gio64

iTrader: (1)

Hi everyone!
I don't know how this happened, but here's what happened.
I was coming home from work and in traffic, doing perhaps 40/50 km/hr.
At some point I noticed that the hood wasn't any longer lined up with the fender on my side, which made me realize that it had popped open.
Nothing happened, I coasted and then shut it. I am not sure what to think. I might have not pressed it down hard enough today when I left the house, but I drove to work and I left work and I didn't see anything. Furthermore, I hit about 130 Km/hr on the way to work, which -I would imagine- would have lifted the hood over my sad face...
Anybody has any idea of what could have happened?

Bonus question: I have noticed accidentally that if I park the car in the garage, shut it and then turn the key back to on (without starting the car) the fans go off even though they were not on when I shut the car. This usually happens if I turn the key a few minutes (2/3) after I shut the car. Is this normal? Should I worry? The fans don't seem to come on too often when I drive, but they do what I just said.
Forgive me, I am a new owner, although I have been on this forum for almost 2 years.

Thank you,
Giovanni

trickshot

Whatever you do DON'T press down on the hood. It's aluminum and you might dent it. I hold the hood about a foot and a half above the closing position and then I just let it drop shut.

My guess is you have an alignment or latch problem. Maybe one of the rubber stoppers is up too high. Examine and recheck.....you'll probably discover what the problem is.

dontlift

The fans are OK -- the flowing coolant wasn't hot enough to trigger the fans, but then it heat-soaked after you shut the engine off.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

+1. A little oil on the mechanism and a small amount of grease where the latch hoop strikes can't hurt either. But never push the hood closed.

gio64

iTrader: (1)

Thank you for the input boys. I am not sure why I wrote down pressed, I never press hoods, no matter what the car is, I always let it go about 1'-6" away and I am done with them. In any case, what I meant to say was, I might have not let it drop from high enough to shut it closed.
I only looked at it when I got home, I'll inspect further, but it appears to me that everything is properly lubed/greased up and everything looks alright. I'll re-check and go from there.
Thank you also for the fan question. I thought it could be what you mentioned, but I am very paranoid about the car given what I hear around here, so...
Would it be a good idea to leave the fans on (ignition key turned) for a bit when/if this happens?
Thanks.

dontlift

Personally, if I know the fans are on I'll usually wait till they turn off before shutting off the engine. I figure it's a little bit of extra heat sucked out of the coolant & engine bay.

btw, the radiator fans turn on at a lower temperature when you set the dash vents to fan position #3. I don't know why...

gio64

iTrader: (1)

I understand and I agree with that. But in the few instances in which I witnessed that happening, the fans weren't on when I shut it off.
Interesting detail about the "3" position vent fan...
Thanks!

CantGoStraight

There are several conditions (electrical load) that will trigger the fans to come on or increase to the next higher fan speed.