Replacing a hood, easy fix, right? Not for me. Okay... the very front and center of my hood, right where the hood latch is, was dented and I drove it like that for more than a year. The dented hood was opened and closed several times over that year, and it closed fine! It would latch up with no problem. I replaced the dented hood with a hood with no dent, from the same make/model Prius. Now... the hood won't latch! DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT DAMAGE COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO THE LATCH WHEN THE DENT WAS MADE? WHY DO YOU THINK THE DENTED HOOD LATCHED FINE, AND THE UNDENTED HOOD ISN'T LATCHING? Any help would be very much appreciated! Thanks!
Because the latch was dented with the hood. You're trying to latch an undented hood into a dented latch. The way you described it says the dent is in the location of the hood at the latch. It is highly likely that the hood and latch were both dented at the same time - not enough to damage the latching mechanism, but enough to move it out of the correct position. The two dented components work fine, but now you're trying to latch a hood to a latch that's in the wrong place. Make sense?
complete. maybe it was thrown out of alignment. these are a tricky fix. first, make sure the seams along the sides of the hood and fenders are even. once everything is tightened down, if it won't latch, try loosening the hood catch, just enough so the catch can move it as you press down on the front of the hood.if it latches, open gently and tighten the fasteners.
Post 2 explains well.... Look to what called the radiator support metal support panel...bet its bent. Test your latch, get a helper, pull cable make sure it is functions!
