I had to get under the hood yesterday and when I tried to slam the hood closed.....it would not close. The secondary hood latch kept folding up under itself. I finally discovered that the end of the spring was in front of some horizontal holding pin and try as I could I could not get it to go behind the holding pin using a screwdriver. Finally my son just yanked the heck out of the latch pulling it towards him and he heard a faint click and he slammed the hood and the hood stayed down. I did use some PB on the spring area about 5 mins before he yanked hard. The latch WAS very rusted. I have no intentions of opening the hood until it gets a bit warmer here. It's been zero overnight for a week now and not going to be getting warmer here probably until March.

My question is......do you think my son 'fixed" the problem or made it worse or do you think I need a new secondary hood latch. Looked on the web and got nowhere too fast for a replacement.

Also...any ideas of just HOW to install a new one? I'll find one somewhere I'm sure by March. Nothing out there about the secondary installation just the main hood latch.

 

I went to a JY and pulled one off a newer XJ and replaced the whole assembly.. I think I paid $8 and about an hours worth of labor.

 

The junkyards in my area has NO older XJ's. They like to scrap them out after a few months to make room for newer cars. I had called all the junkyards months ago when I was looking for something else and they had NO jeeps older than 2000. I know junkyards are grea resources but not around here and the newer models of JGCL won't fit as it is not the same part.

Just HOW did you take off the old latch and install the new secondary latch? That was basically my question.

 

drill out the rivets, install a new one. Would you like me to go to a local JY of mine and get you one?

 

Mine does not have a rivet to hold onto the hood but has actual bolts and nuts. That's why I was asking how does it connect to hood.

Below is a photo that shows the configuration only mine is BLACK with a circle to use as a fingerpull about halfway down the shaft. This photo looks like the spring is sprung as well. The photo shows a Cherokee latch....the Grand Cherokee latches are different. This latch will NOT work on my 97 XJ!!! I just used the photo to show you what part I need vs the main hood latch.

 

There is no need to replace that all you need to do is when you open it again is to leave it open and keep spraying inside the cable using the nozzle for as long as your able so it can run back down the cable. While waiting to do that you can pull the hood latch loose inside the XJ and supporting it as high as possible do the same thing.


I had this same problem with mine when I got it so had to work on it right away. I had saw this happen many times over the yrs on a lot of different cars trucks 95% of the time after lubing good to go. You did start out right, BTW when I did mine I sprayed the cable down 2 or 3 times over 24 hrs on both ends before I put it back together.


Good luck hops this does the job for you as its a real PITA for the hood to not opening.

 

[QUOTE=Fred/N0AZZ;3036044]There is no need to replace that all you need to do is when you open it again is to leave it open and keep spraying inside the cable using the nozzle for as long as your able so it can run back down the cable. While waiting to do that you can pull the hood latch loose inside the XJ and supporting it as high as possible do the same thing.

Fred, I mean the SECONDARY HOOD LATCH or the SAFETY LATCH whichever or whatever it's called. I have no problem with the main hood latch....cable works fine. My 94 had the cable snap but this is NOT the same problem.

 

I would LOVE for you to find one for me as the JYs here are cleared out of Jeeps. Shipping would be to 44691 zip code.

Your 1995 should have the same secondary hood latch as my Jeep GCL 94 did. It is BLACK with a round disc shape near the bottom to act as a fingerpull. My 97 would be the same as I remember before we slammed the hood down and what I've read online about the secondary hood latches.

Please take a photo of your 95 so I can see if I need the SAME secondary hood latch that you have so that you know that's just EXACTLY what I need. MY PHOTO ABOVE IS NOT WHAT I NEED BUT JUST A SECONDARY latch OFF A JEEP CHEROKEE WHICH WILL NOT FIT THE GCL. Can't find a photo online of a 97 Jeep GCL latch.

Many thanks, Linda.

 

alright I will be able to go to a JY this week! PM me a phone number or email for pictures, it's easier.

 

[QUOTE=twinkiedooter;3036051]
Sorry about that photo had not posted when I had.