I am a bit perplexed here and thought I would throw this out to the august group here. I got back to town last weekend and, with it being very cold and the car sitting for a while, it wouldn't start and I ran the battery down.

I then pulled the handle inside the car to release the hood latch and nothing happened. There is normally a thing that pops out from the grill that I pull to release the hood. But that didn't happen. I came in from underneath the car with a lever and pressed the arm from inside, pushing that thing out of the grill, pulled it as normal and still nothing.

If anyone can give me the trick of getting the hood popped open I would really appreciate it. I can't charge the battery to get it started again until I solve this and then I can move on to actually fixing the real problem. Thanks for the help!

- Ted

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1987 300SDL 265,000 mi.
1982 300SD 325,000 mi. (and holding)
1956 Packard Clipper 150,000 mi.

Sounds like the hood clips on the sides are caked up.

PM me and I'll tell you how to break into your car. Happened to my SD.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

I would GUESS that the latch is covered in grease and the grease has gelled up a bit in the cold making it real tough to release the latch. The only thing I can think of is either heat the hood latches somehow, or pull harder - but be sure you don't break anything pulling. This happened on mine and it was REAL tough to open, but it did eventually open after pulling hard enough. I had to use pliers on the cable and pivot them on something to get good leverage. Once you do get it open, pull the latches out and clean them / lube them real good.