Releasing stuck hood

[shooterdon]

I cannot get the hood to open on my XR4140. The button to release is stuck. Any ideas?

 

[lsgreg]

WD-40?

 

[GS650GL]

Sometimes pushing down on the hood while pressing the button helps the latch to release, but sometimes not depending on what's wrong. I got mine open by shoving a thin metal rod under the rubber on the front bottom edge of the hood and pushing the release mechanism on the latch. The button could not be pushed in far enough to release it so I had to do it that way, and once the hood was open I could adjust the length of the button linkage and lube the latch so that it worked properly. Sometimes the bolts holding the latch in place come loose also. If the front grille got bent it will be a challenge. Good luck.

 

[shooterdon]

TY GS650GL

 

[Hay Dude]

My Challenger hood gets stuck. The strap that keeps it from raising too high gets caught in the latch.
I usually have to push downward on the hood and “punch” the button to get it to release.
I have found that hood latch mechanisms need to be sprayed periodically or they will stick at the worst times.

 

[oosik]

Once I had problems opening the hood on the M6040. Could not get the release lever to move. Didn't want to pound on anything and add further complications. Brought a gallon of super hot water, from the house, and poured in the direction of the latch mechanism.

WaHOO - it worked. Got the hood open. The latch mechanism was packed with dirt, dust & crud. Cleaned and lubed it. Worked fine since that time. However - I do keep a wary eye on the latch.

 

[alexpops]

on mine, it seems the mechanism bracket gets bent & need to be re-adjusted occasionally. wobbly hood so need to be careful closing

 

[GS650GL]

Yeah if the hood wants to wander left or right, especially if not on level ground, if you slam it trying to get it to latch, it will bend something. I learned the hard way to take my time and push the hood sideways until it is centered properly and then gently close it and it will latch easily. I also had to put Loc-tite on the hardware that holds the latch mechanism on the hood cuz it kept coming loose.

 

[Supraman0614]

The release button on my XR4145 sticks as well from time to time. Spray some WD-40 on it and it will loosen up. The mechanism dries out quickly for some reason.

 

[garry1p]

I just replaced the whole assembly with 2 rubber pull up latches, one on each side.
I need to get to the battery to operate the fuel pump so I need to open the hood quite often.
I also turned the battery around to be able to hook to the post a lot easier.

The button was always hard to push in no matter how much I lubed it and I knew sooner or later it would fail to unlatch at a bad time.