Hi all - I'm a new user here and have never really worked on my car before. So here's my basic problem...

My brake light indicator in the dash intermittently comes on and off. My brakes are not squeaking yet so I wanted to check the sensor and fluid level. However, when I pulled the hood release lever, the hood did not open. I took some pliers and pulled the cable but that did not do anything either. I think it may be broken because I pulled some of the cable through.

So, I figure my next step is to remove the front bumper and grille in order to manually release the hood latch. This is where I'm unsure about what to do. I found the 4 mounting bolts that are behind the bumper lenses and the 4 screws in the wheel wells but I noticed that there are a handful of mounting clips? on the top of the bumper. They are located under the headlights. How do I go about removing these? It doesn't look like there is enough room between the top of the bumper and the headlights for the clips to move through.

Is there an easier way to get to the hood release latch or is this the correct way?


Thanks for the help!

-Your local newb

 

since you're still new to working on cars, i suggest having a shop get the hood open for you. it's easy to break something trying to take the bumper off without having the hood open.

once it's open, you can go from there and either have the shop fix your latch or fix it yourself. either way, give it a couple shots of white lithium grease to keep it in good working order.

enjoy your new hobby!

 

You don't need to remove the clips; they only hold the bumper cover to the support. What you want to do is just remove the entire support with cover attached.