Trouble Latching the Hood (bonnet) - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum

nobby · 11-07-2009, 04:09 AM

I'm having trouble getting my hood to latch properly.
Every time I slam it down, it doesn't seem to go far enough to latch.
Anyone have this problem?

**ScottinSoCal** · 11-07-2009, 04:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nobby

I'm having trouble getting my hood to latch properly.
Every time I slam it down, it doesn't seem to go far enough to latch.
Anyone have this problem?

I had that problem years ago, and my dad's car still has that problem. On both, the solution was to make sure the hood release latch was pushed forward all the way before closing the hood. It was sticking, and not allowing the latch to close when the hood came down.

Mine started springing back on it's own after I'd had it a while. My dad's may need a new hood release cable.

**smack** · 11-07-2009, 05:42 AM

Did you check the little black stoppers on the fender lip? Any reason these would have been moved? I think Scott is spot on with the latch not closing. Clean that mother up and see if it works better.

**mgrant** · 11-07-2009, 06:25 AM

When I first got my car I had difficulty getting the hood latch to release and I also noticed that one side of the hood was sitting lower. It looked like the hood had been tweaked because the grill didn't line up with the bumper well.

I found that one of the rubber bump stops that Smack mentioned was badly worn, yet the other was perfect. I replaced the bad bump stop, cleaned and lubed the latching mechanism, and with a little trial and error was able to get the hood to line up perfectly. And the latching problem is gone. I don't know if it was an alignment issue or a lubrication issue, because I did them both at the same time.