Hi ... love my '95 Subaru but about a year ago I had a front end accident which damaged a fender, the hood as well as the hood latch assembly. At first, I mistakenly replaced the hood & front psgr fender with non-oem replacements. To spare the ensuing drama, I recently replaced the hood AGAIN with a nice salvage yard oem part. I know this may be idiotic to some of you, but I welded the hood latch assembly back together (it was badly damaged but over time it split apart horizontally completely). The car is in much better shape than it was even 6 months ago, and I've been slowly restoring it as time permits me.

Right after the welding and replacing the hood again, I was reasonably confident the hood was working well and was secure. But now it's slightly opened - still latched but very slightly cracked open. I can push it completely shut but when I start driving it, especially over 40mph, it opens just a little.

I'm obviously NO expert in these things, and I've done quite a bit of research before posting here. If possible I would like to fix this myself (I'm getting into DIY work - it's fun). Does anyone have any helpful advice? Other than take it to a Subaru dealer, that is!

Thanks for your feedback, in advance.

 

By the way - it's NOT the hood latch itself that broke ... it's the post below it that it's fastened to. That post was damaged and fractured clear across itself over time.

 

Is this the part you're talking about?

 

Lube the latch with a teflon spray. Mine was doing the same thing and this fixed the problem.

 

JD - lube the latch and that'll make the hood NOT pop open (just slightly) by, say, air flow pushing at it, for example? I just want to be sure I understand your remedy

12impreza - yes, my hood latch looks like that . Is the part on the right side of the pic the vertical post that the latch is welded onto? Because if I recall the setup correctly (and I should I guess), that vertical post was kind of part of the internal frame (whatever the technical name is) and didn't seem like it could be removed or replaced. I think that's why we welded the fracture.

 

Maybe what I should try to do is take a pic to show you guys what it actually looks like right now on mine. I'll try doing that shortly.

 

Yes. Just spray the latch assembly. There's another part that is stuck besides the main latch, the part attached to the hood pop.

 

OK, I tried PTFE spray. It does seem to have helped, at least when I'm NOT on the f-way. Once I get on, the high speed & air current still forces it open a little, and in a weird way, it seems to "bobble" more rapidly (because of lube?). Very weird, and still scary. I'm really afraid this thing is going to fly open while I'm going 65!
I read a thread on automotive helper dot com called "loose hood" about Nissan hoods having rubber spacers on their radiator supports that keep the hood from bobbing up and down.

I can't seem to find any spacers or stoppers that would stabilize the hood. Does anyone know if Subaru's have these contraptions?