Doc, I was having the same issue awhile back w/my 90. Secondchance has the grease points for ya. I have just one other thing to look at before the springs being shot is the verdict.
The attachment point of the cable to the latch arm. Look that there is almost no slack in the cable. There is an adjustment nut, it's plastic so be careful with it, where the cable shield terminates at the receiver. Just try to get 90% of the slack out of the cable, if there is any. When you adjust it make it tight till the latch starts to move from wide open, and then go back a bit till the latch arm doesn't move.
That isn't the cure for bad springs, but it'll buy some time. If the springs are truly used up the release mechanism will operate with almost no resistance when you pull the release handle. At that point you know you have everything clean & greased up well. If the hood is slow to pop up at that point, then it's the springs in my HO.
I cleaned up all the dirt and lubed and adjusted all that on my hood because the effort at the handle was getting way too stiff. All that helped the situation, but as I said my hood pops up a bit slow. I keep meaning to read that section is the FSM to see if the springs have an adjustment or if new springs are needed. If I get to it today, I will post up.
Tom