Hood not closing

MerelyKarma

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2010
Location
Toronto, Onterrible
TDI
Golf TDI 2005, Alfa Romeo 164L
So I changed the cabin air filter yesterday (thanks to another useful how to from wingnut. Shocking that when you pull the plastic bag out from on the filter, the fans work :eek:) and I closed the hood till it was about 10-15cm open, then tried shutting it, and it just bounced open. The last people to be under the hood was the dealership.

should this piece be bent?

This shows (badly) how the furthest right piece is bent.

This one shows how far it will close, I'm not sure if you can see the little black release arm, but it is sticking out.

I can get it to close all the way, but it requires me to move the latch manually (poke a screw driver in above the grill). So my questions are what could have caused this? and second where can I find a replacement/should I replace it or is it fixable?

This conference call is boring (people arguing over semantics...), so I figured I would be productive.
 

imo000

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 13, 2005
Location
Cambridge
TDI
2009 M-B ML320 Diesel & '05 Passat TDI Manual 5-Speed
Something is bent there. Did you try slamming it when it didn't latch? How much force did you use when it didn't want to close?
 

MerelyKarma

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2010
Location
Toronto, Onterrible
TDI
Golf TDI 2005, Alfa Romeo 164L
I dropped it from abut 10cm up, and it didnt latch. So I tried pushing on it, nothing happened to I opened it to make sure nothing was blocking it, nothing was, and tried again. Then I had a better look (I guess I should have done that sooner) and noticed it didnt look quite right. I looked at it to work out how it closes, then grabbed a long poky thing (screwdriver) lined up the bar, and used the screwdriver to move the clip into place.
I would say I used less force on it then I do when I close the hatch. I find the slamming sound distasteful, so I try not to slam anything as much as possible
 

imo000

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 13, 2005
Location
Cambridge
TDI
2009 M-B ML320 Diesel & '05 Passat TDI Manual 5-Speed
Ok, had a quick look at mine and this should be an easy fix. The part that is bent towards the engine has to be completly vertical and right under the piece that sticks out the most (highest). Get a small hammer and slowly hammer it back. The two parts have to be one under the other.
 
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