Monotaur

Well, I dropped my car off this morning for an annoying noise that I've had for almost ever since I've had the car and also for the shimmy. Of course, they couldn't duplicate the shimmy (After looking at the odometer, I'm not sure that they even tried). However, they said that they fixed the rattle, but as I drove off (I didn't even make it out of the parking lot), I heard it again.. so I go back inside and ask what they did, and was told that they put some foam take in the engine bay to keep the hood from rattling. So, now I've got this nasty peice of faom on the VQ engine cover and still have a rattle.

After talking to the service manager, I took him to my car and we think we found the source of the rattle - the hood latch is lose enough so that it actually moves around when you press on it, etc... (you can also see it move up and down about 0.5 inches while driving, too!).

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem? It sounds like a chorus of drums when I go over bumps. I didn't have the time today to have them fix it (they had it for 4+ hours already today, and plus I want to be able to take the service manager for a ride so he can see the shimmy himself...), so I'm going to wait until monday or so. I don't think that this is a safety issue since the hood hasn't opened by itself in almost 1.5 years, but yet I am a little concerned about it.

Anyway, thanks.

install30

nope....no problems with my Max so far.........

lightonthehill

I have seen several 'hood adjustment' and 'hood wobble' posts here in the last year or two, but never a visibly loose latch.

Is the loose part on the hood itself, or the part on the frame portion that grips the hood latch? If you can be sure the latch won't come completely off, you are OK temporarily.

But if there is any possibility the latch could come completely off, you don't want to be tooling down the interstate when it happens. from experience, I can attest to the fact that, when the hood comes up at speed, the first thought is that a bomb has gone off. The second thought is where has the world gone? Nothing is visible. All one can see to the front is a totally dark wall.

But that was in the days when hoods sat rather level on the car. today's vehicles have such a front-sloping hood that the wind might actually hold the hood against the car rather than ripping it up and off.

Either way, just be careful, and get it fixed before you drive over 45 mph.

Monotaur

Thanks Light, as always. I think the latch doesn't completely close or otherwise allows for some travel of the hood... I don't think that it can come lose on it's own, but it can still move up and down about 0.25" to 0.5".

Also, I think you are right about the wind holding it down at highway speeds... I've only ever heard the rattle when traveling relatively slowly (like up to 25 or so) - it's never happened on the highway or interstate. And, it is definately worse when it is cold so maybe part of the latch mechanism is contracting or something, which allows for a loser grip on the hood? I'm not sure.

Hopefully I can get this resolved tomorrow.

Thanks!

ypl102

yo, did u eva get that fixed? did they change your latch cuz I have same problem with my 03 max. I've dug into it myself after the dealer's failed attempt to get it resolved. They had put some grease in the latch hole to dampen the movement in the opening, it worked for a while before the noise came back. The hood ring that goes into the latch hole can be seen to travel up and down 1/4 inch when I press down on the hood and that's the source of the noise when driving over bumps and at non-highway speeds. Here's the thing, I've adjusted all bolts to position the latch to the lowest position so as to grab the hood downward with no success. Any suggestions?

lightonthehill

ypl102 - That situation is not acceptable. I would keep after my dealer to fix this, even if it meant disassembling the parts around the latch in order to make the proper adjustment and to make sure everything is properly tightened.

There is one thing you might check. There is a 1" wide rubber cylinder under both front corners of the hood. These adjust simply by screwing them up or down (in or out) by hand. By screwing these counterclockwise (as viewed from below), they will extend further down, hit the 'seats' on the frame near the radiator, where there is a circular area on which they sit, just a tad sooner, leaving less room for the hood to move.

BUT -

Doing this will slightly change the vertical alignment of the hood with the fenders and headlight assemblies. If you have to move the black cylinders so far the hood is not in proper alignment in order to make the latch movement stop, then the problem must be fixed at the latch point itself.

Either way, you shoud not have to live with this situation.

ypl102

thanks for the tips Lightonthehill! That really helped, It turned out I had the rubber bumpers stick up too high that the latch had play in both up and down direction. After I screwed in tighter, the hood now only has movement in the downward direction if I press down from above the hood which I think is normal, will drive to lunch and confirm that.

Another unrelated problem is that I just replaced the hood, headlights and bumper cover after rear ending someone and eventhough the original hood didn't have this problem even after the accident, the oem replacement I put on has an alignment issue, more apparent toward the hinge side, I played with the 2 screws on the hinge and the one on the shock, no use, the hood is sitting about 1/4 inch lower than the fender. . . any suggestions? do I need washers or am I missing something?

ypl102

it's still doing the same thing. . . will play with the radiator support to play with the vertical latch position. . . or should I get a new latch? not sure why it allows so much movement when the hood is closed. .. I have no clue and i know what nissan's gonna say if i take it to them about being in an accident. but the truth is it was doing this b/f the accident all ready.

Monotaur

ypl102, yes the dealer finally fixed it for me... they said that they "adjusted the latch as far as they could". But now when I go to open and close it, it seems like it catches a bit more than it used to (which is fine with me - as long as it isn't rattling or is in danger of becoming unlatched).

I know this probably doesn't help you though, as you are no longer under warranty and I'm not sure what they did exactly to fix mine (plus you have an 03).

Good luck.

ypl102

monotour,
thanks for feedback. btw, from working with mine, I realized the play came from too much space in the latch hole which i can't make up for with hood, rsradiator support adjusts so i might have to spend $50 for new one.

fyi, try grease up some lithium based grease, it should smooth things up for u in there

Tek-Niq

iTrader: (3)

I had a similar prob.. where I had a missing rubber stopper, and my hood would come up from one side while on the highway. it would shake also. but it was just that rubber stopper, installed a new one and it took care of it..