hood latch

**mytoy** · 10-30-06, 10:59 PM

I have a 78 L82 four speed the problem is with the hood latch on the driver side I can close the hood some times it will latch and other times it will not, also at times I will be driving and hit a bump and the hood will come unlatch on the driver side, my question how do I go about fixing the problem, thank you

GaryS · 10-31-06, 07:14 AM

Have you tried disconnecting the cable to the latch, removing the latch and then soaking it in a good solvent? Once it has soaked for a while, take a parts brush and clean out any accumulated gunk. Let it dry and then relube it with white lithium grease to see if that helps. Often, these latches as well as door latches stop working because of built up grease that hardens over the years.
Gary

**mytoy** · 10-31-06, 09:28 PM

Thanks Gary I will give it a try Paul

**LVMYVT76** · 11-01-06, 10:40 AM

I took mine off last night, off a 76. The old grease was pretty hard, but no problem staying closed, but in about 30 minutes I had them cleaned along with the bolts. Everything that is about 30 years old needs cleaning, it seems like.

**Evolution1980** · 11-01-06, 10:55 AM

Something else to check is your release handle in the car. Mine doesn't spring back anymore, so I have to pull it to release the hood, then manually push the handle back in. (Pushing it back in doesn't re-latch the hood, just resets the spring. The hood only relatched when it's actually drop-closed.)

GaryS · 11-01-06, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by Evolution1980

Something else to check is your release handle in the car. Mine doesn't spring back anymore, so I have to pull it to release the hood, then manually push the handle back in.

I believe that the reason that your release handle doesn't spring back is too much resistance and is related to the original complaint. I had a similar issue and I removed the handle and cable and cleaned them. In addition, I cleaned the hood catches as I described above. When I put everything together, the handle and cable worked as designed.

Gary

**Evolution1980** · 11-01-06, 12:12 PM

Originally Posted by GaryS

I believe that the reason that your release handle doesn't spring back is too much resistance and is related to the original complaint. I had a similar issue and I removed the handle and cable and cleaned them. In addition, I cleaned the hood catches as I described above. When I put everything together, the handle and cable worked as designed.

I've already replaced my entire hood cable, so it's likely gunked up somewhere near the handle. It doesn't bother me though. I've gotten used to it over the past 13+ years...just like manually turning off my turn signal.

**LVMYVT76** · 11-01-06, 01:46 PM

I also replaced my cable, not the housing since it looked like a lot of trouble at the time. The end was damaged near the hood so I didn't think it was worth the time. It probably needs a little lub in it to operate correctly and spring back. I will try that since I don't have the hood back on yet. I bet that lub will fix this also.