1997 LHS hood struts

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")

 

I had both struts on my 94 Eagle Vision replaced at the dealer back in June
of 2003. Cost per strut $23.29 each. Cheap.
_Fred

 

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?

 

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.

More info is available here:

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/recalls/recallprocess.cfm

Ted