It seems that my hood struts aren't working right...The hood won't stay up. I'm assuming that strut replacement will be costly?
Is there a workaround?
Why wouldn't this be a safety recall...
Somebody could ged seriously hurt if the hood drops while they are under it!
They have them hanging on the rack in blister packs in Pep Boys! This isn't exactly an exotic part.
A 1x4 works wonders....
Why would it? They are not required to even put struts on a hood, and a lot of cars use a prop-rod instead.
Then maybe they'd learn to pay attention to whether or not the struts are getting weak. Sorry, I have no patience with holding a manufacturer to blame for a part wearing out and the operator being too dumb to notice. Yeah, struts are a poor substitute for real hood springs, but we voted in the government that demands higher and higher mileage, lower and lower emissions, and therefore makes the carmakers substitute lighter and inferior parts.
I've heard, but never checked, that cheap generic struts are available an auto stores.
It seems that your hood struts aren't working right.
Assuming? Why don't you try *checking*? Y'know, like, with a couple phone calls or a quick internet search? You have internet access, don'tchya?
Yep: Replace the struts.
Because things wear out with normal use. It's not an unexpected, undetectible safety defect (you have already noticed the hood doesn't stay up), and it's not a manufacturing defect.
Then I guess "somebody" had better make sure to fix the problem promptly, then, shouldn't you...
Ouch!! 8^)
Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")
They are $17 each and simple to put on. Why would you assume they were expensive when you could check and see in under 30 seconds?
Get a stick to hold it up
>
While the criteria for initiating a safety recall is somewhat vague, the thrust seems to be that it's generally only done on stuff that breaks unexpectedly, particularly if the vehicle is in motion, where the consequences would be catastrophic.
Here's the blurb from the NHTSA website:
"most affect its safe operation (brakes, tires, lighting) or that protect drivers and passengers from death or serious injury in the event of a crash (air bags, safety belts, child restraints, energy absorbing steering columns, motorcycle helmets)"
The operative works are "safe operation" and "crash" Hood struts are not part of the normal operation of a vehicle. They are only used when service is being performed on the vehicle - that isn't normal operation. Servicing isn't normal operation.
Now, if the hood LATCH was defective - such that it might allow the hood to fly open when driving 60mph down the highway and thus obstructing your view - that would be a recall issue.
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