Hi all,

my hood on my 89 244 will not lock. it WILL close, but when I slam the hood shut it invariably pops back up, whether right away or after a few blocks of driving. i thought it could have been the cable, its very resistant to wanting to be pulled and then i have to push it back in to get the hood to catch, and even then it still pops back out after a few minutes. The spring on the hood and the hole it rests inside when the hood is closed are both covered in graphite grease. anyone ever have an issue with this? was it an easy fix? thanks.

NK,

As suggested, if you remove the grille, you can view the entire latch mechanism. It is fairly easy to remove, clean and lubricate. One thing that has not been mentioned is that on each forward side of the hood there is a rubber screw type bumper that may require adjustment. If it happens to protrude too far from the hood, it could impede full movement of the hood when attempting to close.

You'll find that if you pull the latch mechanism apart, clean and lube it along with getting some light oil along the cable, that the handle will require very little force to open the hood, as if it was brand new.

And you will be proud. Good luck

Marty Wolfson
--
93 244 - 127K, 93 244 - 200K, 93 245 - 122K (In Ca now) 99 V-70 - 96K

There are two possible reasons:
1) the catch isn't freely moving, because either it's so full of old, hardened grease that it's stuck or frozen; or the cable is not sliding easily (already mentioned by another); or maybe the spring has failed.
Also, check that the pin (on the hood) and its spring are also properly lubricated -- you can push (compress) the spring with a long socket of appropriate size to test this.
2) the catch is misaligned, and the pin (and spring) are not slipping down into the heart of the catch.

Is this a newly acquired car, or have you had it a long time and this problem has suddenly arisen. (Maybe the reason it's so full of grease -- maybe suspiciously too much?) is that the previous owner was trying to hide the problem to sell it to you).

In any case, here's what I would do (and have done as preventive maintenance upon acquiring a used car to prevent lock problems). I take out the catch and clean it out thoroughly and relubricate it (sparingly). It's really easy.

You only need to remove three bolts (around the catch), 10 or 12mm head size.
Be sure to first mark their positions (in case the catch is properly aligned, to put it back the same way).
After you remove those three fasteners, note (and write down) how the cable wire is fastened to the catch (to put it back the same way).

Then take the free catch and put it in a container with a solvent (I use CRC's BrakeKleen -- just spray enough in a container to fill it). Slosh it around, use toothpicks to dislodge the stubborn old grease and gravel inside -- unfortunately, the catch mechanism can't be disassembled -- and be sure the catch mechanism moves easily. You can push against its built-in spring with a finger to test. And then regrease with a good lubricant. I use sunroof lubricant, but others also like white lithium grease. Just don't use too much.

Also check the cable to see that it slides easily.

Then reassemble -- hopefully, everything will run smoothly.

I've done this four times (on the last four 240s I've bought) -- it's easier than it sounds from these instructions. It's not rocket science, and the only tools you need are the aforementioned socket and ratchet for the three bolts.

Try pushing the interior hood release handle back into it's "locked" position after you pull it to open the hood. Then retry to close hood. Over time the cable stretches and things stick. I have to do this with my 87 745.

Al,

Thanks for the response, I was doing that already, pushing the hood release cable back in and then trying to close it. That was really the only time the hood closed since this started happening. But regardless of that, even when it appears closed and I pull up on it to make sure it really IS closed (which it is), driving a short distance and going over a bump or two always causes the hood to unlatch again. luckily it has not yet completely opened while I was driving, but i know all it takes at this point is a big bump for that to happen, so I want to fix the lock problem.

Your problem is not in the cable.
It's in the body's part of the latch.

My hood was reluctant to stay down when I shut it on Saturday a.m., headed up to the pick-n-pull.
On the trip back home it self-released as I was accelerating to highway speed.

This is what I found the next day when I took the time to fix it.

Look down at the hole in the body-side of the latch mechanism. It has a small slider that moves towards drivers side to give a full circle to release the hood, then snaps back (towards passenger side) by spring action to hold onto the hood's prong to keep hood down.

Remove the radiator grill so you can reach in and work the mechanism by hand. You'll find the slider.

On my car the small spring that pulls the slider had broken. The spring also pulls the hood release cable back after you let go of it. I found the spring in my driveway a couple days before and saved it, but did not what it was. Now I knew.

You will need to remove the body-side latch mechanism. Be sure to pay attention to it's position; it is adjustable left-right and front-rear. I marked mine with a scribe and also memorized the position. Sure enough I could hardly read the scribe marks after cleaning the thing so it's good that I knew where it was positioned. Three screws hold it to the sheet metal. With those out, you can easily slip the latch off the end of the cable coming from passenger compartment.

I used brake cleaner to clean all the gunk out of the mechanism. Fortunately I had saved the broken spring and knew what to look for in the hardware store. I used 2 # 102 springs from a True Value - Cash Home Center. Or maybe you could get one from a junkyard or a Volvo dealer. One spring did the job but the end-loop was too short so I made an extension using material from the second spring.

Good luck.
My son had a hood fly up once. Very scary. You can't see.
--
DAMHIK: Don't Ask Me How I Know - - - Sven: '89 245, IPD sways, electric rad. fan conversion, e-codes, 28+ mpg - auto tranny. 500 mi/week commute. '89 245 #2 (wifemobile). '90 244 (spare, runs).

Now that you mention it when I looked at that spring it did look like it was disfigured, it looked stretched out on the left (when looking at it from the front with the grille removed). I did not play with the latch, but that spring may be the root of the problem. I will investigate further this evening and may try to take a few pics too. Thanks

Nik

"Remove the radiator grill so you can reach in and work the mechanism by hand. You'll find the slider."


my red pull latch broke, so to open the hood without moving grill/radiator I lay on the ground with my feet at the pass front wheen head near driver wheel reach up inbetween aux fan and grill up above you can feelthat nub of the latch... pull it toward you.

I've been wanting to get mine fixed, but i've got it down to about 5 sec to open the hood

I was leaking oil on the 1,200 mile trip from florida and couldn't raise the hood after the latch broke...had me worried but in the end trusty ole volvo :)