How can you do even simple “under-the-hood” jobs — such as checking the oil, antifreeze, and transmission fluid; refilling windshield wiper fluid; and checking accessory belts — if you don’t know how to get the hood open?
The good news is that opening the hood of a car is easy and uncomplicated — if you know how to do it. Although the location of the hood release may differ from one vehicle to the next, all releases work in pretty much the same way:
In newer models, the hood release is often inside the vehicle, somewhere near the steering column or on the floor next to the driver’s seat. (It generally displays the word Hood or a picture of a car with its hood up.) In older models, the hood release is behind the grill or behind the bumper.
All vehicles have a safety catch that stops the released hood from popping all the way open. The purpose of the safety catch is to prevent the hood from accidentally coming open and obscuring your vision while you’re driving.
Once the hood is up, it usually stays up on its own, unless you need to prop it up with a safety rod.
If you haven’t the faintest idea of how to get your hood open, head for the full-service bay the next time you go in for gas and ask the attendant to show you how to open the hood. You may pay a little more for fuel, but the lesson will be worth it, and you can get your windows washed and your tire pressure checked for nothing! (If you’re really short of cash, just ask for $5 worth of gasoline; the difference in cost will be negligible.)
Here’s how to open the hood of your car yourself:
1. Find your hood release and pop open the hood.
Either consult your owner’s manual, or try to remember the last time a service station attendant opened the hood of your car. Did he or she ask you to pull a lever inside the vehicle? Or did he or she go directly to the front grill?
If the hood release is at the front of the car, look around and through the grill and feel under the grill and behind the bumper to find a handle, lever, arm, or button. Then pull, press, or push front to back and side to side on the thing you find until it releases the hood. If the hood release is inside the car, press, push, or pull it until you hear the hood pop open.
The hood will open a little, but it will probably be stopped by the safety catch: a metal lever that, when pressed one way or the other, releases the hood so that it can open all the way.
2. With one hand, raise the hood as far as it will go. With the other hand, feel along the area between the hood and the grill for the safety catch. Release it and then raise the hood the rest of the way.
3. Secure the hood if necessary.
If the hood stays up all by itself, fine. If it doesn’t, look for a safety rod that’s attached either to the underside of the hood or to the bottom edge of the hood opening. Either lift or lower the rod (depending on where it’s located) and fit the end of it into the slot that’s provided to hold it in place.
On some vehicles, the hood is held up by two gas-pressurized cylinders known as hood shocks. If the gas has leaked out of these units, be careful because the hood could come down at any moment. If that’s the case, replace these units or secure the hood with a broom handle or similar object.”
