motor rotating but the engine not rotating? Or is the starter rotating the engine as it should but the engine is not firing?
Is the check engine light on? Even if the car won't start you should be able to get a code reader on the OBD port and read any engine codes which would be a huge help tracking down your problems. A $15 code reader from Amazon and the free Torque app will serve you well if you decide to do some work on the car yourself.
Sorry my terminology is not clear - when I turn the key to start it, the engine makes a normal cranking/turning sound, but ignition never actually takes place, it just keeps cranking/turning. The cranking sound is that of a strong battery, since the battery is pretty new, within the past year.
Prior to this latest problem of not starting, the car was sitting idle outdoors for about 2 months, and it started up immediately on the first try, so I drove it around for about 45 minutes just to recharge the battery, and it ran fine. Then the next time I tried to start it up a few days later, it had this cranking but not starting up problem.
No codes, no check engine light, altho the ABS brake light sometimes appears and then disappears just as quickly.
Hope that explains things better. And thanks for your help.
Jaguar X Type - Bonnet stuck on Passenger side
