I flooded our snow blower the other morning so as I waited for it "unflood", I wanted to do some poking around under the hood of our Tahoe to see if I could figure out what's what with our EGR system that's causing the check engine line to be on. When I pulled the lever to open the hood it wouldn't open at first. I pulled the lever harder and eventually it popped open but then it wouldn't latch closed. Blame this artic cold front that is pummeling a large part of the country, rust, age or what have you, but the bottom line is the latch was stuck in the open position and we had a vehicle that was dangerous to drive. Faced with only two options, mechanics, like doctors, don't make house calls, I could either call AAA for a tow and pay the subsequent gouging to have a shop fix it or, figure out how to fix yet another problem with one of our old vehicles myself. Not much to think about there.
Researching while panicking and swearing compound swear words to myself not being one of my super powers, I got to work as soon as my panic died down. I found that while there is some information on the Internet regarding replacing hood latches and even how to videos on what to do if your hood release breaks with your hood down, there's little information out there on what to do specifically for a 2006 Tahoe with a hood latch stuck open. I found this very helpful video about replacing a hood latch on a similar Chevrolet Silverado but it didn't have any information on how to diagnose what the problem was in the first place. As always with everything, determining what's wrong is the hardest part.
My greatest concern was that I stretched out the hood latch cable; what fun that would be to replace but how would I know if I did or not? Armed with a phlegmatic can of old WD-40, a hammer and a flat blade or "regular" screw driver, I sprayed and prayed as I hammered and pryed away at the darn thing. Nothing doing. Would not budge. Let's start over by starting with another latch.
I called the junkyard I use for parts but they had nothing. Advance Auto Parts would have nothing in until next week and at $79, Autozone would have something in the next day for $72, my online parts place had it for $32 but I'd have to wait 3-5 days or pay almost as much as the part costs to have it overnighted. Meanwhile the Chevy dealer in town would have one the next morning for $68. Not bad and how often is the dealership less expensive and more convenient than the local auto parts stores or Internet outlets? Not often and don't count on it happening again. Best was that when I went to the dealership to get the part they told me since I was a GM card holder that I had a $100 credit with them. I paid for the latch and also bought a really cool Chevy hoodie. Merry Christmas to me. 
Putting the latch on was easier than I expected. Twenty, maybe thirty minutes into the project and I had the new latch ready to go. Closed the hood down onto the new latch and it locked down nice and tight. On first test of the new latch the hood popped open but wouldn't you know it, it was stuck in the open position. Turns out it was the cable all along. So, the one time I start with the easier fix, it was the tougher fix that needs to be done. Always. Something.
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