Maxima 2003 SE, my hood rattles a little when pressed at the front. I can press the hood down and it makes clunking noise (evern after fully latched).

I have played with the 2 corner bump stops and it did not do much. I hear thumping sound when going over bumps and it very well could be my hood banging up and down.

What is the method for lowering the hood latch behind the fron grill? Do I need to remove the grill or the entire front bumper before I can lower the latch housing a bit to further pull down the hood when in locked position?

Thanks

 

its funny you brought this up. this has been happening to my 2002. when you are on the interstate, look at your hood, it will shake just a little bit. i thought about pushing the latch down would make it latch tighter. not sure, i am interested to hear what people say about this.

 

there's a TSB for the hood vibration:
http://maxima.theowensfamily.com/tsb/NTB02-005.pdf

 

there are 3 12mm bolts holding the hood lock assembly. loosen them a bit and just SLIGHTLY lower the whole assy. To get to the hood lock, you will have to remove thebumper cover.

Another alternative is to take a 2x4 and with a hammer, hit the loch assy. down a bit, not very hard just a millimeter or two. (if you don't wanna bother with the cover) but be carefull no to damage anything.

 

same problem here but mine squeeks a bit too.

 

Try tightening it, it could just be the fact that the hood is loose, and if that doesnt work, WD40 is the way to go.

 

i was told to grease up the bumpstops...?

 

So I need to remove the complete front bumper (I know it is one piece)? I was hoping that perhaps the front grill can be removed separately.....

How hard is it to remove the front bumber?

Is it not possible to come from the bottom with the plastic skirt removed? would there be enough clearance?

My problem is not speed related (so the TSB would not work for me?). I can push it up and down with some force the hood goes up and down, so certainly the latch is not snug and there is some wiggle room that I need to get rid of.

Interestingly, I went thru my company's parking lot looking for every maxima and pushing their hoods down to see if this is common problem - I did find another Gen 5 and there was no wiggle room in there, solid - so I know this wiggling is not normal.

Thanks for your replies....

 

I would just fix the latch, then lube it up or just spray with WD40. Although you never know, it could be squeaking just because the latch is loose...

 

Greasing the bumpstops should help with the squeaking noise over bumps. You might have to replace them at most.

The TSB for the vibration helps A LOT. I could watch my hood while driving on the highway, but after I added the rubber strips and bumpstop on the hood, the hood is pretty stationary.

 

Take a look at this pic, this is where if I push down for some hood movement. It requies firm pressure to hear the sound. The sound certainly is coming from the latch & hook movement when pressed.




In this pic, let me know if the this area of hood which touches the rubber bump stops needs to have something on? I was thinking perhaps a rubber peace stays on the hood as well in this area for rubber to rubber resting? Not sure.



Does the hood look flushed to you guys in this pic?