I smashed my hood support & can't get hood open

tiger108

Member
Well, this is an embarrassing way to introduce myself. It took all of 24 hours of owning my 06 2500 (cargo) to break something. I knew the learning curve would be steep, but d*mn.
Checked fluids while driving her 1400 miles to her new home, and closed the hood the way I always have on all cars - pull the hood down and give it a good push for latch to catch. Noticed I had to put some extra oomph into getting it to latch (I am 5'4" & 130#, so i figured it was just owing to its big truck feel). Walked by it the next time I fueled and...the hood support bowed out and I smashed it. :bash: Drove it home before I decided to mess around with it.
Good news is parts don't look expensive for the fix. Bad news is, the hood wont open and I don't know this vehicle well at all (clearly).
I can hear hood release working, but hood does not pop up with release. I can manually release hood latch, but doing that while standing on the bumper and pulling up with all my might doesn't even budge the hood. I was taught that with leverage, I don't need big muscles, but I don't know her well enough to know the safe places to use to pry. I also don't want to bend the hood beyond use (if I haven't already)
I cut through the hood support and was able to get a few mm of motion in the hood when i push down on it. Tried pushing down while manually releasing hood latch & no change. No neighbors home until evening to push down on hood while other person pulls hood release in cab. My next instinct is to remove bolts that attach the hood to its' hinges at the just under the windshield. (see photos)
Since I literally have looked under the hood twice and these beasts seem to have more quirks than I could have anticipated, I thought it would be best to get some input here. Any ideas to get the hood open?
Thanks! I hope I at least gave you a good laugh
 

Attachments

Welcome to the forum!

My suggestion is wait till a friend can activate hood release lever then try lifting and if no success try with palm tapping near where catch is on hood to see if it will free. Lubrication also may help.
 

tiger108

Member
Well, I got impatient and met a new neighbor. Having someone push down on the hood while I pulled the release lever allowed it to engage. Hood opened just fine, broken pieces removed, and hood functions normally (with the help of a steel pipe temporarily acting as the hood support). First sprinter lesson learned the interesting way, ha!
 

CJPJ

2008 3500 170 EXTD 3.0 V6 OM642.993 4.182
I guess you learned at the accident scene how to prevent that. HaHa.
 

Boxster1971

2023 Sprinter 2500 144wb AWD
Don't feel bad - I did the same thing the first time I opened the hood on my 2012 Sprinter to check fluids. Fortunately only bent the support and was able to straighten it. I'm sure there are other on this forum who have done the same thing.


- - Mike
2012 Sprinter 3500 Extended converted B-Van by Airstream
 

HighPockets

Active member
Well, I can blame mine on my 17yr. old, 5'-4", 165# daughter who decided to help dad close the hood. Being somewhat short and the van raised about 4" on one side to level it. she jumped up to catch the front edge and pulled down with all her weight. Like Boxer1971 only hardware was bent but I have not been able to straighten it. It catches on the crook which would require removing the part to straighten it properly. I bought a new piece but now I can't (haven't yet) gotten the screw off because the factory fixed nut is loose. I bent the bent piece down out of the way and also use a pole (paint roller extension cut to the right length) to keep it up. What I wrote to say was that side of the hood, while not showing any damage, doesn't close as tightly as the other side.

Gene
 

Troubleboy

New member
I just replaced mine. Did the same thing and have owned the van for several years. My mind was on something else. To remove the old one loosen the elongated nut between the washer fluid reservoir and the hood support. $15 repair with a new hood support from Tasca Parts on ebay.
 

CJPJ

2008 3500 170 EXTD 3.0 V6 OM642.993 4.182
Opening the hood 1.2
! Make sure that the windshield wipers are not folded away from the windshield. You could otherwise damage the windshield wip- ers or the hood.
 

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