Hood latch wont close

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/hood-latch-broken-244021.html

 

 

It's still a problem. I steamed it clean and sprayed it and it still won't close today. Somehow when I take it for an oil change, they get it to close. I only open the hood once a year to put washer fluid in there and change the filter, so I normally get it closed after an hour of trying. I've been trying nonstop for the past three hours and it will not close. Sometimes pressing on it like the heimlich maneuver will get it to latch but that didn't work this time.

 

Today I tried silicone and then tried PB Blaster. I even unloaded for 20 seconds.

 

 

I'm out of ideas other than spending money on a shop to replace it. Dealer wants about $200 for part and labor. Part alone from them is $50.

 

Is it safe to drive 15 miles with the secondary latch holding the hood shut?

I dont advise getting on the freeway if it's not latched tight. The hood moves around plenty at speed fully latched as it is.

 

I cant imagine it being hard to replace and a junkyard/ebay used part should not be expensive if the dealer only wants $50 for the part.

 

Maybe the cable is sticking so that when you pull to open, it stays partialy open? Maybe try pushing/pulling on the lever before shutting the hood?

 

EDIT: Read the linked thread. Limp mechanism sounds like it is partially engaged, and could be the cable itself that is broken, binding, or not in its holderso it cant hold steady when lever is pulled. Or lever could be broken/loose/partially disengaged from cable.

 

Either way I would look at the rest of the system all the way to the lever, not just the hood latch.

Edited May 7, 2019 by Scubaboo

If you are mechanically inclined, I would pull the latch assembly and lubricate it. It seems like you have already lubricating it from above and it hasn't helped. I have had the 5th Gen Legacy latch assembly off my car and it wasn't that hard to remove. If you going to dealer to fix it, they probably will just replace the part. It isn't that cost effective to pay someone to try to figure out the issue when labor is $125+ hr and the part is $50. 20 minutes of figuring out the assembly is approx the part cost.

 

I have had this issue on two friends Toyotas and the issue was the cable return spring assembly that was gummed up and not returning. I needed to pull the assembly in order to lubricate that assembly properly. Slamming the hood seemed to temporarily fix the problem, which was vibrating the cable return back into place.

I only open the hood once a year to put washer fluid in there and change the filter, so I normally get it closed after an hour of trying.

 

Only open the hood once a year? How do you check/change the oil?

 

Make sure the cross bar that the latch is mounted on isn't bent and check to see if the striker or latch have any markings to give you a clue of how it's closing.

lubricate your latch with some lithium grease and then work the lever multiple times and it should start to latch again

I replaced the mechanism for $53 myself. Took 45 minutes. Works fine except inside the car I have to push the release latch to the unreleased position, then the hood latches. It should do it on its own rather than me pushing it. But it's 99 percent better.

I replaced the mechanism for $53 myself. Took 45 minutes. Works fine except inside the car I have to push the release latch to the unreleased position, then the hood latches. It should do it on its own rather than me pushing it. But it's 99 percent better.

 

I had a similar problem with my gas door release, doused it with maf cleaner because its plastic and pretty hard to get apart (at least when its rusted together like mine) let it dry and tiny spray of teflon lubricant and its been good. if you have any spring pressure at all this should fix the handle not returning. can you confirm this wasn't happening before you replaced the latch? it could have been the issue the whole time.

The release latch inside the vehicle would always dangle down when I'd release the hood. However now the hood closes fine but I think the cable has the minor problem of its own, since it closes but not without me pushing it first. At least the hood closes properly 100 percent of the time if I do that, whereas before I was trying for hours.