Mercedes-Benz 420SEL Hood Latch Replacement at your home or office.

What is the Hood Latch all about?

In order to ensure easy access to the engine and all of its components, your vehicle’s hood needs to stay open. However, it must be secured while driving, lest it opens and crashes into the windshield. The job of the hood latch is keeping the hood securely closed. It generally consists of a “hook and eye” type of assembly. The latch is operated via a cable that runs from the front of the car through the engine bay, passes through the firewall, and attaches to the back of the hood release handle/lever located below the steering wheel. When the hood is closed, the latch slides over the hood catch and a spring snaps the latch closed. To release the hood, you pull the release cable that opens the latch, allowing it to pop up past the hood catch. There is a secondary safety catch on the hood latch that needs to be pressed to open the hood fully. If the hood latch is seizing or broken, the hood will either not open or will not latch closed.