[rocktober]

Hello. My hood won't open on my 2008 Kia Optima. How do I tell where the failure is located. When I pull the hood release, it's loose. Though I'm a woman, and don't know that much about vehicles, I'd like to try to repair this myself (tired forking out money to the dealer). Has anyone else had problems with their hood release? Any recommendations? Does anyone know how to open the hood without the release?

 

[mattybyzf]

The failure could be in a couple of places. First, check behind the release lever in the car, where the cable attaches. I've seen it pop off the lever. If it has come off, reattch it or try pulling on the cable itself, if it is still loose, the junction under the hood may have popped out of place. If this is the case, it's a tough fix. You've got to go up from underneath and hope to be able to grab the cable to release the hood.

 

[rocktober]

@mattybyzf Thanks! I'm going to look tomorrow morning.

 

[bconyers]

I assume you already fixed this. I too have a 2008 Optima and had the same problem. What I did was detached the release cable from the fender wall and forgot to reattach it. Doh! This is what I did, you will need a 10mm socket and a really long extension with a swivel attachment. If you look through the grill you can see the hood latch and it's covered by a plastic cover remove that, it's a bear that's why you need the swivel and long extension. Once that is removed you need really long needle nose pliers to reach through the grill and grab the release cable pull on that and pop it comes open. Once you have the hood open you will need to remove the plastic cover in front of the radiator to get the cover back over the hood latch.

 

[rocktober]

@bconyers. You are right, I already fixed it. I took it to the dealer and paid a little over $380. Thanks for the tip!