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Just took my RX-7 out of storage and am fixing up little bothersome things.
One of them is that when I pull the hood release cable, the latch releases but hood doesn't pop up a few centimeters so I can get my fingers under it to open the hood. Instead I have to pull the release with the door open so I can reach the corner of the hood and pry it up before letting go of the release.
IIRC there was a small spring loaded pin on the left side of the engine bay that would push the hood up by like 2.5 cm / 1 inch once the latch was released. It is now missing.
However, trying to do an internet search for this release spring is nigh impossible without knowing what it's called. Instead I get eleventy seven results for broken hood latch cables, stuck hood latches, etc.
Does anyone know what the hood popper lever is called and/or where I can get one?
Could just be the latch mechanism is not adjusted correctly. I'm not aware of any extra pin that pops it up. I'll take a look at my SA and see what it has.
Last edited by t_g_farrell; Jul 30, 2025 at 09:20 AM.
The latch has a spring in it that pushes the mechanism up when unlatched. If the latch is not mounted high enough, it can't push the hood up. Also the hood needs to have the rubber bumpers at each corner and also the hood needs to have some tension on those bumpers when closed to help make all this work. So if the bumpers are missing and the hood has been flatten a bit and the latch is too low. Perfect storm. I'm surprised yours is latching at all.
There is no pin that pushes-up the hood as t_g_farrel mentioned, if there isn't enough room to get your fingers under the hood you can raise the latch higher which should give your hood more height when you pull the release.
Seeing a post by Manntis sure made my day. Hope lubricaring the catch helped. You may also try electrolysis as well. You would need to repaint the catch, but it would remove the rust.
It probably just needs to be cleaned of the old, gunked up grease, and then relubricated. I've found that silicone spray grease works well and doesn't migrate too far. It seems to last the longest without drying out, but I live in the desert.
