Hood Latch Not Holding

Ever since I got my 98 Escort, we've found the front hood doesn't always latch securely the first time and we would have several goes at trying to get the hood to stay shut.

Lately I've been finding that when going over bumps in the road the hood pops open. It seems to be getting worse and right now can't get it to stay latched at all. The moving latch part seems to be a bit loose we thought and seems to jiggle around a bit. We tried to tighten that bolt in front, but that didn't help.

Would anyone have any tips as to what we could try. Nothing appears to be broken in there. Thanks so much guys...

This is Ford's hood and hood latch alignment procedure for the '95 Escorts (I don't have a manual for the '98s). I'm in the UK and our Escorts differ in detail to yours so I don't know if the hood changed between '95 and '98 over there. Regardless though - the principle would remain the same - first ensure that the hood itself is correctly aligned and then align the hood latch with the hood striker.

If you can't actually see at which point the striker is hitting the latch, then lift the hood and wipe the upper surface of the latch so it's clean and dry, and then smear some grease along the lower edge of the striker. Lower the hood until the striker touches the latch and then lift it again and it will have left a grease mark at the point of contact and that should help with latch alignment.

The Ford procedure for the '95 (North America) range:


Hood Alignment

1. Adjust the hood by loosening the four hood-to-hood-hinge bolts and repositioning the hood laterally or vertically as necessary.

2. Check the hood clearance at the locations shown in the following illustration.

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/1906/hoodalign2pd0.png (http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/6532/hoodalignkr5.png)

3. Tighten the hood-to-hood hinge bolts to 19-25 N-m (14-19 lb-ft).

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/4895/hoodhinge2bz4.png (http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/7203/hoodhingexi5.png)


Hood Latch Alignment

Note: Before adjusting the hood latch, ensure that the hood is properly aligned (see above).

The hood latch can be adjusted from side-to-side to align it with the striker. Adjust the hood latch up or down to obtain a flush fit with the front fender.

1. Loosen the hood latch bolts and nut until the hood latch can be moved.

2. Move the hood latch side to side to align it with the hood striker.

3. Move the hood latch up or down as required to obtain a flush fit between the hood and the front fenders. Tighten the hood latch bolts to 8-11 N-m (69-95 lb-in). Tighten the hood latch nut to 19-25 N-m (14-19 lb-ft).

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/4884/hoodlatch2ez7.png (http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/2062/hoodlatchbb2.png)

4. Open and close the hood several times to check for proper operation.

Try kicking it... if that doesn't work, try again.

Selectron, thank you for taking the time to post all that information. I have to say the pictures of the 95 Escort do seem to match up with my 98. The hood most certainly doesn't seem to appear out of alignment, but on a second look, we thought the whole latch assembly appeared not to be level (down on the right side). We also noticed that one of the bolts seemed to raise the latch unit up or lower it. It now seems to be holding the hood closed more securely. I haven't test driven it yet to see how it takes on the bumpy roads here.

Thanks again for your input...