Closing the Hood

[buzpro]

Is anyone having problems shutting the hood? I have been forced to slam it shut every time and at times when I KNOW it has been properly shut I start the bronco and get a warning that the hood is open!!
When shut, it seems like the hood is not properly aligned with the top of the side fenders ...... its more pronounced from the drivers seat where it looks like the hood has a downward angle

is there an easy adjustment to this issue or do i have to take it in for service?

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[VelocityBronco]

Is anyone having problems shutting the hood? I have been forced to slam it shut every time and at times when I KNOW it has been properly shut I start the bronco and get a warning that the hood is open!!
When shut, it seems like the hood is not properly aligned with the top of the side fenders ...... its more pronounced from the drivers seat where it looks like the hood has a downward angle

is there an easy adjustment to this issue or do i have to take it in for service?

I brought up the hood to fender alignment a while back after a test drive in a demo. It was very distracting and looked awful. There is some adjustments you can make to the latch mechanism that would bring the front of the hood up to align better with the fenders. Maybe that will help with closing probably too? Your dealer should be able to help with this if you don't want to deal with it.
Mine is due to arrive next week, and this will be one of the first things I look at and address on the lot before I drive away!

 

[buzpro]

I brought up the hood to fender alignment a while back after a test drive in a demo. It was very distracting and looked awful. There is some adjustments you can make to the latch mechanism that would bring the front of the hood up to align better with the fenders. Maybe that will help with closing probably too? Your dealer should be able to help with this if you don't want to deal with it.
Mine is due to arrive next week, and this will be one of the first things I look at and address on the lot before I drive away!

Ooooof sorry, I didnt see your post on this .... I got my Bronco yesterday and have under 80 miles on it ..... this is the first issue so far

 

[Firefight911]

You should not have to "slam it." Just let it drop down from about 9 inches or so. It is NOT designed to be set down and then pushed closed with your hand. Just let it drop from a reasonable height. Mine has been perfect from day one.

 

[VelocityBronco]

Ooooof sorry, I didnt see your post on this .... I got my Bronco yesterday and have under 80 miles on it ..... this is the first issue so far

No worries. I think some adjustments are needed on yours and you'll be good after that.

 

[buzpro]

You should not have to "slam it." Just let it drop down from about 9 inches or so. It is NOT designed to be set down and then pushed closed with your hand. Just let it drop from a reasonable height. Mine has been perfect from day one.

i have tried dropping it from different heights .... it shuts won't shut that way

 

[BroBronco]

My wife use to be one of Ford top service writers/advisors from 2012-2017. More on this at the end..

We noticed our bronco hood wasn't lining up flush with the fender/driver side marker. The hood sitting a tad low towards the front driver side slope. Passenger side fine. You do notice bc your eyes are drawn to the markers, but not end of world lol. We love our bronco!

I will say the best way to tell how well a car is built is how well all the body piece sit, line up and the gaps are all the same size. Toyota is great at this btw. But even they mess up. The first thing I do when home with a new car is inspect the body lines then the undercarriage. I'd grade the bronco a 7 out of 10 on exterior and 7 out of 10 interior. Thats being generous but its also a bronco, thus, well accepted.

Every car has hood levelers in the engine bay on the left side and right side both up front. Bronco too. Black disc. See pics. You turn it clockwise to lower hood and counter clock to raise your hood on either side. I didnt touch passenger side adjuster, but had to loosen driver side almost all the way out. It helped a little. Since we cant raise it anymore we are happy with it and don't notice the hood anymore. The hood also doesn't vibrate on highway like my 4runner and honda accord. Good.

I also think a lot of it is simply the angle from which the corner of driver hood sits and the driver vantage point.

Lastly. When we closed the hood it didn't close. So I raised it higher and my wife said "now let it slam, you have to do it that way on all fords". I did and the hood closed perfectly. God I love her... Haha! Also note the tailgate feels opppsite, you barely have to close it for it to close, but you can slam if you like lol. Oh and the rear hatch that lifts off the tailgate in soft top, slam that puppy shut as well, otherwise wint latch/close properly.

