Hello All,

I have a 1999 XC. At 77,104 miles I found that I had to use a great deal of force to open the hood, to the point I was afraid I would snap the red plastic lever. Eventually, opening my hood became a two step procedure. I would pull the hood release, and the hood would partially release. I would have to get out of the car and lift the hood. The hood latch on the passenger side had released but the latch on the driver's side had not. Then I would have to get back into the car and pull the release lever a second time, and then get out of the car, and only then could I lift the hood open. At 77,104 miles I had the hood latch on the driver's side replaced to avoid this two step process (with a Volvo latch).

At first the hood release worked fine, but then over time I found I had to use more and more force on the release lever to the point I was afraid I would snap it. Again, to avoid this, I was forced to engage in the two step process I've described above to open the hood.

The car now has a 120,000 miles, but the hood release has become almost inoperable. I now need two people to open the hood. One person to pull the hood release, the other to lift the hood at the same time. If I don't have some one to lift the hood, and I get out and try to lift it slightly, it remains locked. Again, the problem seems to be the latch on the driver's side not completely releasing. I have oiled and greased the latch repeatedly, but to no avail.

I'd like to know if other people have had this problem, and if so, what they did to address it. Thanks!

Hugh