Tiny hood safety latch release pin

Anybody ever lose the little pin that holds the safety latch release while either taking apart or putting the grill back together?

I lost it probably 3 or 4 times and found it again until the last time. It's been surviving with a zip tie doing the job for a while now. It's cheezy, but it does work, at least until the zip tie breaks and then it gets another zip tie.

Are these little pins available at any of the parts suppliers we're accustomed to using? (Bora, ID, Metalman?)

I can't be the only one. LOL!!

I know, it's not critical. Just something that bugs me every time I open the hood.

Brian

Yup, happens all the time. Stick a cotter pin or a small bolt/nut in as a substitute.

AFAIK, not available separately. ETKA appears to give same answer.

Aah, I like the cotter pin idea!! Very easy to get in and out but won't fall out on it's own.

I might choose that one over a factory replacement on purpose.

Thanks



Brian

A Nail?

I had the same problem when I changeg out a busted front grill. It's difficult to manuever the small pin in such tight quarters. Anyway, I wasn't able to find a cotter pin small enough to fit in the hole and the limited space made trying to hold the tiny nut/bolt combo with wrenches in order to tighten just about impossible.

What I finally ended up doing for a fix was finding a small nail, putting a bend in it to prevent it from slipping out of the hole and cutting it to a reasonable length with wire cutters. I was able to manuever it in place with a set of needle nose pliers. It's been holding for almost two years now.

Ahh- I'm not the only one who lost this.
I used a cotter pin at first, but it snagged sometimes on other parts that are very nearby. What I did was go to hardware store and buy a nylon screw and nut (not metal). I might have used 2nd nut as a jam nut, I don't recall. Install the screw and nut. Make sure not to tighten the nut down too much to avoid squeezing the outer plastic part (of the hood latch) too tightly, or it will bind. Anyway, once you get the screw & nut installed, you can reach in with a pair of diagonal cutters and cut off the excess protruding screw exactly down to the nut, so no extra sticks out to snag on anything. I used nylon instead of metal mainly because the threads of the screw are what pulls on the hood latch, and I was afraid that metal threads might cut the plastic over time. I think I put some blue loctite in the threads also. Not sure if that even works on nylon!

dealer should have the pin or clip you are looking for.