is your hood hard to shut?
do you need to slam the hood countless times, just to get it to close all the way?
if you answered 'yes' to these questions, then this is the thread for you

i've seen too many people install hood pins due to their hood not closing and latching. so i decided to do a little write-up on how to readjust the latch mechanism

what you'll need:
-your vehicle (of course)
-a wrench (that fits the bolts on the hood latch, 10mm for mine)


step 1-
does your hood look like this after you try closing it?


then this is your problem. the latch has been slid down after years of faithful service


step 2-
loosen the bolts holding the latch on, but slightly snug






step 3-
slide the latch mechanism all the way up by reaching under it and lifting




you should see where the bolts were before


step 4-
while holding the latch up, securely re-tighten the bolts. make sure the latch doesn't slide back down too much

step 5-
can you now close the hood on the first try?
with minimal effort?
and does it look like this?


then congratulations! you've successfully readjusted your hood latch mechanism!

(if not, try again. if that doesn't work at all, then you've got bigger problems with your latch)

 

ive tried this... you have NO IDEA how hard i have to slam my freakin hood to get it to stay shut... if i try to close it like any other car, it decides to try and open up on me above 20 MPH...

but nice, er, writeup? lol...

 

ha thanks... i was bored, needed to adjust it anyway, and had a camera.


(wow, that could be taken the wrong way entirely)

 

I've tried this with no success. I've tried pulling up as much as possible, pushing as far to the left, as far to the right. I even took my license plate off to get to a 4th bolt down low. I've hit the latch mechanism with WD40 several times to loosen it up as much as possible.
Any other suggestions? Do I need to adjust the hinges by the windshield? Should I try taking the latch completely off (this scares me), and expanding the holes with a round file?

 

i've found that my latch doesn't work quite right anymore. it needs to be taken off and thoroughly cleaned. that may be what you need to do as well.