My 98 had a disconnected hood release cable for the longest time. Today I tried installing one that my brother picked up for me.

Got it through the firewall, hooked it up to the hood latch. Stupidly enough closed the hood to try it and it isn't working. Now my hood is stuck closed.

I tried pulling from in the cabin as hard as possible on the cable. No luck. Me and another tried the whole "pull the cable and push down on on the hood"....No such luck.

I'm trying to figure out if there's a manual hood release below the normal latch. I've tried looking between the hood and grille but can't locate it.

Please help!

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The Black Pearl rolls through the darkest trenches.
1998. V6. 3.0. 189,000
Pioneer X5500HD HU and Rockford Fosgate 6x8s
Powered 10" Fosgate Sub

You cant get the grill off? If you could do that you could unbolt the latch to get the hood open. Getting a new grill would be cheap or you could upgrade and get a sweet billet one.

Sent from my LGL62VL using Tapatalk

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96 ford ranger 4wd 4.0l OHV auto.

Grill has bolts under the hood.....

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Therein lies the problem...

Hoping I can find a way to do it. Luckily not an emergency but not a covienience thing either.

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The Black Pearl rolls through the darkest trenches.
1998. V6. 3.0. 189,000
Pioneer X5500HD HU and Rockford Fosgate 6x8s
Powered 10" Fosgate Sub

Probably gonna need an assortment of pliers, one of those little inspection mirrors, and lots of patience.

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2000 XLT 4X4, 3.0, Auto, regular cab - throttle cable mod, K&N drop in filter, taylor thundervolt 8.2 plug wires, autolite sparkplugs, Accel coil pack, AVS Ventshades, Rampage LED tailgate light bar, BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A tires, Trail F/X toolbox, cruse control pod light fix, Cobra 19 ultra II CB, lil wil antenna, pioneer door speakers, expo woodgrain radio bezal, 06+ mirrors & tails, powerdome hood

2000 XLT 4X4 Offroad, 4.0 / auto, supercab - the project truck!

You really think I can get a mirror in there?

I see that other Ford trucks have a manual release on the latch. But I can't see or locate it on my Ranger.

There's gotta be some way of doing it.

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The Black Pearl rolls through the darkest trenches.
1998. V6. 3.0. 189,000
Pioneer X5500HD HU and Rockford Fosgate 6x8s
Powered 10" Fosgate Sub

Lol, that would defeat the whole purpose of moving the release lever inside the vehicle.

Let me bring you up to speed on things bro. The very reason the automotive industry began plastering cars with inside hood releases back in the early to mid 70's was because of theft. The public was sick. and. f*cking. tired. of. batteries (VERY common stolen item), carburetors, distributors, alternators, valve covers, radiators, the hood itself on some vehicle models like a 67 Firebird 400 with the tach (standard hood vs the scooped hood = $ and four bolts and it's gone) etc etc etc being stolen from their cars. The public was also sick. and. tired. of the occasional engine theft (yes, really, in parking lots) and the increased ease of stealing the vehicle. This is why security was increased, and why placing the hood release inside the locked vehicle but magically having an easy way to open the hood from the outside is, um, pardon me but.....laughable.

So on that note, there really is no simple way other than to fight it. If I had the problem, I'd go look at, study and take pics of another Ranger, see if I could devise a way to defeat the cable release with maybe a coat hanger, a tool I fabbed, etc etc and then go open my hood. You're just going to have to work on it until you figure something out that works or take it to a sho and pay someone to do it for you. Sorry there is no easy answer but that's a good thing. I like turning the key and having my vehgicles start, thanks to no parts theft problems at 1:00AM on a dark, rainy night.

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2004 Ranger FX4 Level II, 5R55E, Sonic Blue Pearl

Proudly JAP/RICE free since March 2000

Isnt the lower part of the grill only a couple of screws under neath? Then all he would need is the 12mm or whatever socket to release the latch. I may be thinking of a different truck. Hell, hacking the grill would be cheaper than cutting anything else really.

Sent from my LGL62VL using Tapatalk

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96 ford ranger 4wd 4.0l OHV auto.

There should be 4 or so little guys on top of the header panel and 2 clips on the bottom. I agree with the price of a grill I would just hack that.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

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So I'm either hacking the grill off (my father just got it from the junk yard) or messing around with the latch until it finally gives?

I'm not even sure removing the grill will give me access to the latch

This shit blows

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The Black Pearl rolls through the darkest trenches.
1998. V6. 3.0. 189,000
Pioneer X5500HD HU and Rockford Fosgate 6x8s
Powered 10" Fosgate Sub

I understand what you're saying, but I've seen videos on YouTube of people popping the F-series models open by twisted a secondary latch to the right side of the vehicle. Nothing on the Ranger latch looks identical though.

If only these hood release cables weren't such a joke. I don't know how my brother got ahold of this one. It has a looped end. Not the little ball that goes into the latch.

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The Black Pearl rolls through the darkest trenches.
1998. V6. 3.0. 189,000
Pioneer X5500HD HU and Rockford Fosgate 6x8s
Powered 10" Fosgate Sub

I've noticed that sometimes junkyards take a cutting torch to the hood and cut a hole large enough to reach in and pop the hood open. Could always reread peoples thoughts and advice followed by trying to implement a solution rather than talk sound almost worthy of doing. Myself, and to expand on what I said earlier, I'd be thinking about getting crafty with a coat hanger and a pair of pliers and probably would have got going on it soon after the oopsie was discovered. Like Ryan told you in post #5, "...and lots of patience. ". He's probably right, as I told you before, you're going to have to fight it and probably fail a few times before you win. Also, not trying is a fail, but not the kind you want. I hope.

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2004 Ranger FX4 Level II, 5R55E, Sonic Blue Pearl

Proudly JAP/RICE free since March 2000

The problem is, my brother's F-250 is in the garage and I have nowhere else warm to work on it. It's 27 degrees outside. And my brother lately has been in a mood and not wanting to help even in the slightest.

Probably gonna end up ganking the grill

This whole issue wouldn't be a problem if my brother didn't pick up an explorer release cable and got a Ranger one. Oh well

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The Black Pearl rolls through the darkest trenches.
1998. V6. 3.0. 189,000
Pioneer X5500HD HU and Rockford Fosgate 6x8s
Powered 10" Fosgate Sub

i'll take a look at my hood latch & cable setup tomorrow when I check my oil and see if there's any way to break into it without destroying anything. maybe I can save you some headaches...

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2000 XLT 4X4, 3.0, Auto, regular cab - throttle cable mod, K&N drop in filter, taylor thundervolt 8.2 plug wires, autolite sparkplugs, Accel coil pack, AVS Ventshades, Rampage LED tailgate light bar, BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A tires, Trail F/X toolbox, cruse control pod light fix, Cobra 19 ultra II CB, lil wil antenna, pioneer door speakers, expo woodgrain radio bezal, 06+ mirrors & tails, powerdome hood

2000 XLT 4X4 Offroad, 4.0 / auto, supercab - the project truck!

^^^ You two have the same hoods, etc. Maybe post a few pic for the guy that would help him see how and where to reach in with a coat hanger (or he goes and buys something stronger, like a piece of 3/16" steel rod, or whatever) and pull on the latch release. I'd do it myself if I had a similar year, baring that I'd have gone to a used car lot or a JY for a look + photoshoot. I'd also move my brothers truck out of the garage, be it under it's own power, with a good push, or drag it outside with a chain, and park mine inside.

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2004 Ranger FX4 Level II, 5R55E, Sonic Blue Pearl

Proudly JAP/RICE free since March 2000