How to: Open the hood of your car

Learning how to open the hood of your car might sound funny because it sounds so basic. And I know in theory it should be SO easy but you would not believe how many people have never attempted to open the hoods on their cars, trucks, vans or SUVs.

Pic from here

Having driven many many different cars my self, I can tell you that some cars are super tricky in figuring this simple task out.

The first thing you'll learn here at She Likes Cars is that your car's owner's manual is your friend. The reason for this is because although all autos basically work the same way each manufacturer makes minor changes to the process of say changing a tire or opening a hood. If you refer to the manual it will show you step by step on how your specific car works.

SO!

Opening the hood on your auto - This is the way it USUALLY works
(again if this isn't working for your car then check out your manual)

If you are sitting in the driver's seat of your car you should notice that on your left hand side there are some levers either on the floor between the seat and the door or further up near where your clutch would be if you drive a stick shift (manual) or in an automatic the area where your left foot hangs out.

Look for a little lever that has a picture of a car with an open hood on it like this

Pic from here

or one that simply says "hood" or "open hood"

You will want to pull on the lever until you hear a "pop" noise. Now at this point you wont see the hood open but rather you will just hear it being released.

Get out of the car and walk around to the front of the car, look inside the grill of the car. You should see another little lever (if you don't see one here then try feeling underneath the lip of the hood in the front for the lever) and try to push the lever up to release the hood.

The reason for this second lever is that it is a safety lock. This way if you accidentally release the hood from the inside of the car with out realizing it, you wont have the hood fly up and block your vision while you are driving. Not a fun situation I can tell you that!

Now that the hood is released you can lift it up. At this point you should be able to see a support rod that lays across the front of the opening where the engine sits. It kinda looks like a crooked car antenna but laying down and only attached at one end.

Hold the hood up with one hand and grab the support rod with the other. Now you'll see a lot of little holes in the top of the hood but you will want to look for one that is a little bit different shape (usually rectangular) and has an arrow pointing to it. Stick the free end of the support rod in to that hole and gently let go of the hood.

Now your hood should should be open and you can see your entire car engine! Great job!

I know your engine probably looks a bit overwhelming right now with all those tubes, metal parts and wires but don't worry about that because we did what we came here for! You opened your hood! Woot!

Now for closing the hood:

With one hand, put the palm of your hand on the lip of the hood and gently lift up slightly so that the weight of the hood is on your hand and not on the support rod.

With the other hand take the support rod out of the hole it's sitting in and snap it back into it's laying position along the side of the open engine.

Gently let the engine drop from your hands and it will lock into place. MAKE SURE your hands and fingers (as well as the hands and fingers of anyone around you) are out of the way before you do this!

Now your hood should look flush with the sides of the car and, well, the same as before we started. If it looks lifted at all that means it's not completely locked into place. You can gently push down on the lip of it to see if it will lock or release it from the lever inside the grill of the car again and lift it up and drop it again.

This is something everyone should know how to do with their car and will be key when performing any task regarding your engine because, you know, that's all under the hood.


Any questions? Shoot me an email.