Car issue - hood latch

[Knottscott]

We've got a '98 Honda Civic and the main hood latch won't catch. It springs back open even when forced closed. It was working fine until this morning. The secondary finger latch is working normally.

Two questions come up....first, is it safe to drive it around town with only the secondary latch functioning?

Second, anyone have any insights how difficult it is to fix or replace the main latch, or how expensive it might be for a garage to fix it?

TIA for any guidance!

[germdoc]

I have same problem with '02 accord. I think the cable is sticking. I tried squirting WD-40 into cable and everywhere around mechanism, didn't help much. After jiggling the latch release sometimes it returns to catch position.

I doubt it'd be to hard to fix, maybe they would add it on to another service for a nominal fee and cost of parts?

[pelligrini]

Will the primary latch engage if you try to close it without the hood? like with a screwdriver. If so, then check the alignment of the latch. The mechanism may have shifted down, not letting it fully close. I don't know if the hood has any adjustable parts on it, but you might check it too.

It's not very safe. just think about what would happen if it pops up while driving.

[germdoc]

Well in the case of my car it ain't gonna pop up while driving, but it doesn't look great and it is a PITA, just not enough to make a special trip to the shop.

[Ed62]

I had an issue like that with my trunk latch, but of course there's no secondary latch. In my case, it was the bar that the latch attaches to when you close the trunk, that was the problem. The bolts became somewhat loose, and allowed it to move slightly, so the latch couldn't align properly. Moving it to the proper place, and tighteneing the bolts took care of it. Don't know if you have anything like that on your hood latch, but you might want to take a look. Good luck.

Ed

[LarryG]

Safe? Well ... the secondary latch is there to keep the hood from flying open if the primary isn't functioning. We've all seen cars driving around with the hood slightly ajar, so on that level I suppose one could argue it's "safe." But there's no margin for error; and with your latch mechanism obviously malfunctioning, in my view the secondary becomes suspect as well.

I personally might drive it around town for a couple-few days, or to a repair shop to have it fixed. I certainly wouldn't run down the interstate at 70mph (although I've seen it done ...)

Jeff has a good thought about the cable, and Ed too about the alignment. If the latch is broken, however, the mechanism is probably a self-contained assembly held on by two or three bolts. If you could find one in a junkyard, you could probably swap it out yourself in a matter of minutes.

[dbhost]

If the assembly is broken, grab one from a boneyard or a dealer and swap it out. They are 2 or 3 bolts depending on MFG (If I recall, Honda uses 3). They are super simple, just unscrew it, unhook the cable, and reinstall the new one by reversing the process. Line the new one up with a grease pencil (the latch will scrape the grease pencil stuff away where it hits), and tighten when ready...

If it's just dirty / sticky, hose it down with a good amount of brake parts cleaner (DO NOT USE CARB CLEANER NEAR PAINT!), once clean, lubricate well with something like Tri Flow or another PTFE or Silicone based lubricant. DO NOT USE WD-40! That junk just attracts dirt and makes things worse...

[Knottscott]

Thanks for the great advice gang...this forum is a great resource!

[cabinetman]

For something like that maybe a junkyard is the place those parts should stay. With luck that runs the way it can, the "exact" car that would have the "exact" hardware will have a hood that is bent back and won't move. On some parts, the dealer, although may be more expensive, will have/get the exact part.

Or, spend some time to figure out what's really wrong...it may be a simple fix with no parts.
.

[9johnny5]

If the remote release cable is stuck, it will cause the armature on the latch to remain open, providing nothing to prevent the spring from "springing" the hood open. I'd check that first. The cable should operate like one of the newer throttle cables...where the outside of the sheathing is stationary and the cable moves inside, operating the latch, and springing back to the normal position when released. On my MIL's 91 Amigo, I've seen the cable inside the protective sheath get rusted and stick, and have had no luck either lubricating or manually operating - had to replace it. Best thing is, that the cable assy. is replaceable by itself away from the latching mechanism. Not too difficult a job, the hardest part was feeding it through the grommet on the firewall.

Hope this helps.
Johnny C.

[Knottscott]

It should be easy enough to pull the latch off and have a good look. Both the latch and cable are available reasonably cheap on Ebay. Unfortunately I start the first of four 12 hour shifts tomorrow but I'll try to take a look next Monday.