Hood Won't Stay Opened

[SYNFULL]

Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

Hi,
I recently replaced my 2 hood hinges with a new set from Chuck Tator. This is the bottom hinge assembly with the large wound spring. My hood now barely stay's up. If I push it just the right way it might stay up but, usually it slowly starts to come down. I don't see how there would be any adjustment to the hinges, and as far as I can see there is only one way they can be installed.
Any Ideas?

Thanks
Gary

 

[DodgeViper01]

Re: Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

How much did thse hinges cost out of curiosity?

 

[SYNFULL]

Re: Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

They were around $115 each
Gary

 

[C O D Y]

Re: Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

Has your hood been repainted? Have you oiled or greased the hinges?

(Do not oil or grease them!)

 

[RAYSIR]

Re: Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

Mine do the same thing. My hood has been repainted so it's heavier. Also lubed hinges but I think you should or they get dry and will destroy themselves. I have to use a pair of long nosed vice grips and clamp the spring if the hoods up for long. Not right but it works.

 

[GTS Bruce]

Re: Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

Use oil and the hood drops on you.Over time mine gets a little notchy when opening and closing.I lubricate with spray white lithium grease.Works just about right.Stays up by itself but operates smoothly. GTS Bruce

 

[plumcrazy]

Re: Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

i gotta replace mine too.

 

[99 R/T 10]

Re: Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

Before replacing the hood hinge, always try to clean them first with any common(and safe) degreaser. Sometimes it will help them stay up better.

 

[DodgeViper01]

Re: Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

i gotta replace mine too.

Me too. Sometimes it stayes open and sometimes it doesn't.

 

[SYNFULL]

Re: Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

Yes my hood was repainted when I put the stripes on. I didn't lube the hinges because they seemed like they had a nice coating on them. I think lubing them will only make them worse. Well at least i am not the only one. I will carry an aluminum retractible rod around with me to keep the hood up.
Thanks
Gary

 

[rcdice]

Re: Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

There is a guy in Cinci that is rather fanatical (who isn't?) about his GTS. Garage queen for sure. Told me he stores the car with the hood up as it is better on the springs to be in the open position. Said it added to their longevity.

No idea if that's true or not but he certainly believed it.

 

[OKViper]

Re: Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

White Lithium Grease - no oil.

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

Re: Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

Hi,
I recently replaced my 2 hood hinges with a new set from Chuck Tator. This is the bottom hinge assembly with the large wound spring. My hood now barely stay's up. If I push it just the right way it might stay up but, usually it slowly starts to come down. I don't see how there would be any adjustment to the hinges, and as far as I can see there is only one way they can be installed.
Any Ideas?

Thanks
Gary

This starting happening a few years ago to my hood. The springs start to wear out from lots of opening and hood up stuff. After losing a PS cap and before buying a HIPO engineering cap fix, I was checking the cap almost every time out --which was basically daily in the summer time. Betweeen the cap, checking fluids, and cleaning --the hood was up a lot.

A couple years ago, I came up with a cheap little fix out of a piece of scrap pine. It works slick and cost nothing. The only thing you need to be VERY aware of is that the piece is in there. I'm guessing real bad things could happen if you tried to force the hood down with the wood piece in place. I only have one made. 2 would be better. --then there would be equal pressure on each side if you goofed and tried to shut the hood without removing the wood.

My hood doesn't come down every time while opened in the garage, but it wants to work it's way down a little to where the slightest bump causes it to fall.

I used a hole saw to cut the circle to match the spring circumfrence. Very simple to make. I keep this in the trunk mainly for car shows or where it's a little windy outside when checking fluids on the road.

Steve

 

[SYNFULL]

Re: Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

That's a neat little idea. I just can't imagine why mine are doing this and they are new.

Thanks
Gary

 

[Bolt]

Anyone have any more suggestions with this matter of the hood falling? Mine is doing this too. Has anyone thought of fabing up some gas shock lifters for assistance? I was thinking of using the same ones for the rear hatch window of the GTS. This way it would be a common stock item. What do you think?

Bolt

 

[HARDVIPER]

Re: Hood Won\'t Stay Opened

i gotta replace mine too.

This site needs to post the year of car we have in our avatar section. That way I can see how old your hoods are?

 

[VENOMAHOLIC]

Is this problem covered under warranty? Mine is up in October.

