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Local mechanic says it’s impossible to open a stuck hood without taking it to dealer.
So he won’t come to my place to even try, I have a feeling he’s full of it. Long story short, the passenger side of my hood won’t open, I imagine it’s a broken cable. And it just so happens that my battery died at the same time (car was parked for about a month). So I can’t turn it on to take it anywhere and I can’t open the hood to replace the battery. I saw some YouTube videos on older models and it looked pretty straight forward. Lift the car, remove the wind deflector and reach the latch assembly with a screwdriver to get it to open. Anyone deal with this before? Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. I want my W212 back and I’d like to avoid the stealership. .
I’m pretty handy. I checked the back and didn’t see a rear electric panel? I’ll check again.
This happened to me on my S550. Mine was the driver side lock that was not opening.
I searched for the solution and in some places they claim it is possible to reach the lock from under the car but in the S-Class (W221) the locks are inside rectangular beams that are open only at the top at the locks mount and I could not see any way to access the lock from the front. I was afraid the head light must be broken to get to it..
But I found the solution and this could be the same with the E-Class.
I got it open by first removing the left front wheel and the wheel well lining. Then by feel I located the cable where it splits to two cables separate for each lock. I pulled the cable for the driver's side and the lock opened. In your case you would need to pull the passenger side cable, of course. You cannot get it open by pulling the cable before the split point as the "healthy" lock limits the movement of the loose cable at the other lock.
The problem was that the end of the cable outer part (the shield?) had fallen from the U-shaped holder as the rubber grommet had worn and become loose. The end of the actuating cable in the lock was in place and it is fastened in a way that it really cannot work itself loose. Also, the cable is very heavy duty so I doubt yours is broken.
After I got the hood open I used plastic wire ties on the locks to keep the cables from falling down. Writing this reminded me that I forgot to do this wire tie trick on me E550 so I have a little job to do tomorrow...
This happened to me on my S550. Mine was the driver side lock that was not opening.
I searched for the solution and in some places they claim it is possible to reach the lock from under the car but in the S-Class (W221) the locks are inside rectangular beams that are open only at the top at the locks mount and I could not see any way to access the lock from the front. I was afraid the head light must be broken to get to it..
But I found the solution and this could be the same with the E-Class.
I got it open by first removing the left front wheel and the wheel well lining. Then by feel I located the cable where it splits to two cables separate for each lock. I pulled the cable for the driver's side and the lock opened. In your case you would need to pull the passenger side cable, of course. You cannot get it open by pulling the cable before the split point as the "healthy" lock limits the movement of the loose cable at the lock.
The problem was that the end of the cable outer part (the shield?) had fallen from the U-shaped holder as the rubber grommet had worn and become loose. The end of the actuating cable in the lock was in place and it is fastened in a way that it really cannot work itself loose. Also, the cable is very heavy duty so I doubt yours is broken.
After I got the hood open I used plastic wire ties on the locks to keep the cables from falling down. Writing this reminded me that I forgot to do this wire tie trick on me E550 so I have a little job to do tomorrow...
Hope this helps.
If you can take pics how you end up doing the E let us know. Preventive maintenance is always a good thing.
I’m pretty handy. I checked the back and didn’t see a rear electric panel? I’ll check again.
I am pretty lucky with W212 and did not have to work on them too much, but I do have electric plug in the trunk, who is under constant power.
So 15 amp reverse charging right there. Than I recall fuse panel behind trunk lining on passenger side. Some models do have heavy cable connections under passenger side floor.
With huge models variety you can't take 1 car features into other car without checking, but there is power in the car somewhere.
What makes you think it's a cable? Usually the locks get rusted so that they don't spring up anymore. Have someone pull on the hood while you release the cable. You can also charge up the car through the 9v socket. Usually there are battery chargers out there with adapters that you can use to charge through the cigarette lighter. You usually have to turn on the car in order for the lighter to kick on, but maybe the one in the trunk might be on all the time.
