My friend has a '99 accord and the hood is sort of stuck open. It closes, but not fully. I noticed that the latch and the hook on the hood itself was a bit dry, almost rusted, does he just need some grease in there or a new latch? Any help would be great, thanks!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by honda2112 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...hood is sort of stuck open. It closes, but not fully...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Can you get us a pic to see it?

 

if he's around tomorrow I'll try, thanks

 

it can also be a bad release cable, that was my issue, they get messed up sometimes.

 

The latch is adjustable, take a close look at it while you are taking a picture of it.

 

You are experiencing a very common Accord hood latch problem. My Accord did it, and just about every 94-00 Accord I work on does it from time to time if not all of the time. It doesn't need adjustment or replacement (yet atleast). The latch that holds the hood all of the way closed is the primary latch, and the one that looks like a little hook that you release after you pop the hood is the secondary or safety latch. Open up the hood and look just to the left of the little lever that you lift up on to release the secondary latch. You should see a little bar with a wire and spring attached to it. Push down and slight to the left on it until it moves back into the open position. It should move about 3/4 of an inch. You could even put a little spray lube on it too. Now close your hood!

It happens on a lot of Accords. That little bar and spring gets dried/rusty wont completely release and open the primary latch all of the way, leaving countless boyfriends, husbands, owners in general thinking they need a new latch (which will end up doing the same thing), when they just need to know the secret. Trust me, it will work. Don't go moving things around because you'll make things worse. Also make sure the release lever is in its normal position when closing the hood because the cables can stick sometimes too.

 

Can you advise on what to do if the cable for the hood latch on my 99 Accord doesn't open the primary lock?

I can see and move the secondary.
I can see the primary after I dislodge the plastic face plate, but I can't move anything. I tried prying & pulling on the primary, but no go.

I'm reluctant to yank on the cable where it inserts the primary for fear of making matters worse - I can't get much of a grip on it anyway.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Doug