# Scared to open car hood **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 30, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913 "2015-04-30T18:11:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/21 "2015-04-30T21:30:13Z")
Do you want to learn how so you will be able to tell some one else how to do it to your car so they can help you? Mark the page in your manual and be sure to keep it in the car. You do not want to ever learn because you can not or will not raise a hood on a car? If so, take it to a auto parts store and ask, just like the suggestions up thread. Or, have the fluid in your vehicle and drive down the street and ask the first male that looks over 15 to help you. You have about an 80% chance of finding someone on the first try. You are brave enough to ask on this board so I bet you are brave enough to go to the auto store and ask for help. You won’t get as near the number of _snark_ replies as you will here. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/22 "2015-04-30T21:34:12Z")
Next time somebody gives me shit because I’m afraid to change a diaper, I’m pointing to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/23 "2015-04-30T21:48:57Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > As with all generalizations, this is wrong. Not all cars have a bright blue cap on the windshield washer reservoir. The one on my Buick is black and I think the one on my Saturn is yellow. Not all are blue, true. But I’ve yet to see one that didn’t have a completely obvious symbol on it. This thread makes me feel like maybe I really am a self-rescuing princess. It never occurred to me that multiple grown adults might need other people’s help to do something this simple with their car. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/24 "2015-04-30T22:16:28Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > That’s good. > > But what about the car? [rimshot]!!![/rimshot] ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/25 "2015-04-30T22:21:27Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > :smack: Seconded. However, if people aren’t taught how to do these things, it’s not their fault. **sara20** , check this out. [Linky](http://www.wikihow.com/Add-Windshield-Washer-Fluid-to-Your-Vehicle). ETA: a lot of newer cars don’t have a “wire” that holds up the hood. Mine is held up by hydraulics. Or magic, or something. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/26 "2015-04-30T22:39:13Z")
While you have the hood raised, spend an extra few minutes to clean your battery terminals, check other fluid levels, and change your timing belt. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/27 "2015-04-30T22:44:29Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > … and change your timing belt. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/28 "2015-04-30T22:44:48Z")
Break your fingers first, then open the hood. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/29 "2015-04-30T22:51:25Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > While you have the hood raised, spend an extra few minutes to clean your battery terminals, check other fluid levels, and change your timing belt. In case it’s not obvious to **sara20** , and it probably isn’t, changing a timing belt is neither quick nor easy and not something for a beginner to attempt. Presumably **kayaker** was kidding. What **sara20** might want to do is to find a friend who is reasonably savvy about auto maintenance and ask them to show her how to add windshield washer fluid, how to check the oil level and other fluid levels and perhaps also how to jump-start the car and change the tire. I’ll admit, though, that I’ve owned my current car (bought new) for almost five years and have almost never opened the hood. I take it someplace to have the oil changed and fluids checked but don’t do much beyond that. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/30 "2015-04-30T22:51:42Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > ETA: a lot of newer cars don’t have a “wire” that holds up the hood. Mine is held up by hydraulics. Or magic, or something. 😃 It doesn’t correlate with model year, but it does seem to correlate with sticker price. Cheaper cars go with a prop rod, pricier cars are more likely to be fitted with hinge springs or gas struts that bear the weight of the hood. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/31 "2015-04-30T22:57:56Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > It doesn’t correlate with model year, but it does seem to correlate with sticker price. Cheaper cars go with a prop rod, pricier cars are more likely to be fitted with hinge springs or gas struts that bear the weight of the hood. In the cars I’ve had, I’ve noticed that it’s mainly compact cars that have prop rods for the hood and the full-sized sedans have had the self-supporting hoods. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/32 "2015-04-30T23:03:49Z")
On the car-service difficulty scale, adding washer fluid rates as slightly harder than adjusting the position of your seat. 85-year-old grandmothers can often manage it. I’m afraid if you are unable to muster the gumption to tackle this (instruction is allowed), you must accept the designation of “helpless female” (or male, as the case may be). ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/33 "2015-04-30T23:07:42Z")
