I ****** hit a car yesterday and now my hood wont go down all the way. Everything looks fine and lined up its just the hood latch isnt working. Do i need a new one or are these easy to fix?

 

You can always try to beat it around with a sledge hammer or something. If it does work then buy a new one. It that latch was hit at all you're prolly not gonna be able to *easily* fix it.

 

when youre closing it, or attempting to do so, look under there and see what the culprit is thats hanging you up.

just have a little patience and fix it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slambedcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
just have a little patience and fix it.</TD></TR></TABLE>
If that doesn't work, hit it with a hammer.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chiovnidca &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
If that doesn't work, hit it with a hammer. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Hit it with a hammer first, then see what the problem is.

You might just need to adjust it. Look under while closing it.

 

Give us some pics to work with here... Take one of the latch and the alignment

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chiovnidca &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
If that doesn't work, hit it with a hammer. </TD></TR></TABLE>
a big enough hammer WILL fix ANYTHING

 

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I cant understand why it wont latch.

 

looks like the latch is in the 'closed' postition. have you tried pulling the cable to pop the hood?

 

yea i had my fren pull it and the left side of the latch moves but thats it. I had him hold hold the hood release while i tried to press the hood down still nothin.

 

its probably bent

 

i saw you yesterday when you were workin at it, i was the car right in front of you... that sucks man...

 

were u there during the hit or at maple valley? Honda wants 50 bux for a new latch. Anyone have a hood latch near seattle, wa?

 

there's a little lever type thingy behind the latch...kinda hard to see but if you look OVER it and down, you'll see the spring connected to it. That lever should move freely...use your finger and try to move it...if it doesn't move, you might need to pry it loose with a flat head. Hope this helps

 

radiator support might need to be pulled up, that was the culprit on my car

 

i was there at mapel vally, i was with my friend watching the "excitemnent" and i saw you pull up and try to figure out the hood deal... i wanted to help, but it wouldnta been much good...

 

yea i was surprised it wasn't worse

 

its not a hammer - its a multi purpose realignment and adjustment tool

 

just look at it when u going to closed it. see if is in line with the hook. if is not just hit it to what ever side it needs to be at. the hook has tu be just in the mid of it. some times if is push back after a hit the little hook doesn't open make sure is not push to hard against the metal there has to be a little gap.

 

i know someone who had this problem. all we did was look and see where the latched lined up on the top of the hood, and it was htiting too far left. we just hit the latch backward and it worked? Make sure everything is lined up!


Modified by hosfast at 11:03 PM 1/2/2005

 

I gently bumped a van a year or two ago and had the same problem. I tried to slam the hood down super hard over and over again, but nothing was latching aside from that big secondary hook.

What my culprit was was this little springy-do-dad that runs just in front of the whole assembly, just underneath everything. You just push it back with your fingers, or a pen if you have fat stubbs. It's actually part of the spring release mechanism that doesn't slide back to it's default spot. Even after oiling it, I have to make sure the spring in there is back in it's correct spot when I shut my hood.

I hope this helps.

 

I started this post a while ago thinking that it was my hood latch that was broken. I bought a new hood latch and same story. So now i'm thinkin my radiator support could be bent? I pushed the hood down all the way and it still doesnt go down enough to latch . Can you guys think of anything else?

 

Did you adjust the settings on the hood latch so it sits as high as it can? If so...when you hit the car your radiator support could have bent down just a little bit. Look at all the body lines to see if there are any indications that this could have happened. The body line where the bumper cover and the fenders line up would be able to show you. You might not be able to tell by eye if the core support is bent but it could be just a little bit. You could even try pulling it up with your hands, that might give you another 1/4" to a 1/2".

Good luck.

 

can someone post a picture of their radiator support so i can see if mines bent anywhere?