My neighbor locked his keys in the car last spring while jumpstarting his car. Wire coat hamgers aren't as ubiquitous as they once were, so he removed the hood support strut and tried to use it to pop the lock through the slightly-open window.
I was able to scare up a wire hanger and help him out, but he evidently lost the support strut. He has to jump his car at least twice a month, amd he's been using a broken snow shovel handle to hold the hood open since April.
I keep a piece of 2" conduit in the back of my tundra for this same purpose
The cheapest version of struts cost like 4 dolars? I think it would be a good idea…
I got mine from the junk yard for less than that, best $3 I ever spent.
but this one's free.
Also Both struts are visible in the picture. So he ether. Broke it or they just died on there own.
Ain’t got no gas in it
The one time this is relevant and we're not even talking about gasoline
Lmao I know from similar experience had a 99’ TL knocked me on the head when my snow brush slipped off. Solved with a trip to the junkyard found a couple good struts
Some day he'll bump that with his elbow and get whacked. Better his head than his fingers.
I actually had to do this every time i had to check the oil with my Mini Copper when the air shocks went bed.
I used the gas station squeegee to prop up the hood ! Of course then later used ti to clean off my windshield too.
Air Struts go bad about every 10 ~ 15 years and are not that expensive to replace. Plus they simply snap-off and snap-on to replace them too. Very easy repair !
Same thing on my wife’s Acura. Is yours a 2012?
If he's needing jumped that often, he should probably grab a $10 battery disconnect.
I used to use an axe handle for this. Since it was Ingersoll it propped up the hood more and actually gave me more room to reach the back of the engine
I have a broken broom handle for my jeeps hood prop
I have a short dowel for my van hood
I used to have a piece of 2x4 in my trunk for the same purpose.
Full disclosure:
When I was in the Navy, I bought a Fiero from my housemate for $400. It had many, many issues. The mechanism that once raised and lowered the right headlight had long ago shuffled off and joined the Choir Invisible.
If I wanted to use that headlight, I had to pull over, lift the bonnet, and use a piece of wood to prop it up (the wood came with the car at no extra charge). I usually just kept it up even when I wasn't using it, but now and then it would shake loose and drop down.
I used to use one of those wooden baby-gates parents put across door thresholds. We had used it for our cat, it happened to be in my trunk when my battery needed replacing. It became a forever fix.
When I was a kid working at pizza hut my boss didn't have the prop for his hood in the car...
It was behind the ice maker so we could use it after closing to reach into the jukebox through a loose panel and hit the manual credit button on the main circuit board.
I use an old 2 iron
Girlfriend was using an old ply offcut to hold her bonnet open until I replaced the struts a few weeks ago.
I use a broom handle to keep the tailgate of my wagon open because one of the mounts literally rusted off (I once bumped the handle and the tailgate came down on my head. 8 stitches).