So, this evening I needed to run out to the corner store fairly late at night (11pm ish). It certainly isn't an uncommon occurrence around here, just a matter of process. I ran in, bought what I needed, hopped back into the car. Turned the key and heard nothing but the "Click" of all the electricals dying.
Now, normally this isn't a big deal. I've had on my "To-Do" list to change out the battery terminals for a while now. The stock Ford ones just don't age well. Then I pulled the hood release, and nothing. So, now I'm in the parking lot with a dead car that I can't fix because the hood release is stuck. Mind you, I noticed yesterday that the hood release was starting to stick a bit, and it should be added to the "To-Do" list.
After 45 minutes worth of farting around and getting nowhere I walked home (no big deal, the house is about a 10 minute walk from the store). I walked in, all pissed off and headed straight to the computer to see if I could find anything about the hood latch release online. Found nothing, but was made fun of by the wife in the mean time.
Grabbed a few extra tools (I'd already had a toolbox in the car from working on Mum's Spitfire) and walked back. Spent a good 15 minutes trying to work from the front through the grill to see if I could spring it. No dice. The Ford folks had kindly designed things to put the maximum amount of expensive breakable plastic bits of grill between me and the locking mechanism.
Then I figured, what the heck, and tried reaching up (blindly) from below behind all sorts of platicy bits. Finally, I discovered the release cable, felt across it until I found the release lever and miraculously managed to get enough fingers on it to get the hood to pop!
Then it was fiddling with battery terminals, cleaning corrosion, and adjusting them for best possible connection with what's left of the terminals. After a fw tries the car started right up, hood went back down (but not completely, as I still need to lubricate that locking mechanism) and it was back around the corner home.
Finished up, and I'm sitting here at 1 am reminding everyone, fix things when you notice them, or else!