Also you could just get a battery charger with the adapter. You might have to put your key in the ignition but then I'd turn off all the accessories afterwards and just let the 2 amp charger slowly charge up the battery or get the adapter and use a different battery charger. I think the cigarette socket is typically 10-20 amps so a low current charger should be fine.
This is why I built an emergency power access/float charger lead (my 212 sits a lot. Only put 2000mi on it this year) on my battery. It's 10awg speaker wire wrapped in loom connected at the battery with ring terminals. Then it runs along the fender down to the grille where it terminates with an XD90 connector and protective cap. I can fish this connector out from the outside of the car through the grille but it cannot be seen from the exterior. Then I built 5 or 6 of these float chargers for fun (gifts for a couple family members and a friend for the hell of it) out of DC charge modules and 95W laptop chargers. I can power up my completely dead car even with the keys locked inside by grabbing the XD90 connector through the grille and plugging in the charge module thingy I made.
Got it open. Had my pops pull the lever, I pried (jiggled) gently between the hood and the bumper, with a flathead and a piece of cloth on the bumper, right around where the stuck latch was, maybe a a few inches toward the passenger side. I had tried pushing the hood down before (while pulling the lever) but it looks like it needed to go up not down to get free.
charged the battery and and she turned over 🙏🏼. Now to get this latch/cable fixed. I sprayed a little wd-40 on the latches. I have not closed or tried to reopen the hood yet. I can’t see any disconnected or broken cables. I’m hoping the fact that I got it open the way I did means the cable is fine and something was just seized. I’ll close it and try to open it again tomorrow. Thanks for the help guys.
Oh and btw, the B+ terminal on the alternator is super easy to access from underneath the car if you wanted to hook a power supply to that. Then just ground somewhere on the engine. But you'd have to jack up the car and remove the under covers.
The B+ alternator terminal cable snakes straight up to the positive battery terminal. I kinda banged my had on a wall for a minute after I already built and installed the long a$$ emergency power cable with loom from the battery all the way to the grille for the above project. Distance from the B+ alternator post to where I have the XD90 connector tucked away behind the grille is only like two feet Lol
Got it open. Had my pops pull the lever, I pried (jiggled) gently between the hood and the bumper, with a flathead and a piece of cloth on the bumper, right around where the stuck latch was, maybe a a few inches toward the passenger side. I had tried pushing the hood down before (while pulling the lever) but it looks like it needed to go up not down to get free.
I used to work in a body shop. This happened all the time. We just banged (moderately firmly) with our palms on the hoods directly over the seized latches really fast while someone jiggled the lever just like you did and 90% of them popped right up Lol
This is why I built an emergency power access/float charger lead (my 212 sits a lot. Only put 2000mi on it this year) on my battery. It's 10awg speaker wire wrapped in loom connected at the battery with ring terminals. Then it runs along the fender down to the grille where it terminates with an XD90 connector and protective cap. I can fish this connector out from the outside of the car through the grille but it cannot be seen from the exterior. Then I built 5 or 6 of these float chargers for fun (gifts for a couple family members and a friend for the hell of it) out of DC charge modules and 95W laptop chargers. I can power up my completely dead car even with the keys locked inside by grabbing the XD90 connector through the grille and plugging in the charge module thingy I made.
This is why I built an emergency power access/float charger lead (my 212 sits a lot. Only put 2000mi on it this year) on my battery. It's 10awg speaker wire wrapped in loom connected at the battery with ring terminals. Then it runs along the fender down to the grille where it terminates with an XD90 connector and protective cap. I can fish this connector out from the outside of the car through the grille but it cannot be seen from the exterior. Then I built 5 or 6 of these float chargers for fun (gifts for a couple family members and a friend for the hell of it) out of DC charge modules and 95W laptop chargers. I can power up my completely dead car even with the keys locked inside by grabbing the XD90 connector through the grille and plugging in the charge module thingy I made.
That looks cool ,looks like a sci-fi tool derived from
If you can take pics how you end up doing the E let us know. Preventive maintenance is always a good thing.
