get in your floorboard and dismount your dash piece so you can see up under there... this will help you determine where your hood release cable broke
AnswerMy 97 Ford Taurus hood doesn't pop open on its own - however if you pull the pop hood thing and then take a key or screwdriver and slide it under the hood and push up you can pull it up with your hand. This has scratched my hood up but at least I can get it open.
pry bar and duc tape
There are 2 excellent write-ups on the procedures for replacing the shifter cable, one for floor shift and column shift each, at the Taurus Car Club site. See Related links below for more information.
The 2000 Mercury Sable starter will have three retaining bolts. There will be two cable retaining nuts on the front of the starter.
Look on inner fender--Follow + battery cable should connect to solenoid
Drill a hole and then insulate the hole with a rubber washer so the cable doesn't chafe on the jagged hole.
If the gas pedal just falls to the floor, that would indicate:the cable connecting it to the throttle has brokencome disconnected from the throttlethe throttle body linkage has brokenThe spring on the throttle linkage has broken (this is one you should be hoping for!)If the cable is still properly connected, the problem then is going to be inside the throttle itself.
It would probably be cheaper to replace the cable, check with your local auto wrecker. This used part should be very inexpensive, compared to repairing it.
A 13mm wrench will do the job very nicely.Add in a good selection of socket extensions, and a 8 or 10mm socket for the wire connections.NOTE: Disconnect the negative battery cable FIRST!See "Related Questions" below for much much more detail on replacing a Taurus/Sable starter
first you need to open up the hood, take it into a body shop. they encounter this problem frequently in accidents and such. and then just replace the cable
Disconnect the positive battery cable and wait 30 seconds or so then reconnect the cable. If this does not clear it you have other problems.
If your speedometer is cable driven and not electronic, it sounds like the cable needs to be lubricated. You remove the cable from the back of the speedometer and pull out the inner cable and slide it back in while lubericating it with some speedo grease.
if there is no cable and your book says there is or someone at mercury says there is don't believe it... run one yourself and if you can't have someone at a stereo place do it.