airahcaz

It occurs sometimes, maybe the heat, but my hood will not fully latch sometimes, and I know jamming it down won't help. Then suddenly, it will close after I wait a whie or when I am just not really trying, effortlessly. Does the latch get stuck or something, oiling, lube, tightening?

TLW

maybe this will help

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...ght=hood+close

GS3.0

iTrader: (1)

Im betting you its the steel wire that runs from your cabin to your hood latch. I had the same problem sometime last year and greasing the hood latch only temporarily solved the problem. My mechanic finally found the wire as the culprit as it was slightly bent which caused the hood not to close properly. This is something you wanna fix immediately b/c your hood latch might just give and your hood might open up while your driving and smash right into your front windshield which is something you don't wanna happen. An easy fix, just buy the wire from your local lexus dealer (around $75 i think) and get your able mechanic to change it for you. Good luck!

airahcaz

heard that if not replaced right, can have the same problem or worse, dealer may charge $200 total though, hmm.

I am going to try to pull the cable form undert the hood first, and WD40, to see if it latches

of course if I do this repetitively, I'll kink or elongate the cable myself, so might as well replace

Flufferiou

i have the same problem. WD40 doesn't work and when my friend and I took it apart, we found that the tension wire was too loose.

best thing to do is instead of slamming the car hood down, try holding the hood down for 2 secs. at a time, that usually works for me.

airahcaz

sorry, I don't understand what you mean 2 seconds

Flufferiou

alright, when you try to close the hood, instead of lifting the hood all the way up and slamming it down, hold the hood closed with your hands for two seconds. Push down right on top of where the latch is. Just push down and hold, not lift all the way and slam.

Now thats not the complete solution, you should get it fixed before winter, don't want to be out in the cold trying to close the hood (I did that last winter).

If you need anymore clarification, let me know...I'll try to help as best as possible

airahcaz

cool, but what makes you think it will latch, the wire slowly moves to closure?

Flufferiou

not really sure why it works, but it works for me.
I mean, there's no 100% way unless you fix it, so try everything you hear and see
which helps you out the most.

Trial and Error, ya know?

airahcaz

ya, but the hood being lowered slowly does not affect the cord, correct?

proxybot

i took mine in to get a quote.. cable is $37 something, but total with labor is $374. gag

rbeermann

my car does this too. all i do is every time i pop the hood, i take a finger and kinda push the cable from the lever back into the dash. you gotta feel the cable to see what i'm talking about. its right underneath the hood lever. works every time.

salimshah

That is exactly why there is safety release mechanism beyond the hold-down point ... two sequential locks. I agree with one not working the, the probability of hood flying open is increased 100 times.

Although hood failing to lock is bad but the the ultimate bad is when it fails to open. If there is any binding in the cable it should be fixed post haste and any temporary fix WILL come back to haunt you when the hood fails to open.

Salim

Lubs

I had this problem once a long while ago. I repeatedly opened and closed the hood at different speeds and heights to no avail. What ultimately worked was pulling the hood release all the way (maybe a couple of times, I forget). After that, it closed. I never had the problem again.