a short while back my mechanic diagnosed my noisy front end and determined I needed sway bars and inner tie rods; after completing the diagnosis he went to close the hood but couldn't- he proceeded to slam it increasingly harder 4-5x to no avail; we discovered that the secondary/safety latch was misaligned and missing the hole in the hood . With pliers he bent it back towards the windshield and the hood closed. I went out of town and he did the job. Later, the hood popped repeatedly when getting up to @ 65-75 mph and/or going over significant bumps on the interstate; he came out and did something to get it locked down securely, BUT the under dash cable pull would not release it; I had to change oil so used a cedar shim to pry the hood unlocked. I told him of the problem but he gave up and told me I needed a new latch assembly or resort to hood pins. I read some forum entries and messed with it today: de-gunked the latch, re-greased the latch and cable. This latch does not appear to be designed for adjustment of height, side to side, or angle of incidence. The vertical orientation/angle looked off, probably about 20-30 degrees less than straight up 90 degrees, pointing towards the headlights. When I reattached the latch apparatus to the bracket on the radiator I put a thin strip of metal under each bolt and between the mounting bracket and radiator flange as to change the pitch of the entire assembly. W/out the plastic trim cover over the headlights/ radiator I slammed the hood shut (easily) and took it for a test drive...no probs-80-85 mph- no prob: hood locked tight, SUCCESS!. I came back home and put the plastic trim cover on over the lights/radiator and tried to shut the hood: no deal...no shut, no primary latch locking,...I've played with the adj rubber bumper stops at either corner of the frame under the hood- I don't think they are the prob or solution...Currently I've left the plastic trim cover off and it's closing easily-staying locked...what's the function of the plastic cover I've left off and does anyone have an idea on what the heck caused this to happen????? before the mech diagnosed the front end, all was 'normal'

I don't know what is causing your problem, but the plastic cover is more for looks than anything. It just hides your headlights and radiator.

MOD aka "another Craig"
Mark of Distinction
1993 Light Mocha

fortunately some dingbat backed into my bumper and scratched the paint, she's paying cash to have the local Ford dealer repaint it; I asked him about the hood latch fiasco; he pointed out how the cross-member which holds the hood latch assembly is out of alignment; this can be seen at the ends by uneven margins with either fender and it's askewed to with the radiator; while the hood latch itself is not adjustable, the cross-member which it's welded to can shift...does this sound familiar or likely to anyone? I have photos but don't know how to add them here

If I remember correctly, the hood latch is adjustable in that it will adjust up/down somewhat. I also believe there are a couple alignment pins that restrict the adustment somewhat. Take a sharp object (ice pick,etc.) and scratch around the hood latch, then loosen the bolts and see if it moves!!!!!

There is no way that a manufacturer could build a system with out some adjustment built into the system!!!!!!!!!!!

there are two pins on the back of the latch that keep it in the same place on the bracket; there are threaded rubber bumpers at wither corner to adjust hood height- they are more to align it with the fenders; as far as height or angle, it is what it is; although the cross tie in front of the radiator has shifted, and it's now misadjusted