I have a 1998 Blazer that's given me all sorts or problems, but I'll stick to only a few here. The hood release inside is broken and I need to pop the hood. Apparently there's a way since the guys at Valvoline managed it. Ever since my last oil change the gauges have been reading differently.

Before Change:

Oil Pressure: center of gauge
Temp: Center of gauge

After Change:

Oil pressure: 3/4 (tonight it dropped to below 40 while driving for a few mins)
Temp: Slowly rising and now hovering between 200 and 220!


Questions:
1. What should the gauges read??
2. How do I open the hood?
3. How much should it cost to replace the hood release?


I really need to look under the hood ASAP before I keep driving it around.
HELP!

P.S. What should I buy for coolant, extra oil, etc?

 

the oil pressure fluctuating could possibly be the oil pump. to get the hood open is there part of the cable visible where the handle is? if so use some vise grips and give it a good yank. If not you will have to use a screw driver through the grill and try to release it. You might be able to pull the whole grill off but im not sure.

 

Where in the grill should I look???

 

1. the middle of the gauge is correct. when cold, the engine will be tighter, and the pressure will be higher. when the engine warms up, it's normal for the pressure to be lower. @ hot idle (completely warmed up) it should be around 20to 30 PSI, driving around it should hold around 45 to 50 PSI. when cold & on high idle (first thing in the morning) it should be around 65 to 70 PSI.

if your pressure is fluctuating, then have the truck checked out-RIGHT AWAY! it could be a bad gauge, a bad pressure switch, or a failing oil pump like NVANZEE suggested. and that's something you don't want to second guess low oil pressure (see bearing failure, and engine overhaul).
***if the pressure ever drops right to zero @ idle (or while driving) shut the engine off right away, you could be starving your engine of oil***

2. if you can't grab ahold of the remaining cable coming inside, try cutting back the cable housing to expose more of the cable itself.
if that doesn't work, then you could try unbolting the hood latch through the gap between the hood and the top of the grill.
you can see 2 bolts right in front, on either side of the latch (i think they're a 13mm socket). if it comes free-'ve never actually had to try this, but i looked @ my truck to figure out suggestions for you-pull it up as far as you can (you'll need to "pop" the cable housing up from the latch frame). don't worry about damaging the cable, you're going to be replacing it anyways.

3. as for what it would cost, that's hard for me to say. i don't pay retail for my parts, plus i do all the work myself. but the cable can't be any more than $30. as for the labour, you'll probably get dinged for an hour.

as for engine oil, coolant, etc., i only use Castrol with Fram filters, for all of my vehicle, including any services i do on my families vehicles. the coolant used in these trucks is Dex-Cool (pinkish/orangeish in colour).
don't bother to drain your rad when you cahnge your t-sts either,
you won't need much. definately not a 4L jug (1 gal for you guys down there), as i found out when i did mine. problem is, i don't think they make 1L bottles-you could just use some distilled water instead.


you can't gain access through the grill to the cable, to "push it open", like on the 1st gen trucks (i looked). and i don't think you can remove the grill with the hood closed, it goes up behind the hood, and i think it'll break if you try to pull it and twist it down & out with the hood closed. you can try if you want, but i wasn't going to on my truck, sorry.

if none of the above suggestions work, the only other suggestion i can make, is to remove (break) the air deflector behind the bumper-the one that directs air into the rad. you can have full access to the latch from there.

sorry this was a long post (i started this around 7:45p) but called away.
good luck, and keep us posted on your progress.

 

Unless the cable broke off inside the jacket, you should be able to do this. Needle nose vise grips help!

 

In my truck I'd have to pull the hood latch and then slam the driver's door shut and the hood would open. I fixed this by picking up another hood spring - the one at the front of the hood by the latch, and twisting it together with the one on my truck. Now when I pull the hood latch the hood pops up hard everytime! The springs just get weak over time so by having 2 it's really stiff. The junk yard didn't even charge for the spring because I was buying other stuff too.

 

Generally operating temp on these newer model trucks is around 210 degrees. Sounds like you're fine there to me.

 

did you even read her OP? your situation (and remedy) have nothing to do with her problem. besides, you don't even mention what your truck is.......

 

I'm now waiting on my mechanic to order the cable for the hood release. All that's left of it in the truck are two tiny shreds, EEK! I keep wondering why such a sturdy, enormous vehicle has such tiny, dinky, breakable parts, ie: hood release, ignition key, rear lock, etc.


GRRRRR!