hood struts/supports: changing them

[Dave T]

My car's hood (bonnet) has 2 struts to keep the hood open. They are worn because they don't hold the hood up more than a few seconds. Anyone with experience in changing them.

Looking at them, it appears that there is a nut on both ends. Maybe unscrew them and replace the struts? Do you need superhuman strength to compress the new ones so you can install them?

[Dave 2 93s]

Hi
I’ve replaced the tailgate struts/dampers on my 93, and it’sthe same for the bonnet (hood).
All you require is a flat blade screwdriver and a willingassistant (or broom handle).

Simply open the hood (pop the bonnet) and prop it fully openwith the broom handle, taking care not to damage, bend or break anything. Also,if you’re outside, prop it in such a way that a gust of wind cannot dislodgeanything.
The strut ends are similar to a ball and socket joint, heldin place with a spring clip. It’s the same top and bottom. Using thescrewdriver, prise back the black spring clip on the ends of the struts, torelease the ball from the joint, taking care the clips don’t go pinging offinto next week.

The new struts should come with clips, so prise them back priorto fitting and then snap them back into place, once the ball is in the joint.

If. When you open/close the bonnet (hood), one strut seemsstronger/weaker than the other. You might be able to adjust them by releasingthe top of the strut off the hood (bonnet), and winding the strut top clockwiseor anti-clockwise one or more times to stiffen or slacken the strut action (minewere non genuine replacement struts, and it said to adjust them like that inthe instruction sheet)

Hope this helps
Cheers for now
Dave
Ps. Nosuperhuman strength required. But you could do it in slow motion, and pretend your Steve Austin.

[Burnsside42]

Yep - just need a pocket screw driver - flat blade to lift up on the metal tang and pull the support off 1 side and 1 end at a time. Be sure to either have a second person hold up the hood/hatch or have a way to keep it from slamming down on you or your fingers. Should not take more than 5 minutes to replace.

[Dave T]

I can report that it took about 2 minutes to replace!

1. Have someone hold open the hood or stick a broom in the car to hold up the hood. If using a broom, make sure the engine is cold. A 2 x 4 piece of wood may work.

2. Looking carefully at the old part (or new part), you can see a semi-circular band and a screwdriver indent to pry it. Pry very gentle then pull the top end outward. The semi-circular band/clip clips around the screw that remains on the hood of the car. The inside end of the screw looks like a bolt but it doesn't need to be unscrewed.

3. Repeat the same action on the lower end of the old part.

4. You might be able to snap the new part in but I pried it very gentle, not enough to pry off the sem-circular clip but merely enough to make it wider/farther apart so I could slip the top end on to the hood screw and the bottom end of the strut to the bottom connection.

I tried to feel and guess. My car has 2 struts but I replaced it with a newer version that is made for cars with one strut on one side only. I kept the old part just in case I removed the wrong strut that still works. It probably doesn't matter because the new part is designed to be strong enough to hold up the hood by itself.