QuestionQUESTION: Thanks, Roland. I drive what you have -- an '89 LeBaron. Mine's a convertible, 2.5L non Turbo. Today's problem: the front hood latch won't lock. Happened before, some spray worked. This time: a spring is on the ground (I picked it up) and another spring came off in my hand as I was spraying and manually moving the button. It seems the cable itself is ok, when I apply pressure on it you can feel it on the grip latch under the dashboard. Question is, is this an easy fix? With a diagram, put the two springs back? Or is this a replacement job for an entirely new cable? Still love my 89 LeBaron convt.... Thanks again.
ANSWER: Hi Art,
The car is on the road for about another hour but I expect it back soon. I believe that the knob on the end of the cable which meshes with a lever on the latch mechanism may have come off the end of the cable due to a failure at that point. There is a spring in the latch which returns the lever to the latching position after the cable pulls the latch release lever toward the driver side of the vehicle. If you get under the car you will be able to see the latch mechanism mounted on the cross member. Look for a lever on the mechanism which you can push toward the driver's side by means of a bar or other handheld probe. Once you find the lever and push it the hood latch will release just as normal and you can then open the hood to inspect the cable end, the spring action of the lever, and the spring action of the safety latch. Usually the cable end is what fails and I believe would call for a new cable. But let me check the parts manual and look at my car and get back with more info later today. The fact that springs have fallen out makes me suspect that the latch mechanism itself may have failed (such as the lever come off of its shaft or some such failure which would probably cause at least one spring to be freed). The lever you have to push upon is just in front of the conical tip that is attached to the hood proper. It isn't very long, but it juts forward from the round hole into which the tip is inserted.
Roland
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QUESTION: Okay, I got under the car to look -- the hood has failed in the unlocked position, so I can open it as usual. The cable itself seems alright. It has tension and movement. Its end -- I'll call it its hammer -- is properly inserted into the mechanical movement that would release the button. Of course the springs are missing -- I have them, separated. For description, one is 3/4", the other 3/8" long, before they begin their hook. I didn't see any other pieces that may have fallen onto the ground. So you may be right that the failure is in the latch mechanism. Question is, can the springs simply be (easily) reinserted, or do I need a whole new latch? And until then, how okay is it for me to drive in that condition? Last time I wasn't able to lock it (and WD-40 worked), I drove the car and the hood never came up, even on the highway (there is the secondary catch system) but how okay is that? Again, thanks, your information is terrific.
ANSWER: I looked up from underneath and only see one spring on the latch mechanism proper, it is the one that is attached to the latch lever that is stretched by pulling on the release cable from the cabin. The striker, mounted on the underside of the hood has of course the large diameter spring on the nose piece, and the small diameter spring on the safety catch hook. If that safety catch is still spring loaded it would be safe to drive the car with the hood ajar, otherwise not. So I am not sure what springs you found, but the parts catalog shows only the latch as a unit and the striker as a unit being available (the part nos. 4341 952 and 4386 874, respectively) So dose the latch opening (into which the striker fits) still seem to be spring-loaded or not? If so then that would seem to be ok, and then the springs may have come out of the striker, is all I cam surmise from here. Probably the best solution would be to go to a pull-it-yourself wrecking yard and get what you need.
Roland
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QUESTION: Driving at 40 mph since this happened seems to be no problem. There is of course a secondary catch -- pop the lock from the cabin, then stick your hand under the then-slightly raised hood, pull the lever in order to raise the hood. So that part seems to be holding fine, I can't tell if that spring-loaded or not. I'm leery of driving in this condition on the highway, but I did that last time (or got away with it.) So that's immediate concern. Second, the smaller of the two springs (3/8" long before the hook starts, diameter 1/4") came off into my hand when I fiddled. (The larger spring I found on the ground, in the general area, same diameter.) Somehow that spring needs to be onto the end of the cable, I'm guessing, then hooked into its latch hole, of which I think I can see where that is, on the moving button. If that can happen, then I may not need the latch. Or if it can't, I may need the whole cable. Thoughts again?
AnswerIs the cable moving the curved edge slider that partially obstructs the hole into which the the striker fits. And is that slider spring-loaded? That is how mine is behaving.
The secondary catch is spring loaded with a small spring around its axis. I can't ID the small sping you describe from underneath. You will probably need to remove the latch and drop it down to examine it and for any holes into which the springs might fit.
Roland
