Corrected:

the striker is worn. take a look at it and you'll see an indentation where the striker meets the latch

sorry I was tired.

Google hood striker for images if you don't know what it is.

So is the striker the part where it should be keeping the hood from moving out to be caught by the actual latch?

So from this picture, you can see the foreground piece is about the same as the actual hood release latch. That's the hood striker you're talking about right?

How do I fix this or do I need to buy a brand new latch.

https://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e...4/IMAG0238.jpg

The striker is attached to the hood. It is that round tube thing that the latch (pictured above) latches onto. My cameras are all dead so I can't take a picture. Use Google to do an image search for hood striker and you'll see what I'm talking about.

The striker isn't the problem. To test this, I wrapped electrical tape around it to make it about 2" thicker. I literally had to push pretty hard to even get the hood to close all the way. Once it was closed I took it for a drive and although first it was solid, it ended up coming back up.

Are you missing any part of your under tray? Do you have any sort of fixed headlight and if so are you missing the stock rubber cowl piece for the headlights? Just trying to throw out ideas. =(

I actually don't have an undertray on the car right now as I haven't put it back on since I took out the engine. I do know that the hood still had the problem when the tray was on. No fixes on the headlights and I'm pretty sure it still has the cowl that you're speaking about.

I have the same problem, it seems to be warped a little on one side, but I don't think mine moves when driving

2" thicker?? A 2" thick striker wouldn't be able to fit the latch. :)

The fact that it stayed down for a while makes me think it was the problem. Electrical tape is pretty soft. It doesn't take much to get it to mold to the pressure of the latch digging into it.

Post a side pic of the striker.

Poor quality but you get it. You can see the electrical tape around it and how the latch cut into it after pushing the hood down and popping it up for pictures.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...4/IMAG0267.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...4/IMAG0266.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...4/IMAG0265.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...4/IMAG0264.jpg

Just so it's eliminated....how is the fitment/gap between your right (passenger) door and right fender?

If you have any friends with a FD near you, it's only 4 bolts to R & R. See if one of them would help by allowing you to try their hood on your car. That might tell you where the issue lies.

The spacing between the fender and the hood on passenger and drivers side is equal throughout. That was the first thing I checked.

I was asking about the fender to door gap, but if your satisfied it's OK, so am I.

Haha I'll check the fender to door gap. I'm still trying to figure out this problem. Bump for any other suggestions/fixes!

bump

Anyone?

OK, try this.
 

First take of the electrical tape, since you can't see what is going on with it on there.

Check if your hood striker is bent to the left or right, this would cause lateral force on your latch when you lock it down. Did your hood come down and hit a solid object like a wrench left in place? Perhaps someone latched the hold down, then dropped your hood down on the hold down?
This stress could be manifesting itself by popping up one side of the hood and pushing down the other side.
The first thing I would try is remove the hold down. Really easy, only 3 bolts. Don't remove the cable, just let the unit hang out of the way. Now does the hood sit down evenly? If so then you have found the source of the problem. Next reattach the hold down, but loosen the 3 mounting bolts it. Make them loose enough that you can shift the hold down up and down and a little to either side. Then try to set the hood into place. The striker will push the hold down where it needs to be for no gap. If it sets nicely then now carefully raise the hood without shifting anything and tighten the hold down bolts. If it does not set nicely then you may need to enlarge the holes for the hold down to increase it's range of adjustment.

Alternatively if the hood is skewed on the rear attachment points it would have the same effect. This happens if someone aligns the fenders to the hood.
If this is the case you need to loosen the hinge hardware and shift the hood till it sits evenly. Then correct your fender gap on the fenders.