Why and How To Adjust a Hood Latch to Stop a Rattle Ford F150

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Hi, I'm Mike from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and next time you need parts for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks!

In this video, we're going to show you how to adjust the height of the hood by adjusting the hood latch, and the only tool that you'll need for this is an 8 millimeter socket and ratchet.

We noticed when we put it on our nice new grille from 1A Auto, chrome surround in the champagne color, we noticed that our hood, when we put it down, still goes up and down some. It's fully latched, you can see it does come up. When we go to unlatch it you get a little bit of a pop. Like I said, you can see latched, it still goes up and down, so I'm going to show you how to take care of that.

There are two ways you can adjust the hood: there's the hood bumpers on each side, and basically what you want to do is you turn these counterclockwise to bring them up, or clockwise to take them down, and that's how you line up the hood with the edge of the fender.

The issue we're having is this: our hood latch is just too high. There are two 8 millimeter bolts that hold it in. We're going to loosen up this one. You might have to loosen them up just a little extra before it'll move. Sometimes the latch sticks to the bolts itself. All right, you just saw it move down a little bit. Move it down a little bit on this side, now move it down a little bit on this side. This side is still not really moving.

What you need to be careful of is that you don't tilt it too far to one side or the other and cause an alignment problem with the striker. There we go. Okay, now it's down. You can adjust it up and down as well as side to side. I just tried to move it down a little bit without moving it back, left, or right at all. We'll try our hood. Nice and tight, no noise.

Now, when we pop it, it has a much more distinct sound. Still comes up easily though. Let me make sure I tighten up these bolts well. Then just one last thing we're going to spray. This is actually rust penetrate; spray that in there to make sure everything's working. Then we'll follow that up and spray some white grease in there as well.

We hope this video helps you out. Brought to you by www.1AAuto.com, your source for quality replacement parts and the best service on the Internet. Please feel free to call us toll-free, 888-844-3393. We're the company that's here for you on the Internet and in person.