Broken hood pull tab on 300D, hood doesn't open .. and dead battery :( What to do?

Hi everyone.. I discovered my battery went dead during a period of inactivity this winter when I wasn't driving my 1977 300D. Sad to say, I was too much in a rush to "fix" the problem and get the battery charged again, and I pulled the plastic pull tab with such force that it snapped :(. Now I have two problems, since I can't drive out the car to get this pull tab problem looked at, and my battery is still dead.

What should I do? - is there any way to still get the hood open again? For the better part of the last while I tried to epoxy the broken pull tab back together and it'll take some time to set, but in case that bond isn't strong enough to keep things together..

I tried pressing down on the trunk to close it, but oddly enough, it doesn't seem to want to close the full way again, even after I tried to "refresh" the situation by pulling on the release latch on the driver's side left hand side. The tab appears to be permanently "pulled out", and yet the hood does not open? I reached underneath with work gloves and tried to tug upwards gently but it won't budge, so I left it at that and am now posting here :).

Any ideas? I'm really puzzled and frustrated about this. THanks a lot in advance.

Reply to
bingowah
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...happended to me too...on my 240D 123 use a strong piece of wire with a hook at one end.(i.e. coat hanger from the dry cleaners) insert hook through a spacing of the grill and try to catch the latch with the hanger

then pull the metall latch away from the chassis and the hood will open

you might need to completely remove "destroy" the remainings of the broken latch lever in order to use its wider opening to insert your "wire-tool"

good luck

alex

ooh and install some kind of wire...or wire hanger to replace the plastic latch until you get a new one at a dealer...

"bingowah" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@localhost.talkaboutautos.com...

inactivity this winter when I wasn't driving my 1977 300D. Sad to say, I was too much in a rush to "fix" the problem and get the battery charged again, and I pulled the plastic pull tab with such force that it snapped :(. Now I have two problems, since I can't drive out the car to get this pull tab problem looked at, and my battery is still dead.

the better part of the last while I tried to epoxy the broken pull tab back together and it'll take some time to set, but in case that bond isn't strong enough to keep things together..

doesn't seem to want to close the full way again, even after I tried to "refresh" the situation by pulling on the release latch on the driver's side left hand side. The tab appears to be permanently "pulled out", and yet the hood does not open? I reached underneath with work gloves and tried to tug upwards gently but it won't budge, so I left it at that and am now posting here :).

Reply to
Alex Hemmerich

Thanks a LOT Alex ... I really appreciate it! This worked, and I got the hood open. I'm still kind of mad I was so dumb as to snap the plastic tab though - do you know how much a replacement might cost?

Now I'm facing an odd problem of a different kind, I tried to charge the battery but the charger reports it as full? Odd... I know the charger's working fine because I just used it a little while ago on a minivan and it displayed everything correctly. How odd. Might there be another problem I don't know about? Only thing is, this 300D was fine before I let it idle without some driving time in the garage (lights were properly turned off and everything). And it hasn't been a full 72 months since the battery was installed in 2000.

Reply to
bingowah

hood open. I'm still kind of mad I was so dumb as to snap the plastic tab though - do you know how much a replacement might cost?

battery but the charger reports it as full? Odd... I know the charger's working fine because I just used it a little while ago on a minivan and it displayed everything correctly. How odd. Might there be another problem I don't know about? Only thing is, this 300D was fine before I let it idle without some driving time in the garage (lights were properly turned off and everything). And it hasn't been a full 72 months since the battery was installed in 2000.

>
Reply to
greg

please....plastic at the age of 27...not a user error.... on my 83 240D it broke after only 13 years.... just try not to lift the hood with it...

check battery voltage with a volt meter...if it shows 12 some volts....fine if not...charge it... there are lots of reasons, why your 77 300D wont start

does the interior lightning illiuminate, when opening doors...what about..head lights...do they work? worst case....get a brand new battery....might be a good idea...since your glow plugs and starter will have to perform some amazing work to get the

300D started...after such a long time

advice...diesels not driven will not last and die...

drive it...seriously...

alex

"bingowah" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@localhost.talkaboutautos.com...

hood open. I'm still kind of mad I was so dumb as to snap the plastic tab though - do you know how much a replacement might cost?

battery but the charger reports it as full? Odd... I know the charger's working fine because I just used it a little while ago on a minivan and it displayed everything correctly. How odd. Might there be another problem I don't know about? Only thing is, this 300D was fine before I let it idle without some driving time in the garage (lights were properly turned off and everything). And it hasn't been a full 72 months since the battery was installed in 2000.

>
Reply to
Alex Hemmerich

Thanks a lot Alex and Greg for your help. I just wanted to say I really appreciate it.

Reply to
bingowah

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