In keeping with prior Wrangler design, the hood is held down at the front corners by latches (there is no interior hood latch or release). Undo these before unlatching the center catch.

The center catch is located close to the "Jeep" badge on the front grill and is moved to the right (toward the driver side) to clear the catch.

Caution: If leaning the hood all the way back against the windshield, the washer fluid hoses may stretch tightly.

Fortunately there is ample slack should the washer hose be pulled too tightly. Just feed the slack into the area where the hose is stretched tight.

This short set of photos serves to familiarize anyone not already acquainted with gaining access to the engine compartment of Jeep Wrangler (JK), 2012 and onward.

Click on the photo above to get the larger version

To remove the engine cover, grip the cover at the front center…

Lift the front. Allow the back to remain as it is hinged on a bracket at the rear.

Continue to open on the hing to 30 or 40 degrees at which point the cover will come off the hing.

Once off the snap hing, store the cover in a safe place. The cover should come off fairly easily.

Getting it back on is a simple matter of snapping the cover back into the hing and lowering the front in to place.

With engine cover off, everything is easier to see and get to.

Click on the photo above to get the larger version