Took a couple days but here it is.
The first picture here shows the "cable splitter" that makes the single cable from the hood opening lever inside the cabin to two cables one for each lock. This splitter can be accessed thru the wheel well after liner is removed.
The second picture below shows the driver side hood lock on my 2010 E550. I was surprised to see it like this as in my 2013 S550 both locks are open at one side. The plastic cover that serves as the lock signal is made to keep the lock opening cable from falling from the slot.
The third picture here shows the passenger side hood lock without the plastic side cover. This is how both locks are in my 2013 S550. You can see how without the side cover the slot for the cable grommet is open and the rubber grommet can fall out when it wears over time. This is what happened to me with the S550 on the driver's side.
The fourth picture below shows my fix for the cable not to fall out. Wire tie goes around the rubber grommet thru a hole at the top preventing the cable from falling down.
I highly recommend doing this small preventive maintenance step on these cars as it is a pain if the hood lock will not open. The OP says his did after banging on the hood at lock position with someone else pulling the opening level inside the car but this DID NOT work for me. Believe me I tried every possible scenario before I went thru the driver's side wheel well.
Otherwise, look what others had to do on a W211 (for example)
My TODO for the weekend: latch maintenance plus Arrie's suggestion.
I replaced the latches on my W211, the W212 is ok so far but will probably replace at some point. On the W211, it was the same as someone else mentioned, after replacing the latch, the little cable attachment fell off and no longer opened the hood. Fortunately the mechanic was able to get the hood open after some fiddling. One of the latches was pretty badly rusted and no amount of lubricant freed it up, the other one a little lubricant freed it up again. But I had already gotten two new ones so I just threw away the old one and kept the one that was ok. The part number is different between the W211 and W212 so can't use it on the other car. I used to spray a little kroil on it every few months til I got tired of doing that and just got new latches. So far so good. The part number is different between the W211 and W212 so can't use it on the other car.
Dang...I must start to prepare my latch too.
The 2 videos J40 posted showed 2 different failures condition.
I think aside from using cable tie like Arrie, I will install small string and keep it handy within easy reach from underneath. Just incase failure mode is the rubber "ear-stopper" which torn out. 1st image below.
Just like how our petrol cap has that red plastic emergency pull cable for such event.
I open my hood VERY often, in fact after a drive ( at home ) I will 99% open the hood to cool things down.
So my pull cable works harder than most cars.
Lubrication can not prevent rubber/plastic boot "stopper ear" from tearing out, it is a rubber/plastic life limit.
Of course running a new pull cable set once per 10 years would be ideal.
Nevertheless, an emergency 2nd method is a MUST have for me.
Lubrication can not prevent rubber/plastic boot "stopper ear" from tearing out, it is a rubber/plastic life limit.
Of course running a new pull cable set once per 10 years would be ideal.
Nevertheless, an emergency 2nd method is a MUST have for me.
I was actually thinking to add second wire to the locks and run them to that cable splitter that I can then access thru the wheel well. This came to my mind after seeing how much thinner the cable in the E550 is compared to the S550. I bet the cable in the S is twice as strong.
Then, replacing the cable should not be that bad of a job to do either...
I just took a quick look at my hood LOCKING ASSYand the pull cable system.
It is different to Arrie's photo or the video posted by J40.
Mine is sort of tamper-proof. The lever, which the pull cable pull upon..... is hidden inside the LOCK ASSY and it has a steel plate covering any means to use a screwdriver to "pull" that lever.
Using a mirror. Right side LOCK ASSY
Wide angle view
The Y joint will probably will be the weak link in the long run, as the single cable plastic stopper mechanism two protruding DOTs may break. It serves double load, 2 of LOCK ASSY.
If not the double DOTs will break, it may be the long rectangular plastic casing "ears" holding the 2 DOTs.
Tomorrow I will undo the hood LOCK ASSY and see if I can use the string as back-up...somehow
09-17-2021, 10:35 PM
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