when it happened to me it was in below zero temps! all i can say is lube lube lube ! the latch itself was the culprit not the cable....
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'92 240 208k totalled 4/14 - '91 240 182k miles

Can't help you with the adjustment to get things functioning again, but once you get that sorted, here's a tip to prevent future problems.

My hood release cable was getting harder to pull...to the pont where I was concerned about breaking something. I disconnected the inner cable from the hood release latch, and the cable sheath from its clamps and used a rope fastened to the open hood to hold it up in the air.

Then I fitted a small funnel over the cable and sheath, and wrapped electrical vinyl tape to seal the small end of the funnel to the sheath. I dribbled small amounts of 5W30 engine oil into the funnel. This is one of those cases where you don't know how much is enough until you know how much is more than enough, but it doesn't take much. Reminds me of my teenaged drinking days. Some oil dribbled out of the sheath inside the car, so you need to be prepared for that. I also liberally sprayed aerosol white lithium grease into the latch mechanism.

After refastening the cable and sheath back in place, the "pull" required to unlatch the hood was greatly reduced. This was about 8 years ago and the release still works easily.


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Bob: Son's XC70, my 83 244DL, 89 745 (V8) and XC60. Also '77 MGB and some old motorcycles

Yes, I had that problem last year and broke the funky plastic handle trying to open the hood. I had attempted all the adjustments as well.
I got tired of having to break out the tools every time I wanted to open the hood and purchased a four inch beefy bolt and two washers and nuts to go with it.
I fashioned a new handle with these and lubed the entire apparatus as much as possible. Works fine now.
Whether or not that's a solution depends on your perspective.