my w123 hood will not open regularly with the cable pull. if i prop the handle up in the car and come around to the front and reach in and pull the plastic thing in the grill, it opens fine. the cable pulls fine and pulls the latch back but the hood does not "pop" up to get caught by the plastic grill pull (you know how it works, two stages: pull the release, hood pops, pull the grill insert out, hood opens).

anyone dealt with this before? everything is lubed up and appears to be in working order. it shuts and latches fine. what am i missing?

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1985 300D - 1984 Euro 280E AMG Clone (SOLD) - 1978 280CE (SOLD) - 1983 300D (SOLD) - 1981 300D (SOLD)

cable is probably stretched

even though i can see it pull the latch over to the side when i pull on the cable release in the car?

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1985 300D - 1984 Euro 280E AMG Clone (SOLD) - 1978 280CE (SOLD) - 1983 300D (SOLD) - 1981 300D (SOLD)

There is a spring-loaded plunger in front of the latch that should "pop" the hood up. How does it feel?

give the latch and "return" mechanism and good squirt down with PB Blaster, thats what fixed mine. The little "tongue" pops right out of the grill now, inviting to be pulled

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

feels pretty "springy," i can push it down with my thumb and it comes right back up, offers decent resistance, enough to push a hood up i think. the wound-up spring on the latch pull in the grill seems slightly weak though...

just to clarify, the cable pull releases the hood via a latch. the hood "pops" up by being pushed on by that plunger and then catches on the pull in the grill. pulling on that releases the hood to be fully raised, correct?

if that is correct than the problem should be with that plunger, but it seems to be doing its job just fine...

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1985 300D - 1984 Euro 280E AMG Clone (SOLD) - 1978 280CE (SOLD) - 1983 300D (SOLD) - 1981 300D (SOLD)

which is the "return" mechanism? i'll try it right now.

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1985 300D - 1984 Euro 280E AMG Clone (SOLD) - 1978 280CE (SOLD) - 1983 300D (SOLD) - 1981 300D (SOLD)

If the finger doesn't pop out for you to pull lift up on the hood a little and it should pop out.

The spring mechanism that makes the hood pop up initially, when you pull the cable from inside, needs to be strong/lubed enough to get the hood past a certain point that makes makes the "finger" pop out. That mechanism sounds like the culprit.

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1981 300TD "The Green Lantern"
1980 300TD
1983 300D Euro "China Cat"

Correct. From you description, it would appear that the hood is not "popping" enough to release the primary latch. The problem, however, could be with the primary latch.

In that case, I would give all the moving parts a bit of lube and see where that leaves you.

Bingo. The cable is stretched and probably not deflecting the hood latch far enough to cause the pop. Had the same issue years ago but don't remember what end I adjusted to tighten up the cable.

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Question Authority before it Questions you.

upon further inspection and lubing, it appears that the plunger doesn't have enough spring power to push the hood up for the initial pop. at the same time, the back of the pull that pops out of the grill is scraping against the car when i manually lift the hood, making the spring have to work harder. i don't know if this is normal though with no comparison nearby.

for the sake of argument, lets say it is the plunger that is the culprit. can it be fixed somehow? replaced? do i need to replace the whole mechanism that includes the latch, or just the plunger? how long until i definitely know the Blaster hasn't fixed it?

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1985 300D - 1984 Euro 280E AMG Clone (SOLD) - 1978 280CE (SOLD) - 1983 300D (SOLD) - 1981 300D (SOLD)

In my case, the hood mechanism was sticking and the handle didn't have enough pull to get it out a little further. I shot some lithium grease into the workings and haven't had a problem since. There's probably a better lubricant, but this has worked well so far that I don't care.

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

PB Blaster: I usually spray it on liberally, operate all moving parts several times to work it in, respray, let it soak for an hour and see what happens.

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1981 300TD "The Green Lantern"
1980 300TD
1983 300D Euro "China Cat"

Just a thought...when closed, is your hood even with your fenders? I'm wondering if the adjustable stoppers on each side have something to do with it.

ie. Can you create more tension on the "pop' mechanism by adjusting the stops?

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1981 300TD "The Green Lantern"
1980 300TD
1983 300D Euro "China Cat"

I mean the spring loaded gizmo that tangofox007 mentioned.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"