Man, don't oil your hood hinges..

[FE 065]

Man, don\'t oil your hood hinges..

My hood hinges were creaking and groaning each time I opened or lowered the hood, so I oiled them. Down next to the round hood spring on each side just behind and outboard of the radiator. Well..that took care of the noise, it opens a lot easier AND closes alot easier too! Too easy! Just a nudge and down it comes.. Now I'm squirting stuff on them to de-oil them. Slowly but surely the hinges are regaining their stiffness.

 

[Viper Wizard]

Re: Man, don\'t oil your hood hinges..

Get two new Hinges under Warranty! The springs are weak! You do need to oil them once and a while.

 

[FE 065]

Re: Man, don\'t oil your hood hinges..

Weak? The car's hardly broke in! Besides, then I'd have to take it into the dreaded 'dealer'! If I lived near your dealership I'd have been there already... But the thought of them loosening the hood, messing around under there etc gives me shivers. Thanks Chuck ! (I saw some KC-135s at the Selfridge Airshow btw..)

 

[Ron]

Re: Man, don\'t oil your hood hinges..

065 is right on this one... Had a nice tight hood until I performed a bit of maintenance. Hood came down immediately after oiling the hinges. Brought it in under warranty, new springs installed. Hood came down if a fly landed on it. Brought it back for another set of springs, no better. Apparently, it's time to lube the hinges with oiled sand ....

Any ideas on how to tighten the springs?

 

[FE 065]

Re: Man, don\'t oil your hood hinges..

I see you've replaced the springs twice, but if you're still using the same hinges , hit them with some Goop-off, Dawn detergent , rubbing alcohol, or something else mild but potent enough to degrease them. Mine are getting better as I douse them a little bit at a time.

 

[GTS Bruce]

Re: Man, don\'t oil your hood hinges..

I greased mine with sprayable white lithium grease.Took away the squeaks and groans after it worked in.No problems with being too loose. Bruce

 

[joe117]

Re: Man, don\'t oil your hood hinges..

I too used the white, spray grease. No problems.

 

[Hissses]

Re: Man, don\'t oil your hood hinges..

Has any one tried to tighten the springs, it looks like you might be able to rotate the center of the spring another 180 degrees and add some support? Do not know how much pre load is on them now, looks like an old window spring.

 

[FE 065]

Re: Man, don\'t oil your hood hinges..

I've noticed the center posts aren't welded like the ones up on the hood are, and wondered if oiling that area had them rotate some. They're both in the same position though, so it doesn't appear they rotated on their own.

I've been hitting them with Gumout every time the hood's open for a few months now. While that helps initially, invariably in about a week, they barely support the hood when it's up.

I tried turning the center post before and it didn't seem to want to give.

 

[BoostedV10]

WOAH!!!!!

WOAH!!!!!DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DISAMBLE THE HINGES!! Look at what the spring is doing; it has about 2’ of leverage AGAINST it and it is bolted to the center of a hood that weighs somewhere around 100 pounds. Think about it!! Not the smartest thing to do. I have seen one of the springs taken apart and it was a very “violent” event to say the least. Not to say that it could not be done but if you will remember back to the RT/10 days (stress cracked hoods). Every hood I had ever seen with cracks, had at least one in the hood latch area. I do not think it would be worth the risk to play with the spring tensions here.

 

[FE 065]

Re: WOAH!!!!!

Wasn't really thinking about taking it apart. I did put a wrench on it and tried to move the center pin, but no luck.

 

[Anthony - 98 GTS]

Re: WOAH!!!!!

Don't powder coat the hinges either. It has the reverse effect - making the hinges too stiff.

(Not that I would know anything about this )

 

[GR8_ASP]

Re: WOAH!!!!!

Never touched my 95 and no squeaks and the hood stays put. I have not oiled or anything (knocking on wood).