How many morons does it take to open the hood of a Nissan Titan?

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MileHighDart

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Only one, but it will take him 2 hours.

So during our recent 4 days of snow and very cold temps, I ran out of washer fluid. No problem, just pop the hood and fill 'er up. Nope, seems no matter how much you pull on the release inside the cab, the hood will not pop. Let it slide for a few days till the weather warmed up a little today.
Tried it several more times, still not popping the hood.
Worked through the grill to try to pop it, but you really cant get to the latch, and can barely see it. Only thing I could find online about it says spray some penetrating oil all over it and wait a bit. Nope that didn't work. Lots of pushing, pulling, etc, no luck.
Can't take the grill out to work on the latch, cause the bolts that hold the grill in are....under the hood.

So I ended up taking a 3/4" hole saw and drilling a couple holes through the grill, inline with the two bolts that hold the latch to the core support. Only to find there was a third bolt at the bottom. It was directly inline with the Nissan emblem, but just high enough that you couldn't get on it with a socket on an extension. Had to file a groove in the plastic inside the opening to get a straighter shot at the third bolt. So finally got it opened. Nothing really appeared wrong with the latch, just dirty, gritty, and a small pebble lodged in the mechanism. Cleaned it all up with carb cleaner, sprayed it down good with penetrating oil.
Did a couple tests, set it and unlatch it with the release, then bolted it back in.
Works fine now, but what a pain in the ***.
 
I had a Nissan rogue in my driveway for a week. I couldnt get rid of that POS soon enough. Took a $2k hit but didnt care lol. Glad ya got it.
 
Thanks,
I actually love my Titan, but I just hate stupid little things like that. Should be simple but takes hours to figure out how to fix it.
 
Borrowed my daughter's 2004 4Runner. Went to put fuel in it and could not find the pull cable for the gas cap. Had to search for the answer in the owner's manual. The release was under the dash, not alongside the driver's seat where I was looking. I guess the cable must make a 180 degree turn somewhere along the way.
 
MileHighDart said:
Only one, but it will take him 2 hours.

So during our recent 4 days of snow and very cold temps, I ran out of washer fluid. No problem, just pop the hood and fill 'er up. Nope, seems no matter how much you pull on the release inside the cab, the hood will not pop. Let it slide for a few days till the weather warmed up a little today.
Tried it several more times, still not popping the hood.
Worked through the grill to try to pop it, but you really cant get to the latch, and can barely see it. Only thing I could find online about it says spray some penetrating oil all over it and wait a bit. Nope that didn't work. Lots of pushing, pulling, etc, no luck.
Can't take the grill out to work on the latch, cause the bolts that hold the grill in are....under the hood.

So I ended up taking a 3/4" hole saw and drilling a couple holes through the grill, inline with the two bolts that hold the latch to the core support. Only to find there was a third bolt at the bottom. It was directly inline with the Nissan emblem, but just high enough that you couldn't get on it with a socket on an extension. Had to file a groove in the plastic inside the opening to get a straighter shot at the third bolt. So finally got it opened. Nothing really appeared wrong with the latch, just dirty, gritty, and a small pebble lodged in the mechanism. Cleaned it all up with carb cleaner, sprayed it down good with penetrating oil.
Did a couple tests, set it and unlatch it with the release, then bolted it back in.
Works fine now, but what a pain in the ***.
Click to expand...
I work in a body shop here in North Dakota and lots of gravel roads here and always having people bring there car or truck in with things that won't open like your hood.
It sure is frustrating when like your problem can't get to the latch.
That is a beer for lunch day for sure.
 
They should make hoods open from the outside again. If somebody wants to steal something, they're gonna get it anyway.
 
Someone stole the read deck speakers out of my 57 Ford. They went through the trunk to get them and pried the lock with a screwdriver. I left the F'n rear doors unlocked.......I enjoy trying to find the hood releases when they are under the bumper. Buddies mom had a Nash Metro, he said the lights were some sort of jumper under the dash. It must have had a bad light switch, 'cause that is just dumb.
 
Don't know. Most hoods I've had trouble with, if you "bump down" on the hood either when or after pulling the latch, they will release. 'N yeh, that might take two people
 
67Dart273 said:
Don't know. Most hoods I've had trouble with, if you "bump down" on the hood either when or after pulling the latch, they will release. 'N yeh, that might take two people
Click to expand...

yeah, i've read that too, and tried it several times before moving on to other methods.
 
I'm trying to remember if I have ever locked the doors on my 68 Barracuda. But I'm drawing a blank. Even if I did, the passenger vent wing does not lock. And the hood release is the factory one., outside. Nothing has ever sprung legs.
These old cars are way too easy to steal, and my thinking is, if they want it so bad, they are gonna take it no matter what. I'd rather they open the doors and rifle thru the contents then to smash a window.....
When I travel, I stay in a cheap motel with the car snuggled up to the big window, and the 3ft coilwire under the pillow.
I hate inside releases.
 
MileHighDart said:
Thanks,
I actually love my Titan, but I just hate stupid little things like that. Should be simple but takes hours to figure out how to fix it.
Click to expand...
Off topic but the girl who runs a local parts store had a high end Titan with the Cummins diesel. She paid a lot for that engine ( the family had a large camping trailer) but they downsized. Come time to trade the darn Nissan dealer tried to knock 4K off the trade value because of the diesel.

WTF?

She bought a Jeep instead. Bonehead dealer move but I saw a lot of that during my dealer days.
 
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