I did a search, but didn't find any answers.

I can't close my hood. I have a CF hood, but it's been fine since it was first installed over a year ago. The hood does not look like it has moved. I think there is a problem with the latch.

The latch seems to be mounted securely, so I don't think it has moved.

Here's my question: When I push the latch down, shouldn't it lock at some point? I pushed the latch all the way down with a screwdriver, but it doesn't lock, it just pops back up.

I completely removed the cable from the interior release lever, so that there is no tension on the cable, but thte latch still didn't lock. The cable seems to move smoothly, and isn't binding on anything.

Do I need a new Hood Latch?

-Pete

 

You may have a buggered hood latch but try the following first. Spray it with some white lithium grease to see if this helps. If not, you'll have to re-align the latch again. Begin by loosening all the bolts on the latch and position it higher up. Tighten and see if you can latch the hood.
I don't think your screwdriver technique will prove anything as the final "lock" position on most hood latches must go past a fairly sturdy detent. Only the hood hook with firm pressure will do it. Also, with the CF hood, dropping it doesn't seem to work like with the stock hood. I have one and it never latched by dropping it. I don't know why.
If it will latch after having moved the assembly up, then start to lower it little by little till it gets too hard to lock. At this point, you need to bring it back up a wee bit till it locks again. You want the hood seal to compress a certain amount and doing this method worked for me.
ps. Your CF hood may have warped just enough so that it no longer latches. I wouldn't worry about it too much as this may be the nature of CF hoods as they age and cure with engine heat.

 

Thank you, xviper. It just needed some adjustments to the latch. I was partially fooled, because the body shop told me that the latch was already positioned all the way up.

-Pete