hood won't hinge up

[Ernie Ogren]

    I just found your website again as I came across it many years ago but couldn’t get a rise out of anyone so I thought the Comanche club was dead.

    So now I see posts from 2020 so I take it you are back in business.

     I have a 1990 Jeep Comanche Pioneer 4X4 long bed. That I bought in 1990. It has 250,000 miles on it and is still in good running condition. I rebuilt the engine with a balanced and blueprinted block. I’d send you a photo but I don’t know how to get it on a URL format.

     The reason I’m writing is I can’t get the hood up without damaging it. I take it the spring or springs are broke. How do I get to them?

Ernie Ogren

Torrance CA

310-283-1394 text please

thegeodman@aol.com

[Pete M]

6 hours ago, Ernie Ogren said:

    I just found your website again as I came across it many years ago but couldn’t get a rise out of anyone so I thought the Comanche club was dead.

    So now I see posts from 2020 so I take it you are back in business.

     I have a 1990 Jeep Comanche Pioneer 4X4 long bed. That I bought in 1990. It has 250,000 miles on it and is still in good running condition. I rebuilt the engine with a balanced and blueprinted block. I’d send you a photo but I don’t know how to get it on a URL format.

     The reason I’m writing is I can’t get the hood up without damaging it. I take it the spring or springs are broke. How do I get to them?

Ernie Ogren

Torrance CA

310-283-1394 text please

thegeodman@aol.com

 

 

we never left.    you can load photos directly to this site.  no need for hosting elsewhere. 

 

thread about popping the hood:  (read all the various ideas since the problem can be different and thus different techniques might work better than others).  this is not the Tech forum though, so I'll move it over there for ya.  

 

 

[Pete M]

6 hours ago, Ernie Ogren said:

 

  I have a 1990 Jeep Comanche Pioneer 4X4 long bed. That I bought in 1990. It has 250,000 miles on it and is still in good running condition. I rebuilt the engine with a balanced and blueprinted block.

 

also be sure to check in on this thread: 

 

[BeatCJ]

The release on mine wouldn't pop when I got it. I was able to reach up from underneath and work the wire (I refuse to call those wimpy things rods). To work it, you slide it toward the driver side about 3/4". Then I went after the latches with penetrating oil. Now it takes two pulls on the handle. I think I need to remove both latches and clean them better, then grease them. 

[AZJeff]

I also recommend lubricating the release cable.  Take the cable off the bell crank, and use some lubricant down the end of the cable and work the cable back and forth.

 

i use a lubricant intended for bicycle control cables.  
 

Doing  this lessens the pull force quite a bit.

[Ernie Ogren]

     HOOD SPRINGS STUCK    
    Someone untitled my query as “Hood won’t pop” that is not my problem. My cable and latch are good. The springs on the hinges are my problem, they are either broke or locked up and won’t allow the hood to hinge up. I can get my fingers under the front of the hood and pull up a few inches but the hood starts to bend back at the hinges. 
     So, is there anyone out there that had the same problem and how did you get to the springs and hinges to fix it?

[gogmorgo]

There are no springs at the hinges. The only springs in the system are the ones that push the hood up when you pull the release.

 

I’ve had one side seize up on one of mine. I just got the hood up as far as I could before risking permanent damage and soaked the hinges down with penetrating oil. Unfortunately it didn’t seem like there was any obvious way to get at the hinges better than just shoving my hand into the opening and spraying in what I hoped was the right direction. I let it sit for a little while then started working the hood up and down until it eventually came free, then I sprayed the heck out of it with an aerosol penetrating grease... don’t remember the brand but I think I’ve still got the can at home but I’m at work right now. The truck sat pretty well all winter and the hood is still without issues.

I don’t know if pulling the trim piece off the cowl would help get better access for spraying penetrant into the hinges. It didn’t occur to me at the time to check. You’ve got to pull the wiper arms to get it off... I’m at work but can give it a shot at the end of the day.

[Pete M]

sorry for the mislabel, I misunderstood the issue.  Now that I get it, I have also experienced that and I more or less had to wiggle it up and down and up and down and force it up just enough to get at the hinge with the can of pb blaster. 

[gogmorgo]

https://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1062437&highlight=cowl+intake
I haven’t pulled anything off yet but based on the photos from that thread you might get access to the driver’s side hinge through the cowl, but there’s not much access on the passenger side unless you cut a hole, which I wouldn’t necessarily want to do. But I’m off work in about 20 minutes and it shouldn’t take long to get that panel off for a better look.

[gogmorgo]

Okay here we go.

Yes, there’s decent access under the driver’s side. The picture’s not the best, but the round bit is the driver’s side hinge. 

 

Unfortunately the passenger side, as I expected, is trickier to get at from under the cowl. It still will be better than if you can’t get the hood up by more than an inch or two, but it’s still not ideal. 

 

And for reference, this is where the hinges are under the hood:
 

And yes, you can unfortunately only get at the hinge fasteners from under the hood. But you can see how tough it would be to get penetrant sprayed through that little slot. 

To get the wiper arms off, lift up the arm and then pry the tab away from the arm:

Then wiggle the arm back and forth and it should slide off, although how easy it is depends on how long they’ve been on there. 

 

Then to pull the cowl trim piece, there’s three screws on the driver’s side:
and five on the passenger side:

Then it should just lift off. 
 

I’ve been meaning to pull the wiper arms off and move them because they’ve been coming off the edges of the windshield, so it was no big deal to snap the photos in the process. Your post was just a little extra motivation. 
 

And to anyone else reading this, if your hood makes noise as it opens and closes, it’s probably a good idea to get some lubrication onto the hinge pivots before they seize up completely. Learn from our mistakes here.

 

[Ernie Ogren]

Thank you “GOMORGO” for the photos and instructions for unsticking my hood hinges. In the 30 years I’ve had my 90 4X4 Comanche Pioneer I’ve never come across that kind of problem.
I just assumed there were springs as I never paid much attention to the hinges even when I replaced the hood years ago when the overflow tank exploded and bent the hood. I am working on it now that I saw the photo of the hinge and can remember what it looked like because I can’t get the hood up far enough to see under it. I have the Liquid Wrench Blaster and will spray it tomorrow hopefully through the cowel vent.Thanx again. Ernie O.