Busted Hood Latch?
 

Ahh....What's up, guys? My little money pit's giving me problems again, no surprise. Popped the hood today to hook an air compressor to the battery, aired up the tire I needed to and closed the hood, only the driver side latch by the fender didn't latch. Tried a couple more times and even pushed down hard on that corner, but no success....I have no idea what might be causing it, so I'm hoping you guys might.

Jeep is a 1993 2.5L, AX-5, NP-231 (not that I think any of that matters in this case...)

my latch did that on the pass side. all it needed was some oil.

I have owned 3 cherokees and the first 2 broke the hood latch in the same spot.

My current cherokee started having hood issues, and I could not get the drivers side to latch down.

I fixed it by liberally spraying down the latches on each side with WD-40, and I would go back to the lever inside and slowly work it in and out several times. I sprayed some more, and PRESTO--the Hood shut properly and I haven't had issues since.

WD-40 worked for me.

I snapped my cable once and replaced it now as a rule of thumb every time I change my oil I lub all the latching mechanisms

Use the good stuff
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hood pins have always been my choice.... less things to have to deal with wearing out or failing.... Especially if your battery happens to die and you cant even open your hood easily or in this case closing it.

My hood still latches good, but the handle is harder to pull than the panties off a nun! I don't wanna break the cable, which I'm sure it will eventually. Should I just give all of it a good lubing? I've got the WD-40 Rust Release, PBlaster and regualar WD-40. Sorry to threadjack

Lube is useful in many ways........

The XJ latch system has more parts than most. Maintain it regularly. White lithium grease in the spray can works well. .

The swivel under the hood where your hood release cable hooks to is the culprit. Oil between the swivel and the pin it pivots on. Work back and forth until loose and your hood will close.

Make sure the plunger in the cab is pushed back in fully. On mine, I have to do this or the driver side won't catch..

Check the stopper under the hood also, if it is up too high it will be a pita to pull the plunger. Had to lower mine just last week cause it was getting tough to pull

That's what my problem ended up being! After I sprayed all the latches and even the springs next to the latch bars, it still wouldn't catch. Tried a few times until when I went to pop it again, I noticed the handle was hanging on the edge of the kick panel piece, so I pooped it back in place and BINGO! Latches completely now, and thanks to all the WD-40 RRP, handle pulls a lot smoother, too!