it seems not to be pulling far enough, and if i close it i cant get it open from the inside of the car (or popping it up). how would i get it to open?

 

First I would go to a Honda dealer and order a new hood cable for your car.

 

mine didthat for a while, and if you grease it up it should work fine

 

sounds like the latch cable is stretched(or the cable pulled through the back side of the latch)..you'll need a friend to help and a pair of pliers..(1)get the friend to help press up/down on the hood as you (2)grab the end of the cable(the end of the cable is secured behind the "latch lever"..you can slide the "ball end" of the cable out from behind the lever..youll see what i mean after you climb under there)and tug as your friend pushes up/down to make the hood "pop"./stretched hood latch cables are apparently a common problem with crx's..i know mine has been bad for awhile and ive used pliers for years good luck/hope this helped a little

 

EDIT:forgot to add....make sure the cable is still secured inside that "hood lever"mechanism..whatever the hell it's called so that pulling the wire with the pliers will "pop" the hood

 

ill try a different wire i picked up at the junkyard.