The release pin is accessible through the triangular opening on the driver's side of the latch shown in the 'tool' thread above. Using a small (number 1 ?) flat blade screwdriver pointed at the passenger's foot well (45 degree angle or flatter) and positioned with the blade sides aligned to the front and rear of the car will allow you to push the release pin away from the latching hook by pushing primarily down. Try it on a friend's working latch while standing on the driver's side of the front trunk and you should be able to understand (it's difficult to explain).

Okay; I'll try that tomorrow.

I think my tool had too wide a flat-head to accomplish this so I'll try making another today.

Thanks,

Well, that explanation was very helpful. Thanks RexGirl.

I took my tool back to the fella's Fieros and was able to trigger the hood opened, but not before he ground down the flat edge into a tip. The flat edge had been too wide to fit into the hole that you described so well.

After successfully triggering the latch on the practice car, with the hood closed, I returned to my car and tried triggering her. Not so successful!

I don't know if I couldn't fish out the little gap in the latch cover (very possible) or had failed to trigger the latch because of its being frozen. I can not say for sure.

I'd send an image of the carnage that I dd to the tool, but I can't upload images from my MAC. Suffice to say, I twisted it up pretty badly.

I'll bend my tool back into a semblance of function and go fishing again. I think if I can be certain to locate the latch hole, I can fumble the release but I am not certain that the latch will trigger free. It may be frozen?

Let you know, and again, much thanks...

Here's hoping you will get it open!

Thanks!

Recent the tool back into shape and tried again with no luck before fled the Zika carrying biters!

Gonna try again tomorrow. The question is that even if I am striking the right point, will it free or is the mechanism broken. I am not sure but will persist.

Thanks again for all your contributing suggestions....

What goes around comes around.

I ran a search here for "stuck hood", as I've now got the same problem with my '84. This three year old thread came up, and I had to smile when I came across several of my own responses in it.

My '84 has been sitting for the last year under a mountain ash tree. Over time, dead leaves and berries have accumulated in the cowl area. Add to that a ton of rain, and you can imagine the decomposing mess that was created. Yes, I'm an idiot.

Anyway, spring has sprung... but not so my hood! I had vacuumed all the rotting debris from out of the cowl area, and went to pop the hood, but no go. There's never previously been a problem opening this hood. I suspect all that soggy crap which had been sitting in the cowl has corroded the latch assembly. I can pull the lever, and it moves, but it reaches the end of its travel and nothing happens. I'm reluctant to pull harder and risk breaking the cable (or the lever).

I'm planning to try all the suggestions posted in this thread (except for my own suggestion), as well as investigate the tool showcased Here. Fortunately, I have other Fieros in the yard that I can inspect to see just how this hood latch works. I'll report my progress... or lack thereof.

I wonder if the original poster (THE DC) ever got his hood open.

I know the feeling, Patrick. I read back through and forgot how many times I had posted in this thread as well. Maybe your tree gum hood might free up with a bucket or two of hot water and purple power cleaner. That stuff will loosen any kind of dirt.

quote Originally posted by viperine: Maybe your tree gum hood might free up with a bucket or two of hot water and purple power cleaner. That stuff will loosen any kind of dirt.

That's not a bad idea. I was reluctant to spray any type of petroleum based lubricant in the cowl area as I don't particularly want those type of chemicals floating around the air intake of the HVAC system.... but trying Purple Power or maybe Simple Green mixed with hot water may do the trick... or might not do anything if the latch assembly has actually become corroded. But if it's just leaf/berry muck that's jamming things up... hey, who knows! Thanks for the suggestion!

For anyone not familiar with a Mountain Ash tree, this is what the leaves and berries look like. For perspective, the berries are about a quarter inch in diameter. It's these leaves and berries which collected in my 84's front cowl area and proceeded to create a nice little compost heap over the winter.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 04-04-2019).]

If you use simple green, pre-soak with plain hot water first. This, for some reason, makes simple green excel. Purple power works any way you want it to.

I love simple green for it's effectiveness and harmless nature, but the pre-soak and the smell of simple green (I used to use large quantities in a confined area, it makes you hack a lung up like that), have left me favoring purple power. Eucalyptus is for koalas anyway

Okay, I've got news.

I looked at a Fiero parts car in my yard to see how the hood latch was supposed to work. Wouldn't you know it, this latch also had an issue. Fortunately, the hood was not latched shut on this Fiero... which was a good thing as the latch assembly was badly corroded and impossible to operate. I removed the latch from the car to have a good look at it, and it turned out the lower of the two pivoting mechanisms was immovable. I've used a couple of images to show which pivot point I'm referring to. (The rivet can actually only be seen on one side of the assembly.) A red arrow shows which direction this piece needs to go to unlatch the hood. This piece was rusted solid on the parts car latch. I don't know how the heck the hood could ever have been opened (if it had been latched shut) with that mechanism rusted so badly. IMO, the clever tool that skitime designed and discussed in This thread would not have worked to trip open this latch. However, that tool might work just fine if the problem was limited to broken release cables.






Now that I had more of an idea of how the hood latch worked, I decided to try one of the simpler suggestions mentioned a couple times earlier in this thread.... hitting the hood while pulling the release. I now knew the latch was positioned dead center, 4.5 inches from the back of the hood. I put a 6"x12" piece of half inch plywood over this area and first gave a couple of good whacks with a rubber mallet without using the release lever. I then pulled the lever with my right hand while using the mallet with my left hand. One good whack... and success! The hood popped open no problem.

I opened and closed the latch several times (using something other than the hood, just in case) and it seemed okay, so I closed the hood. It now opens up fine, no whacking with a mallet required.

Thank-you to everyone who posted in this thread. This forum is such a good resource of Fiero information.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 04-05-2019).]