Hope this helps.

 

[buzpro]

My wife use to be one of Ford top service writers/advisors from 2012-2017. More on this at the end..

We noticed our bronco hood wasn't lining up flush with the fender/driver side marker. The hood sitting a tad low towards the front driver side slope. Passenger side fine. You do notice bc your eyes are drawn to the markers, but not end of world lol. We love our bronco!

I will say the best way to tell how well a car is built is how well all the body piece sit, line up and the gaps are all the same size. Toyota is great at this btw. But even they mess up. The first thing I do when home with a new car is inspect the body lines then the undercarriage. I'd grade the bronco a 7 out of 10 on exterior and 7 out of 10 interior. Thats being generous but its also a bronco, thus, well accepted.

Every car has hood levelers in the engine bay on the left side and right side both up front. Bronco too. Black disc. See pics. You turn it clockwise to lower hood and counter clock to raise your hood on either side. I didnt touch passenger side adjuster, but had to loosen driver side almost all the way out. It helped a little. Since we cant raise it anymore we are happy with it and don't notice the hood anymore. The hood also doesn't vibrate on highway like my 4runner and honda accord. Good.

I also think a lot of it is simply the angle from which the corner of driver hood sits and the driver vantage point.

Lastly. When we closed the hood it didn't close. So I raised it higher and my wife said "now let it slam, you have to do it that way on all fords". I did and the hood closed perfectly. God I love her... Haha! Also note the tailgate feels opppsite, you barely have to close it for it to close, but you can slam if you like lol. Oh and the rear hatch that lifts off the tailgate in soft top, slam that puppy shut as well, otherwise wint latch/close properly.

Hope this helps.

I always thought those bumpers you're talking about where there to stop rattling and that they were protective against damaging the hood when closed hard or slammed.... i didn't know they were aligned to make the latch mechanism work!!
i will try it and let you know but honestly i think its the latched mechanism itself .... not to beat a dead horse but when you guys say all Ford's are like that I'm still baffled how Toyota doesn't have these kind of issues with any type of latch ........ I mean it can't be rocket science for Ford's Engineering after 100 years in the Automotive world ..... its a frigging latch FFS

 

[wilmerfjohnson]

I brought up the hood to fender alignment a while back after a test drive in a demo. It was very distracting and looked awful. There is some adjustments you can make to the latch mechanism that would bring the front of the hood up to align better with the fenders. Maybe that will help with closing probably too? Your dealer should be able to help with this if you don't want to deal with it.
Mine is due to arrive next week, and this will be one of the first things I look at and address on the lot before I drive away!

Agreed - the only way to get body fot issues fixed at the factory is to file a warranty claim woth your servicing dealership. If you fix it on your own, Mother Ford will never know.

 

[Daktari]

I'd let the dealer know about it and have them fix it with the first oil exchange, it's not a safety issue. I certainly would not even dream about doing anything there myself, I'm not buying a car from IKEA here.

 

[Garemlin]

On the demo model I test drove the hood was pretty hard to close. I had to give it a good drop to get it to latch.

 

[tn3sport]

Take to dealer and have them fix.
That an item that gets QC at build. Thus, it likely happened after it left the plant. i.e. transit, dealer prep, or even a customer looking over your Bronco prior to you taking delivery. These hoods are held up by a basic pole mechanism. Its common for people to forget that pole is there when they attempt to close the hood. They see their mistake immediately, but I've seen hoods get slightly bent from this simple mistake...

 

[Techun]

I can confirm for mine, you can't push it shut at all. You need to drop it from a foot up.

Feels unnatural but...oh well

 

[Oneand0]

Just picked up mine yesterday and pointed out that it wasn’t aligned like you said and they fixed it in minutes. Rest of it, perfect! Haven’t tried to open or close the hood yet though.

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