Topic

Both of my front hood latches no longer safety lock. In other words, they are easily unlatched without having to depress the little button/safety latch.

Is this a common problem?
Is there a repair process or do I need new latches?

Obviously that shouldn’t happen! Is your hood particularly tight (pardon my asking), this wouldn’t allow the last few mm of free play to put the correct tension in the system.
They can be adjusted quite easily by lifting the wire locking clip & twisting the turnbuckle to take up or slack back the tension.
The only other thought is the rounding of the latch allowing one to roll of the other……. But on both sides?
And a freshly taken picture showing the clip lifted & the turnbuckle.
M

No bloody picture again, why am I such a duffer when it comes to photos?
Try again on

Thanks for the feedback.
All the tensions seem OK. It is just the little safety latch that no longer works.
I have found that if I give the little latch some extra assistance with a small lever (the car key), then it is quite secure.
So at the moment I will see if I can get a new spring.

I have discovered that none of the small parts or fasteners used in the LE500 had any corrosion protection or lubrication, I anticipate that the springs inside the latch are corroding away and becoming weak.

It would be odd for both sides to have the same fault without this being tension related. The latches on my 115 were a bit hit and miss when i first got it, It hardly required any pressure at all on the buttons to get them to release and a couple of times one of them released when i was sure it had latched. Tightening cured them immediately. Check the U shaped spring, visible in Airportable's photo, is in place around the adjuster rather than held up and clear as it is in the photo.

Tonight I compared the latches from my soft top and the hard top.
Obviously the hard top latches have hardly ever been used, whereas the soft top has had a reasonable amount of use.

It is very clear the the joints in the soft top set are very worn so there is now an excessive gap between the safety latch and main lever.

So I have fitted the hard top latches to the soft top and will try and refurbish the worn set. Or I will have to buy a new set.

Not very good for a car with genuinely less than 20k miles.

It's not good when components wear out, but it does happen. But in this case I see no connection between milage and wear! The car could have done 100k miles and never had the hood down so would have perfect catches. On the other hand it could be sat in a museum and had the hood put up and down twice a day for twenty years and be very worn, but with no milage. just saying!

Valid comment, however at 125,000 miles + & 26 year old the latches have been used extensively, 10 minutes ago being the last time & there’s never been a moment when I’ve had to question their operation. They are one of the few component that I have not had in pieces to clean & lubricate; engage the latch, push to lock over, forget.
Certainly I’ve adjusted them, both hardtop & rag but only by rack ofth eye, the back latches on the hard top took ages to get to a point where I could scramble out of the car, straighten up, wipe the sweat of my brow & assess the cuts & bruises
I have a vague recollection they are used on other car hoods (MX-5, am I allowed to say that on here, used them ((I think)).
I’m more than happy to stand corrected on this & all things I comment on.
M

You have to remember that these latches are off an LE500, so there is a distinct possibility that they are not manufactured to the same standard as the UK built cars.