Praise God, the Squeak is gone!!!

[nexus08]

I've had a very annoying squeak on my Z more or less since I got her.

It seemed to be coming from the front end, and I thought it was suspension related because it was definitely related to vibration/bumps. It was a high pitched high frequency squeak that was particularly annoying at low speeds.

Anyway, long story short, it was the hood latch. I put a couple of wraps of electrical tape over the latch and the squeak is gone! I know it is probably only a temporary fix, but at least I know what it is.

I'm going to buy some new hood bumpers to see if they can fix it permanently.

[nexus08]

The hood squeak came back, it couldn't stay away. It was squeaking like hell the very next day.

Ok, I knew the tape was a temporary fix, but man... back in just a little over a day.

Hopefully the new bumpers will be a permanent fix. If not, I've googled that lowering the catch a tad by loosening the bolts and pushing it down will help stop the squeak. I'm hoping between those two measures the squeak will be gone for good.

The one day without the squeak was so nice. It is amazing that something like that can really destroy the enjoyment you get from your ride.

[Ziggy1621]

Glad you figured it out. Yes, lowering the latch can help. Basically anything that tightens up the the hood travel when closed, so lowering latch or raising force from below (i.e. the bump stops)

[nexus08]

The funny thing is when I searched google for the front end squeak I never saw a hit about the hood squeak. They all were about suspensions and a few about fenders. I did see one one post (on here?) that barely hinted at it. But when I searched for "hood squeak" the internet is full of hits for that...including this site.

[RubyRed300ZX]

I laughed when i saw your post. I had the same thing for about two years. Drove me crazy. Finally figured out that the squeak was from the hood latch. Solution: I liberally coated the U-shaped portion of the latch with bearing grease. That was 6 years ago. Squeak has never returned.

[300ZXttZMAN]

Gotta love the simple solutions. Grease or simple adjustments is what will keep a sane man sane haha.

[Metacom]

I had a squeak on my Z too that I couldn't pin point. Went through all the usual suspects including the hood latch.

Turns out there was one of those little plastic circles with the little balls on the end, commonly found keeping the fuel hoses bunched together, stuck in between the driver side fender and the body of the Z. Could barely grab it with needle nose...no more squeak!