I tried opening the hood on my 02 Solara today to put in washer fluid and the hood latch stopped working. When I pulled on the lever inside the car it felt like there was no tension on the string and the hood would not pop open. I guess the primary latch is stuck. Is there a simple way to fix this?

2/8/2011 10:45:55 PM

alternate banging on the hood above the latch with your fist and pulling up on the hood.
This works about 95% of the time.

2/9/2011 1:29:39 AM

it popped open on its own this evening after I was done with work.. I tried to open it in the morning after I reached work, to no avail.. but I guess the engine dissipation heat musta helped open it up later on.. btw the temperature around here has been in the teens for the past few days..

[Edited on February 9, 2011 at 10:30 PM. Reason : ..]

2/9/2011 10:30:02 PM

check it now and clean it if it's super dirty, also put some grease on it if it's sticking.

2/9/2011 11:30:56 PM

^ yup, I put some WD 40 on here.. its better now..

2/12/2011 11:42:44 AM

white lithium grease works better and lasts longer than WD40 for this kind of thing.

2/12/2011 1:17:01 PM

Wd40 is a water displacer, not a very good lube, nor will it stay.

Use grease like the factory, not expensive at all.

2/12/2011 2:25:07 PM