Hey all,

I just picked up the mustang around a few days ago and I notice hood shaking at highway speeds. So I tried to adjust the rubber bumpers for the hood and it still does it

The passenger side is fine (no lift and even), however the drivers side I can life up on the edge, even with adjustment. The highest I can lift it (without that much force), goes over the line of the fender (about a 1/4 of an inch).

_Example:_

Hood: --
Fender: _
--_

Anyway to adjust this, or should I just bring it back to the dealer and let them handle this?

Please let me know and thank you

 

well, my hood does this same thing do at high speeds when the air is really dense, i.e. in the cold weather....when the air is more dense, the greater the force of the air as it passes through the front grille and into the engine compartment, the greater the engine compartment pressure would be, therefore, the more force that will be pushing out on the hood....yes the air does escape through bottom of the engine compartment area and under the car, but just not all at once....my hood does it from time to time as well...a.t first i scared me because i didnt know what was going on with it but now that i know what causes it, as long as the MAIN LATCH is locked in place then there shouldnt be a problem....also, for something like this, i dont believe its only the drivers side....u might now notice it, but the passenger side list up as well since the hood is 1 solid piece and does not bend or fold out and then fold back into place....

 

my stock hood used to do it all the time also even after trying to adjust the bumpstops....nothing ever worked. that's why on my aftermarket hood I didn't think twice about hood pins (if you've ever been in a car and the hood came up while driving you know it's not much fun - happened in my first car while I was driving, hood came up, bent the hood, smashed the windshield, & damaged the roof of the car)

 

Very common on the S197's and there have been dozens of threads on this. If adjusting the bumpers (1/4 turn at a time) doesn't help, I'd ask the dealer to look at it but don't get your hopes up. Although I've never tried it (I still have hood shake at times, mainly above 100 MPH, but not as bad as before the adjustment), there's a reported fix that uses some tape insulation applied on top of the headlights where the most of the air seems to be getting up under the hood.

 

I've heard of this, but I never noticed mine doing it

 

"If" you have adjusted all "4" rubber stops and just the one side keeps doing it then check your bolts on that side that hold the hood on and make sure they are good. Adjusting all 4 rubber stops takes care of the hood shake problem over 90% of the time. When all 4 rubber stops are adjusted correctly your hood when closed should not have any play in it at all.

 

Mine does it. Never bothered to mess with it. It's not a safety issue and I guess it doesn't bother me much.

 

Mine does it too at high speeds or heavy winds. I've been considering hood pins just to make me feel better although I know it's all visual and the hood isn't actually going to fly open.

 

It helps a lot that's for sure...
I do this in all my cars anyway as well as replacing the latch spring for a softer one.
Since you have these 4 bumper stops adjusted tight, it makes you slam the hood harder to close it...
On an aluminum hood, I don't like that at all, so a softer spring will require less force for the latch to lock in

 

I ran outside and tried to adjust them, however it appears that no mater how much adjusting I do, I will always still have that leeway (of 1/4in) on the drivers side. I also checked the bolts on the hood and they appear to be fine.

[venting]
Could the hood be warped some how since it was sitting in the dealerships lot since 4/08 (just picked it up 1/09)? Its just so odd that the the passenger side is nice and tight with no leeway at all, but the drivers side has some Nothing is hitting or touching. I know that this car, like any car, has its issues but it bugs the crap out of me :/
[/vent]