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Hood Latch Flex...Unlatched Hood?????

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Hi all,

Well, I was out putting some miles on the new Boss today, and on the way home from a quick lunch stop, a very scary event happened on the freeway. At about 75 MPH, the front of the hood popped up...but fortunately, the safety latch worked and I did not lose the hood!

It was absolutely, positively latched when I left home, and I drove against a good headwind for about 30 miles before starting home. We stopped for lunch, and on the way out of that parking lot, I believe I know what happened. The exit driveway to the street is at a pretty steep angle. I believe as I was exiting, the flexing of the unibody/radiator bracket where the latch is mounted flexed just enough to allow the hood to unlatch. I was able to pull off the freeway pretty quickly and thank God for the safety latch...

I searched on the site for this problem but did not find anything similar being reported. Has anyone else heard of this? BTW, I am all stock, no mods whatsoever.

JJ

I was
 
Ive never heard that happen...
the only thing i can think of, other than hood not being completely shut, is maybe your latch is a little misaligned. I'd take it to the dealership for them to check it out, which im sure is something that crossed your mind. So, not much help here lol.
 
Hi FD,

Yes...I will have the dealer look at it...It was absolutely shut tight. I drove the first leg of the short trip today against a very heavy headwind...25-30 mph gusts...and it stayed down...no problem. It might be an alignment issue, but it seems to fit perfectly flush all around and has not had a previous episode of this. The driveway angle I went out was pretty steep and I hit I very slowly, but at a sharp angle, to avoid dragging the chin spoiler. I didn't hear anything, but my guess has to be a flex/latch alignment issue. When it cools off outside this evening, I am going to look at the markings/fitment on the latch assembly. It's 109 out now, plus the engine heat!!!

I'll update later...

Thanks,

JJ
 
I haven't heard of that either. Have your dealer check it out.
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
How do you normally close the hood?

I have trouble imagining how a latched hood could get unlatched from body flex.

Like the others said...take a trip to the dealer and good luck replicating the issue.
 

Justin

Save the dawn for your dishes!!!
never heard of that happening before. I have redline hood struts so I always have to give it a good push to close it. it is possible to only be half latched doing it this way I have done that before.

has it repeated this event? could have just been a fluke and wasnt entirely latched.
 
Hi everyone,

Thanks for the responses on this question. After the incident, I deliberately drove around over several local roads with less than ideal surfaces, and even hit my own driveway at a more acute angle to see if the incident would repeat. It did not. However, there is absolutely no way that the hood was not fully latched on the day it happened. I dropped it down from about 15" up, and it shut firm and flush. I then pushed down a bit on the center over the latch to ensure that it was down tight. It was. I even checked the interior pull handle to ensure it was forward and not somehow stuck rearward. I did all that because it was the first time I had ever opened the hood since I got the car home. I had checked the oil and closely examined the sound tube to determine if I wanted to remove that mess of plastic.

However, the most telling issue was the fact that here in the desert where I live, we have consistent, strong gusting westerly winds on a very regular basis. The day it happened, I was driving into those gusting winds at about 75-80 MPH, and there was not even a slight movement of the hood. This happened about 2-3 minutes after I left that extreme angled driveway, at a pretty acute angle, to avoid dragging my front spoiler lip. I only reiterate these details because I am very sure the hood was solidly latched before this happened. And being new here, I don't want everyone to think I am just some noobie that doesn't know anything or has little history with automobiles. I have quite an extensive wrenching background and do a lot of work on my vehicles, motorcycles, quads and dirtbikes myself.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone for the responses. I will likely have the dealer take a look at it, but I am seriously thinking about some high quality hood latches. I plan on keeping this Boss until it gets passed down to my kids/grandkids! I am really loving this car more each time I get to drive it.

Does anyone have any suggestions/experience re: high quality hood latches/locks?

Thanks again,

JJ
 
I think it was probably a fluke. This is exactly why the latches now have a safety, so on the off chance something like this happens we don't destroy our hoods - or worse. After a visit to the dealer, who will probably find nothing, I'd wait and see if it ever happens again before trying to replace the latch. In all likelihood there is nothing wrong and it won't ever happen again. But even if it does, you know the safety is there and that it works.
 

Justin

Save the dawn for your dishes!!!
I wish wms made a stealth hood pin kit for the newer mustangs like they do for the 05-09s. I have a brand new kit that I never put on just sitting in a box. Thought about making it fit but not sure if I want to cut up the rad shroud to do it.

http://www.wmsracing.com/wmsweb/hoodpins.html
 
could it be the latch that you pull inside the car?

i've realized that once you pull it, it doesn't automatically retract. but it does retract one hood is shut. it may have gotten stuck and not fully latched. just trying to put some ideas out there, in case you notice anything else.
 
F.D.,

I did check that, and I guess it's possibility that there might be a problem there. However, it was just slightly back when the incident happened, which it would have been as the initial latch released. But is was tight and forward when I closed the hood the only time I had it open prior to the incident.

Yesterday, I pulled off the plastic radiator support shroud and very carefully examined the hood latch. It is tight against it's mounting point, located/aligned properly, and all it's bolts were properly tightened. I simply cannot see anything physically/mechanically wrong with the hood latch itself. Fortunately for me, the safety catch DID WORK! The hood catch hoop, which hooks into the hood latch seems to be in perfect shape/alignment, as well.

I am starting to feel like the situation may have been a fluke occurrence. I am off for 4 days and I am going to drive over to the same driveway and try to repeat the incident. If all is well, I'm going to take my good Canon and drive up to the mountains to take shots of the new car to send to my brother. If there is another hood release issue, the location is pretty close to my local Ford dealership.... and I'll go there instead!

Thanks to everyone for your responses in this thread...


JJ
 
I had it happend on my '07 GT500 which basically has the same hood design as the '12 Boss 302s where the leading edge of the hood overhangs the grille opening. I'm assuming you have a '13 though where the hood is flush with the front clip. It only happened to me once and the safety catch did it's job just like yours. Like you I was certain it was latched, but I'm guessing maybe not fully seated. In any event since I track my cars up to 160 mph sometimes bucking some serious cross/headwinds I have pins in both hoods for insurance.
 

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