My 2000 cougar, i can't get my hood open. THE PULL LATCH INSIDE CAR SEAMS THAT CABLE IS NOT CONNECTED TO THE PULL.

Hi ,
This problem is extremly common. Let me explain something.....
Chances of the cable being broken are very slim. The cable has around 1200 lbs of tensile strength, wheras you can only exert about 30-50 lbs force while pulling the handle inside the vehicle. You can however verify the cable is still attatched by pulling on the handle and feeling behind it with a pair of needle nose pliers to grasp the cable. An extra twist down pull motion at that time can also be achieved to make the cable pull a slight bit beyond its intended travel path. If it pulls very far, it could indeed be detached from the hood latch, but this is highly unlikely. Usually the hood pin gets stuck in the lock due to the fact that people do not lubricate the locks on their car (hood, doors, trunk, rear hatch, etc.). Periodically all these locks , door pins and recievers should be lubricated with white lithium grease and the lube worked in by hand to prevent sticky lock mechanisms. (a squirt of WD-40 into your door locks as well will make them work smoother)
After you have verified your cable is indeed attatched still, push down sharply on the hood and release. This will either reset the lock mechanism or release the hood pin. Try that a couple times, pulling the inside release in between times until your hood pops open. Once open, lubricate the lock in all moving areas and manually work the lock and release a few times to work the grease into the jointed parts to prevent this from occuring again. Do this for all the locks on your vehicle and especially around the pins in the door hinges to reduce wear and insure trouble free lock mechanisms.
Please rate this answer! Thanks, Mike