Hello,

I have a 1997 Accord V6 (EX) that is giving problems with the hood latch. I have difficulty closing the hood as in it takes 3-5 times attempts at closing the hood before it engages and locks. I sprayed with WD-40 and then with Silicon spray. There was no change.

I finally decided to remove and clean the latch. I sprayed it down with throttle body cleaner and it cleaned up very nicely. After it dried a while I sprayed it with WD-40 and finished with silicon spray.

When I placed the cable back into the latch I noticed there was less resistance then when I first removed it. The cable has a green nip that is grooved and seats in a groove on the latch. Before placing the cable I sprayed some silicon into the cable. I had also marked on the car body where the latch was original before removing so I could align it properly.

After I installed every thing I closed the hood and it closed on the first try. I open the hood and attempted to close the hood again and nothing. I finally gave up trying to close it for tonight.

So what is it; did I clean the crap that was making the latch work? I didn’t notice anything damaged. The cable looked fine. Is this thing bad?

Appreciated your time and responses.

 

The latch holds down the hood in two modes. One is when the hood is normally shut. The other is when you pop the latch from inside the car and can lift up the hood about an inch or two to release the hood, but it is still held down.

Is your latch doing the second part?

 

The hood release lever from inside the car works fine. The hood hold-down hook/lock that holds the hood from flying open when the hood is popped from inside the car works fine. When I close the hood the hook/lock accepts the hood and holds it. It is when attempting to push the hood down to lock it place flush with the body that fails.

I see the "D" ring welded on the hold engage the locking mechanism but as I push it down it just pops up. I normally dropped the hood from about a foot or so several times before it actually locks in place flush with the body.

Thanks

 

You may have to adjust the height of the latch mechanism. There are three bolts holding it to the radiator support.

The striker needs to be moved so it is dead center with the hood latch. See pic. You can adjust the height a bit by loosening those bolts. The whole assembly may need to be raised a bit.

 

If you use your thumb and press down hard on the lever where the upper hook of the spring hook to (the spring on the right in photo #1 - left most picture), you will see it drop down a little. It works everytime when you try to close the hood if you do that.

 

Hello,

I have figured out why my hood won’t lock properly. It is not the latch as I believed to the point of almost going out and purchasing a new one. My hood is not closing properly because the locking mechanism of the latch is being maintained in the “open” position by the cable that is partially stuck inside it own sheave (see Latch 1 photo). All the dirt and other road grime had worked its way into the cable jacket. The stuck cable is pulling on the locking arm of the latch placing itself under excess stress. In time this stress can cause the cable to break.

Prior to removing the latch for cleaning I had adjusted the latch by moving it up a little with no success. I then removed the latch and attempted to lock the mechanism with the cable still attached. I was unable to lock it.

I removed the cable sheave from the holding slot on the latch and noticed how far the locking arm traveled (see Hatch 2 photo). I then pulled on the cable itself and was able to draw additional cable from its sheave. I then proceed to spray silicon into the cable sheave (see cable photo). I found it easier to wet a blue shop towel with silicone spray then squeeze it and allow the liquid to rundown into the cable sheave.

I would go into the car and pull and the hood release and back to the front the to pull on the cable to allow the silicon to work its way through the cable sheave (back-n-forth). After repeating this for a while I reassembled the latch. I then closed the hood it closed and locked with little more then its own weight as it came from the factory. I tried a few more time and I had one time that I had to close it little hard to get it to close. It is an old cable so I’ll have to see how it works in the coming days.

Jsam
You are correct in that if the hood does not lock simply push the latch lock lever (direction of arrow see Hatch 1 photo) which draws out more cable from its sheave. This however does not solve the problem. You need to get some lubricant in there or else over time the cable will break. Even lubing it up you may still need to replace the cable.

Can someone please post a link to replacing the release cable. You know, just in case.

Thanks to all.

 

It routes under the top part of the radiator support, behind the driver's side front fender and into the cabin from behind the fender.

You would definitely have to remove the splash shield and maybe the fender on the driver's side.

 

It may be possible to work grease into the cable. But if it's been sticking & corroding for awhile, I'd probably replace the cable.

 

PAhonda
Thanks for the info. Is there a way of installing a cable without removing the fender?

Jim
At the time I only had silicon spray with me and I had previously lost the red extender tip so I had to resort to Medieval methods. That extender tip would have just about fitted perfectly into the sheave between the cable. I'll get myself another can with tip and some grease in case it starts sticking again.

Preventive maintenance is cheaper then buying new parts.

Thanks again

 

Hint: I've got this cool hypodermic-needle type thing that plugs into my grease gun (AutoZone). Perfect for cables like that. Unless the actual cable is already corroded & frayed somewhere deep inside the sheath.