Hood Latch - What's the trick

Broken or frozen? My 00 froze up after just a couple of years. I had someone pull the lever inside while I pulled up on the hood. Took a little effort, but it opened. I then lubricated the $hit out of the mechanism and it worked fine for another 2 years until I traded it.

As for a broken cable, you should be able to slide a large screwdriver or rod in the grille and up to where the cable pulls. You can manually push back on the lever while someone tries to lift the hood. It's tricky and hard to explain, but if you look in there with a flashlight, you should be able to see it.

It's next to impossible to get it from underneath.

If the cable is actually broken, then I agree with the screwdriver idea. I had a cable that was very close to breaking, and I could pull the handle, and then grab hold of the cable uner the dash and give a twist to pop the hood. I replaced it before I had to find out how hard it would be to open with a broken cable. It looks like it would take some force to get it with the screwdriver through the grill.

-Joe