[Electric CO]

Hi,
Anyone here knows how to open the hood with the in-car hood release not functioning properly?

I pull on the lever, and nothing happens. If I pull on the cable behind the lever, nothing either.

I haven't tried having somebody pushing down or pulling up the hood while I activate the lever yet. That may work, but my feeling is the cable is out of commission.

Thanks.

 

[Electric CO]

Problem solved!

Went to the car with a colleague and the hood opens with the inside lever in the pulled position and some wiggling of the latch and hood. No positive feel of the cable doing anything, but it worked.

There is some visible rust (!) at the hook, so some lubing and cleaning will likely restore everything back to normal. I put some 0W20 in the latch mechanism for now.

Maybe something for everyone to check, clean and lube.

Regards,

 

[nemystic]

I was about to start a new thread, but decided to do a search instead.
I've apparently had the same problem as Claude recenly experienced (Electric CO), and with some improvisation, managed to get the hood open.
I applied all kinds of lubricants to the latch, assuming the problem may be related to corrosion, and now the hood will open with some coaxing, but it still isn't releasing normally.
It seems that latching has been a problem since the first year I've owned the vehicle. Release problems are recent - within the past 6 months.

The major problems I've experienced with this Insight (window channels and LCD display) have been repaired by the Honda dealer within the warranty period.

I haven't had an opportunity to do a comprehensive technical investigation of the hood release problem, but my guess would be that it's related to either cable length or corrosion.

My sense is that this may be an Insight design limitation, and that it in my case, it hasn't necessarily been fixed by the lubricant "blitzkrieg". It would be interesting to hear from others who may have experienced the same problem. 'More interesting would be to hear about your sucessful corrective action.

Thanks in advance.
-Brian

 

[Viridescence]

Hood/Bonnet release not working - Solution

I've experienced the same problem and discovered that it was due to road grit worked into the grease that was preventing the latch from springing open.

No amount of WD40 applied through the front would free the latch when attempting to open the Hood by yourself from inside the car.

The solution was to phone a friend. Whilst pulling the lever in the car the other person pushes on the bonnet then pulls up. The cable simply pulls a stop out of the sprung latch enabling the latch to spring open. The grit was preventing the latch from moving under it's own spring so it is necessary to pull the lever inside the car and pull on the bonnet at the same time so assist the spring.

On investigation the road grit had covered the entire mechanism so a liberal degreasing and much forcing of the latch with a screw driver whilst the bonnet was open eventually allowed it to spring open under the spring force alone.

I'd suggest regular checks on the mechanism - it saves the potential issue of not being able to access your own engine bay. Worse still have the local dealer charge you for a few hours extra labour just so that they can get in to service it.