Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Hood Release not working....

Well mine was the same thing and it ended up being that there was rust were the cable goes into the body of the car that was holding up the wire...when it was in the stealership getting the water pump replaced they cleaned it out really good and I havent had a problem since....but before that I took it to a shop and they wanted to put on a new cable cause they said it was broke...so be careful if you go in to get it fixed.....just my two cents.

How do you lube the latch and hit the latch? I can move the secondary latch, but cannot see anything else to work... this is rather urgent, as I tried to open the hood to diagnose an oil leak. I literally see nothing else that moves that I can reach with a screwdriver.

When I hit the latch, I hear a click up at the front of the car, but nothing happens.

Well, I got the hood open, and now can lube it directly. The oil leak is just a loose drain plug.

Method to open:

Have an assistant pull the release and hold it in the "open" position

Bang on hood with fist above latch. It popped up.

Ya fist thingy is working! I got the same problem and after reading this thread hit the hood firmly several times and it was released.
When I open it though I found that it could be done much easier with just a screwdriver. Get it thru the grill vent from the right side and try to pry the latch holder, which is right over the latch on the left side of the assembly behing white plastic.
There is slots in the plastic cover to get the screwdriver in. You cannot realy to see the part but it is there and if you'll manage to move it just a bit to the left - it should help to release the latch.