| 1. |
Removed the hood latch (2 13mm bolts) and soaked it in parts cleaner to remove all of the crud. It's still attached to the cable, but that doesn't' matter just hang it over the side of the car in a bucket of cleaning solvent. Note: Before you remove it, scribe a line with a awl or screwdriver on the latch as a reference to where it was when you took it off. |
| 2. |
After it's all clean, spray with WD-40 or some other spray lubricant. It doesn't hurt to spray up the cable casing also. |
| 3. |
Put the hood latch back on. In my case, because the left side of the hood fluttered I positioned the left (passenger side) of the latch SLIGHTLY lower than the right side. Don't worry about the rubber hood bumpers just yet. Close the hood and check to make sure that the hood isn't too high/low in reference to the front headliner. Just get on one knee and eyeball it from the front of the car. |
| 4. |
If the hood doesn't open freely lower the latch a little more (i.e. 1/8 of an inch) Each time you lower the latch, it's a good idea to raise the rubber bumper a little too. The theory here is that when you lower the hood latch and raise the bumper it will put some upward force on the hood which is what makes it "pop" up when you pull the release handle. |
| 5. |
Repeat step 3 and 4 until the hood opens freely. |
| 6. |
After you are happy with the operation and height of the hood, close it an press down on each of the front corners of the hood to see if there is any space between the hood and the rubber bumper. If there is, raise the rubber bumper up by unscrewing it slightly. |