Hello!

My 01 XJ8 got into a recent accident into where i have hit a deer. Now the man who works at the body shop said that the hood is stuck down and there is now way to open it. The pull release lever to open the hood was broke and I rushed to the dealer to buy one. After buying a $30 plastic release he installed it and the hood does not want to open so we watched a youtube video where u have to drill a hole. So the man did to discover that one of the locks were broken and now he said that he has to cut the hood open and i have to buy a new one. On craigslist i negoiated with a nice person for a xj8 hood and he includes the locks, cables, release and hood struts for $100! But since i have to get it sunday and a 2 hour drive and i was wondering if there is any other way to open this hood.

 

What?!!....no, when you drill into the base of the latch assembly (with a 1" hole saw or step bit) through the wheel well, you can stick a flat head screw driver in there and release the catch. My lanyard came off the latch and that's how I got into it.
Be sure to spray where you drilled into it with flat black primer to cover the exposed metal from rust.

 

Thanks man! I will try this tomorrow!

 

The wheel well trick works fine. No need to cut up a hood. I am in Columbia SC. PM me
if you want to come over and see my car and borrow a bit to cut the hole. There are
some photos somewhere on the forum though. Might be good to disconnect the battery
when drilling on the right side. There is a positive battery cable you don't want to hit.

 

Thanks so much but i printed the responses and will give it to the body shop man to see if he will do this! I really appreciate it man! I will pm you if something happens like the hood wont open with this...