Hood Adjustment

[boneymontana]

I recently purchased a 2nd gen hatchback (1992) and the hood is sitting way too high compared to the fender:

I attempted to adjust the hood latch, because when I first got the car, the hood was rattling. The latch was sitting way too low so I brought it up a little bit and now the hood no longer rattles. However, this did not solve my uneven height problem.

The height seems to be uniformly high across the entire hood.

I read somewhere that certain cars have these hood stoppers that you can adjust, but I can't seem to find them on my 2nd gen.

Here are some more photos:

I was looking online at photos of the original bumper and hood and they seem to be the same. Additionally, the car doesn't appear to have been in a wreck, so I'm not sure what could be causing the hood to sit so high.

Does anyone have any idea how to remedy this problem?

Thanks!

 

[boneymontana]

Here's the link to the photos if for some reason they don't show up

http://imgur.com/a/dWe1x

 

[Muckman]

The rubber mounts on the under side of the hood, near the front. They can screw in/out to adjust the height.

 

[boneymontana]

The rubber mounts on the under side of the hood, near the front. They can screw in/out to adjust the height.

So they're actually in the under side of the hood, not the body of the car?

 

[boneymontana]

The rubber mounts on the under side of the hood, near the front. They can screw in/out to adjust the height.

OK, so I found the rubber mounts and adjusted them all the way down, but as you can see in the last photo, the hood isn't even touching them when they're at their lowest point.

Any other ideas?

 

[g6qwerty]

Maybe previous owner rear ended somebody? cause headlights look like their too far back too. Got any Pictures with the hood Open?
Did you try adjusting the hood latch again? Or could their be anything further up that's preventing the hood from closing all the way?

 

[boneymontana]

Maybe previous owner rear ended somebody? cause headlights look like their too far back too. Got any Pictures with the hood Open?
Did you try adjusting the hood latch again? Or could their be anything further up that's preventing the hood from closing all the way?

I ran a pretty comprehensive vehicle history report and nothing came up, I suoppose that they could have still had an accident and just not reported it.

here are some more photos:

http://imgur.com/a/YLz83

I was able to adjust the rubber spacers that are behind the far side of either headlight. However, as you can see in the final photo, the hood remains too high even when all the spacers are at their lowest point. The rubber spacers aren't even touching the hood as you can see in the last two photos. Any other ideas? Does the radiator support look OK?

I did adjust the hood latch again, but was unsuccessful using varying combinations of different rubber support and hood latch heights. The damn rubber supports don't even reach the hood at their highest point.

 

[R13]

Quick question, have you really tried to shut the hood all the way?

The rest of the car looks fine, it looks like either the latch is stiff and you're not shutting it all the way, or somehow it's bent.

Also make sure when messing with the latch to align it from side to side with the bar it hooks onto on the hood, sometimes that can get out of line and you can't latch it all the way down.

 

[boneymontana]

Quick question, have you really tried to shut the hood all the way?

The rest of the car looks fine, it looks like either the latch is stiff and you're not shutting it all the way, or somehow it's bent.

Also make sure when messing with the latch to align it from side to side with the bar it hooks onto on the hood, sometimes that can get out of line and you can't latch it all the way down.

Yea, I pushed it all the way down as hard as I could. It's completely latched on there and won't budge when I attempt to life it, unlike when it would just be getting caught on the safety hook. I'll attempt tomorrow to move it laterally and also try to inspect what could be imepeding it from closing normally. I can't imagine anything in the engine area sitting too high, but maybe that's the (worst) case

 

[g6qwerty]

Use a screw driver to test it in place of the hood's bar. Should be able to see if the hood latch is operating properly.