I only looked at this thread to see the epic whooshes. ---
**Author:** ![owlfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@owlfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlfan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/34 "2015-05-01T00:32:31Z")
Hey, opening the car hood might seem like a weird thing to be paranoid about, but I am a 55 year old female , and until a few years ago I was scared of ovens. I was so paranoid about getting burned, I hated sticking my hand in there to get something out. Yes I was using a hot pad 🙂 So don’t be so hard on sara. I bet we all have unreasonable fears. I should have just started a new thread! ---
**Author:** ![Tread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/35 "2015-05-01T00:46:05Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > As with all generalizations, this is wrong. This can’t be true… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/36 "2015-05-01T00:48:10Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I opened the car hood once. I’m not sure why I bothered - the only thing in there was the engine, and I already knew that it wasn’t working. You’re supposed to bend over the engine and stare at it with a cloth in your hands and occasionally say “yep”. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/37 "2015-05-01T00:53:52Z")
> [@owlfan](#): > > Hey, opening the car hood might seem like a weird thing to be paranoid about, but I am a 55 year old female , and until a few years ago I was scared of ovens. I was so paranoid about getting burned, I hated sticking my hand in there to get something out. Yes I was using a hot pad 🙂 So don’t be so hard on sara. I bet we all have unreasonable fears. I should have just started a new thread! Hijack Alert: I would love to read a thread about being burbed. 🙂 I hope **sara** found a neighbor or friend to help. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/38 "2015-05-01T01:44:10Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > What **sara20** might want to do is to find a friend who is reasonably savvy about auto maintenance and ask them to show her how to add windshield washer fluid, how to check the oil level and other fluid levels and perhaps also how to jump-start the car and change the tire. I’ll second that and add an “especially” to the tire-changing part. In my family that was a required thing before we were even allowed to get our learners permits. (I felt like an idiot “changing” a perfectly good tire three times out behind a shopping mall in a drizzle when I already knew how to do it — until the first time I had to do it roadside with cars buzzing around. Lot different then than the usual thing in a garage and all. Then I still felt like an idiot but started to think my Dad was a freaking Einstein.) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/39 "2015-05-01T01:57:02Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > As with all generalizations, this is wrong. Not all cars have a bright blue cap on the windshield washer reservoir. The one on my Buick is black and I think the one on my Saturn is yellow. Well, it _might_ be wrong. Took a look online, here’s a [Subaru cap](http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA2NlgxNjAw/z/OsUAAOSwa39UxEgi/$_1.JPG?set_id=8800005007), here’s a [Buick cap](http://contentinfo.autozone.com/znetcs/product-info/en/US/drm/54100/image/2/). Yellow and black, just like you said, but those pictures (which I mentioned) would make it pretty hard to miss. Plus, the second part of my instructions ‘read the manual’ would tell her where to find it and probably what color it is. @kayaker, as long as she’s doing the timing belt, she really should do the water pump as well. ---
**Author:** ![sara20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@sara20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sara20)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913/40 "2015-05-01T10:54:37Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > **Sara** , what kind of car is it you drive, make and model? I’m sure we can look it up and give you specific directions if you’re willing to try. Or do you work with or live near a neighbor that seems like a ‘car person’? The process isn’t terribly complicated but I do understand your reticence. > > Usually there’s a primary latch that will unlock the hood from the inside, often times located near the driver’s left calf or ankle forward of the door hinge. Then there may be a second release just under the front of the hood near the grille. Then hold it firmly and raise it, it may have a cam that allows it to stay in place or, as you mention, there may be a rod that swings up and fits in a dedicated slot to lock it in place. > > As **Joey** mentions, remove the blue cap with a wifer icon and pour in the fluid. It is a 2011 honda accord. I also need to know after I pop the hood how to disengage the locking catch at the front of the hood to open it fully. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scared-to-open-car-hood/718913.md?page=3)