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FCP Euro Service Kits

FCP Euro Kits

The other day, I needed to pop the hood to refill my washer fluid. If you’ve ever driven in winter weather, you’ll know the importance of having your washer fluid topped up. Unfortunately, I neglected this important step before the first big snowfall of the season. I should have remembered that nothing is as easy as it seems when dealing with a 25 year old car. Fortunately for FCP readers, this little episode gave me another item to document.

Essentially, the hood release didn’t work properly, releasing only one of the two locking latches. Before I made my way to the adjustments, I had to get the hood released…

 

Step 1: Adjust the hood release latch

The way the hood works is as such: The hood release is connected to the lock on the driver’s side locking latch. This latch is then connected to the latch on the passenger side via a metal wire. Over time, these two connections can loosen, and of course, cause the hood to release improperly, or not at all.

Take an adjustable wrench and tighten it over the adjustment nut as seen below. This will allow you to tighten the hood release cable. Turn your wrench clockwise to tighten the cable, and counterclockwise to loosen it.

Once you have turned the wrench a few times, give your hood release a few good tugs. If your hood still doesn’t release, tighten the cable a bit more and try it again.

 

Step 2: Adjust the metal connecting wire

Open up the panel to the right of the radiator by undoing two screws. Once you have done so, you will see the metal connecting wire that attaches to the driver’s side latch. Take a pair of needle nose pliers and tighten the wire to remove as much slack as possible. Be careful not to tighten it so much that the latch is in a permanently “released” state.

Get a friend to observe the hood locks as your pull the release latch. Make sure they both release approximately the same time.

 

Step 3: Adjust the hood springs

There are two steps to the hood support springs: the position of the support, and the tension of the springs. The position affects the alignment of the hood while the spring tension adjusts how tightly the hood attaches.

Take a large flathead screwdriver and turn the support counterclockwise to extend the length and clockwise to reduce it. The hood should sit flush with the top of the adjacent fender when adjusted properly.

The adjustment of the spring is done with the collar closest to the hood. You should be able to turn this with your finger. Otherwise, use a pair of large adjustable pliers to do this. Turn it counterclockwise to tighten the spring, and clockwise to loosen it. Normally, you shouldn’t need to adjust the tension much, if at all.

Before you close up for the night, test the hood and latch a few times to make sure you did everything properly. The worst thing you want is to have to pop the hood next time, only to find it won’t release, sending you back to the drawing board.

 

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Written by :
Tim Wong

Tim is a Canadian from Windsor, with a knack for taking things apart, and sometimes putting them back together. He is a mechanical engineer by day and backyard mechanic by night. His mantra in life is to never break another bolt.


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