mrcheap

While driving the hood popped open a couple times over the course of the past couple of months. Luckily the secondary latch did its job and it did not fully open. Sprayed some wd40 and such, but still hard to close without slamming it.

Can tell it's a little rusty looking......should I wire brush it, clean it and lube it and be on my way or just purchase the new one. I see the dealer website selling them for $60 plus shipping + handling etc.

Thanks

LeX2K

$60 + shipping is a bargain compared to the damage of the hood slamming into the windshield, never mind blocking your vision resulting in a crash. Having said that, has the car been in a front end collision?

mrcheap

nope - my car since mile 1......just northeast rust i guess and also living on the jersey shore

LeX2K

Toss the WD-40 (not worth a damn-40) and spray the latch down with Fluid Film if that doesn't free it up then replace the latch ASAP. Lexus calls it a hood lock assembly because they can't use normal names for any part.

dibl

Having to slam it shut doesn't sound like a lubrication problem to me. Take a look and see there's any part of the "depth" dimension that is adjustable, up or down, on either the part on the hood or the part on the cross frame. I don't know why it would change over time, but possibly vibration of the body has resulted in some increase in the gap, causing it not to fully latch when closed with normal force. If so, that might also cause a new replacement latch also to not close easily.

ravenuer

I would bet having the hood latch lubed/adjusted/replaced would probably be a bit cheaper than $60,000 bucks.
But, if you're pining for a new car, just go buy it!

mrcheap

Well I did what I had suggested on my first post. Wire brushed, cleaned and wd’d

Closes like a dream now…..for now

mikemu30

What exit