Hood latch go bye bye?

[SlowPro48]

I am unsure what to do to get this remedied.

If it's a broken cable you've only got one choice - replace it. That's probably not the case though...

If it's like mine and the latch works but the hood simply fails to pop up, you can lube it and that will give you a few months service - but the real problem is that the "popper spring" (I don't know what else to call it) gets weak. You could probably replace it with OEM but any spring that's close in length and strength will do. It's not rocket science, although it sure would have been nice if the Engineer In Charge of Hood Latches had spec'ed a higher quality spring or at least a stronger one to account for the fact that this spring is under tension 24/7 and is bound to fatigue.

I just used a spring from a dirt bike exhaust. Those things are fairly robust. It's actually a little stronger than the weak-tit OEM spring. The hood jumps up with authority now! And the exhaust spring will probably last longer as they are made to withstand a lot of vibration and heat while being stretched 8760 hours/year.

Hope this helps!

[WormGod]

Ok, was just curious if any other VXs ran across this problem. Wondering if it was something that was bound to happen.

It's funny, it worked great about 3 weeks ago with no problems. The hood has not been popped since. Suddenly, nothing. All I did was wash and wax her up. Guess she preferred being dirty and is throwing a fit now.

[Tone]

The grease on the latch gets loaded with dirt and dust and gums up. Properly adjusted hood bumpers can help but it is inevitable. Replacing it or the spring sounds pretty extreme - clean all the old grease off with carb cleaner or some other spray solvent or even WD40 (protect areas around it from overspray) and then lube with a quality grease. Hit the rear hinges too with lube.

[Maugan_VX]

Tone,

I had to replace my latch because it was so corroded that it would fail to operate correctly. (To much friction, which is why the WD40 helped quite a bit)

[WormGod]

Hey Tone, not to sound cocky.... but, I gotta get it open before I can do that, hahahahahaha.

[Tone]

Did you try what was recommended here - pull the lever while someone is lifting the hood? If it is corroded, it means it has not been kept clean and lubricated. Spring failing, I don't think I've ever had that happen nor have anyone I know on 20 yr old vehicles - but replacing the whole assembly is one way to fix a problem.

[SlowPro48]

So Gary - what's up?

Not your hood, eh? HaHa!

OK - just wondering if you lubed the problem away or replaced the spring. I guess I could be the only one with a weak spring but for some reason I doubt it...