 

[Knight Viper]

I notice while my hood was off that the right side spring was stronger than the left (if they were both the same the hood would stay up fine) but didn't want to order another one after reading this post. I would like to hear more input on this subject as well or come up with a way to replace the springs with struts. (02)

 

[GTS Bruce]

The solution is degrease and deoil them.Add white lith if they are too stiff. GTS Bruce

 

[SYNFULL]

I found my problem. After replacing my hinges it still wouldn't stay up. I noticed one of my "long bars" that is part of the hood lift assembly was the slightest bit bent where the kink is in the bottom of the bar. This slight bend gets bigger, the further away you move from the start of the bend. The end result is that the hood was about 6 or 7 inches lower on one side than it should have been. After straightening the bar out it stays up fine.
Don't know if that could be your problem, but you might want to check the straightness of those bars.

 

[SuperSaiks]

I've read that cleaning the springs out and applying some type of adhesive/glue, works to help stiffen the springs...just repeating what I read...

 

[2000_Black_RT10]

I am looking into a cost effective solution which may be just a replacement / different helical spring to solve this problem.

I'll let you know what replacement helical spring which will help keep the hood up better than stock, because I will be replacing mine, having access to one of the largest global OEM hinge suppliers. I'd rather just find a replacement lower spring than replacing the entire assembly or use prop rods, or add struts.

I was informed that there is a blow-by test regarding hood hinge design. If you have weak hinge springs, please be cautious and avoid sticking your head / neck under the hood / or fingers near the hinge when parked alongside the road if a transport truck / vehicle passes by.

 

[NOTV8]

I'll just call the "Wizard"

 

[plumcrazy]

on my 98 its pretty easy to just replace the springs and the list was like $115

did it when the hood was off but it wouldnt be hard either way

 

[Bolt]

Did everything here and no luck on my 98 GTS. I degreased, no luck, I put white lithium (SP?) grease on them, no luck. There has got to be something better to fix this problem since so many people have the same problem.

Bolt

 

[C O D Y]

I've seen several hoods that have been repainted and they will not stay open due to the extra weight of the paint and clear coat. The hoods worked perfectly before painting and won't stay open after..... new hinges didn't help either.

Synfull's (Gary) hood was also repainted. Some have modified the hinge to make it work others have used prop sticks.

 

[Knight Viper]

I pulled my hinges and hosed them with a can of brake-clean and spayed a little black paint into the hinge area itself and now the hood will stay open in the wind!!! Worked like a charm

 

[TAXIMAN1]

I've seen several hoods that have been repainted and they will not stay open due to the extra weight of the paint and clear coat. The hoods worked perfectly before painting and won't stay open after..... new hinges didn't help either.

Synfull's (Gary) hood was also repainted. Some have modified the hinge to make it work others have used prop sticks.

thats a good point... Most factory paint jobs have about 4-6mil. of paint.. Repaints will always have much more (between 8-15mil.) Which means enough extra weight to make the difference..

 

[cyaford]

The solution is degrease and deoil them.Add white lith if they are too stiff. GTS Bruce

My hood has always needed to be propped up with a dowel since I bought it back in Aug of '05. Sometimes it would stay up, but not where I would trust walking away from it. When it did feel like staying open, the slightest breeze or movement would cause it to fall. I'm lucky I never learned the hard way. Last week I went out and bought some GUNK engine de-greaser. I placed an old towel all around the springs and put a large pan under the car to catch the drippings just in case it's not good for concrete, and blasted them with the GUNK. I let it sit for a few hours. Hood seemed to be no better than before, but I still noticed there was some type of grease/lube in the coils. I then used a stream and blasted through the openings of the coils. I waited a few hours, came back with a water bottle and soaked the hinges down with water. The next morning, I came out and the coils looked brand new with no more grease/lube/crap in them. I took the dowel off and was amazed at the results. I could now close the hood several inches from fully open and the damn thing now stays open. It creaked like a SOB when I fully closed it, but after opening it back up the creaking has gone away. It honestly feels like I have a new hood now. I'll probably need to see a therapist to help me get over the 2 years I couldn't leave it open anywhere from fear it would fall. I've always felt like an idiot when someone wanted to see the engine and I would pop the hood and hold it while they looked.

 

[DAMN YANKEE]

Dont kno
w how I missed that one Steve...nice unit!
You should draw ip the template as I would be interested in knowing the exact dimensions.