Auto body repair & detailing: Hood Release, nosed pliers, latch assembly

Question
when I pull the hood release inside of my 2002 Hyuandi Sonata, it does not release the hood.  What can I do?

Answer
Hi Carrie.
The hood release cable on your Sonata probably just needs a little lubrication.This sometimes
causes the mechanism to stick.
If the hood fails to open when you pull the release lever. You can use a pair of needle nosed
pliers to tug on the cable yourself. Look directly behind, and under the release lever and you
can see where the end of the cable fits into a little socket type bracket. This is very similar
to the brake lever and brake cable socket on your old 10 speed bike. There may be an adjustment
bolt that you can loosen to make the adjustment also. If not just carefully clamp on to the
bare part that extends out from the cable housing.It has a small cylinder shaped grommet that is
attached to it.You can manuever it out of its holder and manually pull the cable with the pliers
    Once the hood opens you can lube the latch mechanism with some WD-40,also check to see if
the bolts that hold the latch assembly in place are tight.There are two or three and they are
either 10mm or 12mm.
                           Hope this helped you. Good Luck,  Bill