Bonnet rattle. How to stop it?

[D-Maxima]

Hey

My 92 3rd gen has a bonnet rattle. When i stop at the lights it rattles constantly but i cant hear it in the cabin if i take it out of drive put it into neutral. when i shut the drivers door you can hear somethinf move around.

i looked at it tonight and the radiator does it buts thats normal i guess coz they need to be a bit loose and the noise also comes from the top right hand side of the bonnet (infront of steering wheel coz its a R/hand drive car) i thought it might be the bonnet struts but i dont think so....?

is there anyway to tighten the bonnet? or has someone else encountered this and been able to resolve it another way? it not life threatening or anything just one of those annoying things.

any help or comments greatly appreciated!

thanks!

[D-Maxima]

anyone? i had another look and its got me stumped how to stop it

[HigherRhymes]

it sounds as if your hood latch is somehow not fastened correctly because when you move the air could be pushing it up...that's extremely dangerous especially if the latch were to give out on you and fly up towards your windshield at highway speeds, I suggest you check the latch and the hood bolts to make sure they are secure.

if you can give me a picture and like highlight where the noise is coming from maybe I could help, I'm not exactly sure where it could be from because you say if you take it out of drive and put it in neutral it goes away.

i'm assuming you drive an auto?

you could be looking at a hefty repair bill if it's not simply your hood



let me know

[D-Maxima]

the loose hatch could be it but i dont think it will come loose (lets hope). i can jiggle it a bit putting my fingers under the lip of the bonnet but not enough to catch enough air to pop open i wouldnt think

by hood bolts do you mean where the bonnet struts join or where the hood is connected to the body of the car? i dont know how easy it is to find where it connects to the car. i looked for that at first but couldnt tel ill have to take a closer look

yes it is an auto but i think i cant hear it because changing out of drive changes the harmonics the car makes, probably because the car isnt trying to go forward anymore

the top circle, like i said before, is where i can hear somthing shake when i shut the door and the circle near the grill is where another shake is and where the hood release is

[HigherRhymes]

Let me ask you a question, I forgot to clarify earlierbut does your bonnet/hood physically shake/vibrate noticeably??because if you can put your fingers under it and move it, we've isolated your problem

it's the latch nearest your headlights (when you pop it up)

another question: when you slam your bonnet closed, does it click?you can always here the clamp rounding the latch and it will make a click sound when it is secure

those have a tendency to foul themselves if the spring in it goes bad. the one on my old chevy s10 broke and the hood wouldnt pop because of the latch

here's a diagram of a hood latch and a description of how it works

A latch assembly (10) has a housing having a mouth. A ratchet (12) is pivotally mounted to the housing and is movable to cooperate with the mouth to pivot between an open condition, a primary closed condition and a secondary closed condition for receiving, engaging and cinching a keeper of a striker. The ratchet (12) is biased to the open condition. A pivotally mounted pawl (40) is biased into engagement with the ratchet for releasably retaining the ratchet in the primary closed condition. A secondary release arm (20) is mounted to rotate about a first axis and a second axis. The secondary release arm (20) is rotatable about the first axis between a retracted position and an extended position, and is rotatable out the second axis between an engaging position and a disengaging position. The secondary release arm (20) is biased to the retracted position and biased to the engaging position. The secondary release arm (20) interengages with the ratchet (12) for coupled movement therewith from the primary closed condition to the secondary closed condition effecting movement of the secondary release arm (20) from the retracted position to the extended position upon the pawl (40) being rotated to disengage from the ratchet (12). Upon moving the secondary release arm (20) from the engaging position to the disengaging position, the secondary release arm (20) disengages from the ratchet (12) for independent movement enabling the ratchet (12) to rotate from the secondary closed condition to the open condition and back to the primary closed condition. The secondary release arm (20) also rotates from the extended position to the retracted position.

f it is, my only suggestion to you is to either go to a nissan dealership or a pick-n-pull to get a new one.i'm sure it's a relatively cheap part

let me know if i helped you out any

[D-Maxima]

it doesnt shake or vibrate obviously, the only reason i detected it was because of the rattling noise.

i had a quick look last night and i put my ear really close to the latch and you can hear the bonnet rattling. i pushed down on the bonnet when it was in normal position and the pressure made it stop, so that would suggest that it just needs to be a tighter fit in the latch? or more sealing around there?

and yes when i close the bonnet you can hear a click and the noise of the spring resonating etc. i am definately sure the latch isnt going to give way.

ill take a closer look at it on the weekend and let you know.

thanks heaps for all the info!!!!!

[HigherRhymes]

Yeah no problem at all man.

But yeah man that's what your problem is, for some strange reason (I couldn't tell without looking at the latch in person) your bonnet isnt closing all the wayif you pushed it down and it stopped

i'm going to take a wild guess and say the spring is malfunctioning

like i said my best solution for you is just to hit the nearest nissan dealership or maybe try to find one on http://www.partstrain.com it's a simple installation it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes

just don't lose the steel braided cable!!

before you take anything off just make sure to examine the way it goes back on very carefullyor keep the one you took off fully assembledto have a guide

[mtcookson]

My auto 91 did the same thing. I never got to look into what it was but I think you may also check out the rubber "stoppers" that the hood sits on in the engine bay. Some may be worn or gone allowing the vibrations.

[D-Maxima]

sorry havent checked for a couple of days.

yeah i was thinking it could be those rubber things. what could i replace them with if they a bit flat or worn? get some foam or something like that?

the rattle is definately the front, and the latch is fine but im not sure if i want to actually fiddle with the latch or anything like that...

maybe the stoppers are the answer?

[MinisterofDOOM]

The rubber on the stoppers is pretty heavy stuff, I doubt foam would make a good substitute.

Remember that the stoppers are adjustable, though. Turn them to raise or lower.

[D-Maxima]

they're adjustable?! I didnt know that! how?

[HigherRhymes]

Hey bro, sorry it took so long to check back, I've been doing finals in college here and my brain is fried lol

I think they are referring to the front 2 corners of your hood, there should be stoppers under there for when you close your hood to keep the metal from touching

if you still cant locate them let me know

[D-Maxima]

hey man sorry its been a while, totally understand final exams!

i had a look at the rubber thingies and they looked a bit flat but i resolved the rattle with the best meding/ binding/ concreting tool out there...

duct tape!

lol i just wrapped some around the hook on the bonnet and that has seemed to stop it for now. if it starts again ill have to stop avoiding to mess around with some bolts and other things..

dont know why but less confident to mess around with somin not mechanical!

thanks for all the info i will no doubt end up using it again!