Audi had my car last weekend--washer pump ($300 repair).

Today, I go to open the hood to add washer fluid and it won't open. I don't hear a click and the latch on the front of the car is so low, I can't spring it.

Anyone know if using a screwdriver will release the button latch.

I've had almost $2000 in repairs in the last month on a car with 70k miles. I've really had it. I have a 100 year old house that isn't the money pit this car has turned out to be.

 

i had a problem similar when i rear ended a semi truck at like 3mph...si hood was pushed in very very slightly and the latch wouldnt do anything.....try pulling the latch towards you and then pulling up and stuff like that

i just replaced my hood but im sure you just have to get it open to replace the latch

 

pull off your splash guard and use a long long flat head screwdriver or something like that. you'll see the hood latch in front of the radiator with the cable attached to it at the top near the hood, put it on the drivers side edge of the bottom of the latch and pry to the passenger side, the lever moves from the drivers side to the passengers side, the cable basically pulls the top of it to achieve this. so your doing the same thing on the bottom with the screwdriver.

 

I have the same problem with my 2005 A4. I took off the splash guard and also the 3 removable grills in the front bumper but I do not see the latch from either side of the radiator. My car has the v6 so it is quite tight between the engine and the radiator.

Any Ideas how to get the hood open? It is time to change the oil :-(

 

If Audi had your car last weekend and now you can't get the hood open, I would take it back to them, stating that. Maybe while they were changing the washer pump, they messed something up with the latch...

 

The only methods I found posted were to use a crow bar or Jaws of life to open the hood...believe me when I say I felt like it after messing around for 3 hours trying to open the hood.

Finally I gave up and took it to the dealer.

They charged:1.0 hrs labor + $0 Parts + $4 Misc Shop Supplies= $98 for the repair.

It turns out that the cable had come loose so they used a zip tie to hold it tight to the latch (see photo) as a repair.

For the person with more time than money - here is a picture of the latch on my 2005 Audi A4 with 3.0 V6. It is real tight but you take the splash guard off the bottom; reach up between the engine and radiator fans with a 18-24 inch screw driver and flip the silver release lever toward the passenger side.



If that is unsuccessful (as in my case) it is possible to remove the center grill from the front of the hood and use a thin 10 mm wrench to loosen the three acorn nuts that hold the catch to the hood. It is a very tedious job that took the Technician about an hour to remove all three nuts.



To remove the center grill you have to reach up from the lower grills and depress 6 plastic tabs at the top of the grill. Starting from an upper corner the tabs are located above the first, third and fifth vertical bars from either edge, you pull down on the tab and push the grill outward.

 

Sorry to raise this thread again but I got the exact same problem with my hood and my battery is dead (forgot to disconnect it before leaving for a month long vacation).

I am trying to release the latch from underneath but not sure what I am looking for. Is this the lever that I have to pry towards the passenger side?

 

I believe it is the lever that is slightly lower and to the left of your arrow head. The end of it appears as a bright white square in your picture.

 

could somone re upload the pictures here?i have the same problem with my car and i want to fix it.

 

I just did this job to release my hood. Your arrow is pointing to the correct latch. I noticed the circular notch when working from above. (after I removed the caps attaching the hood to the latch system) Pull/push that to the passenger side and the hood will release.