I have just finished a 5,500 mile road trip with no mechanical or electrical problems in my 2006 XJ8L, however I now notice that the front of the hood on the right hand side in not flush with the fender. It was 8 mm higher while the left side front hood is about 2mm higher than the fender. (see pic)
On the RHS I tried lowering the bump stop (top left in pic and bottom right) more than the 5.5MM and I also reduced the height of the Right hand hood latch bracket (see pic) it had an adjustment nut - figured that this hood latch bracket is gripped and drawn down by the locking mechanism into which it locates when the hood is closed.

However, these adjustment only made a slight improvement and the RHS of the hood is still proud by approx. 5.5 mm. When I push down on the front right corner of the hood it moves down, so at high speed the wind gets under the lip of the hood and can buffet in the wind.

Has anyone had a similar problem? Is there a cure?
What are the hood adjustments available?
Any input would be gratefully received.

Steve

 

1. Open hood.
2. Slam hood down.

 

Did that, its definitely properly closed

 

Are you sure? I have trouble believing it's properly closed if it still buffets in the wind. It should be completely secure.

My hood looks exactly like that if I don't slam it down really hard. Maybe put the rubber stopper/adjustment nut back where it was originally and try slamming the hood again.

 

Does everything in the latch mechanism feel like it is sufficiently lubricated? You might want to try some lithium grease to lube things up a bit.

 

It's my imagination that it may buffet in the wind at high speed, but there is play in the front of the hood when I attempt to push it down flush with the fender on the RHS.

I will lube with lithium grease and see if it makes any difference.

 

Can you pull up on it when it's like that? Does it feel latched?

 

Lithium grease applied, hood slammed down as hard as I dare --- the hood is still proud by 5.5mm.

Yes it is securely latched, I pull up on it and it is locked secure, no play upward at all.

It just looks bad with the gap over the headlights on one side and the hood proud of the fender

 

That is very strange. And this just started happening recently? Or it's always been like that?

 

there is a bolt and head with rubber cushion at the leading edge of hood on both front far corners..(this you show on your own middle pic..they are on the lower body and not the hood), each can be adjusted independently to level up or down by7 turning the thread, it is not a big deal.
However, if you have that amount of dif you may want to look to see if the car has had any accident repair as they are not like that from the factory.
Good Luck
David

 

I checked both Carfax and my close inspection and no accident damage.

However with a bit more tinkering I fixed it.
If you look at the third pic in my original post, the right hand hood bracket that locates in a gripping mechanism in the car body when closed. This I had assumed (wrongly) that if I reduced the distance between the bottom of the bracket and the underside of the hood, then the hood would be pulled further down when closed (I reduced the depth of the bracket to 34mm from underside of hood to bottom of the bracket). It seems this had the effect that the mechanism gripping the bracket could not "get hold of it" so was not gripping and pulling the hood down on the problem right hand side. Thus when I extended the bracket using the adjustment nut back to approx 43mm (from underside of hood to bottom of the bracket) the mechanism could grip the bracket and pull the hood down.

So problem solved and hood now flush and even both sides of the hood. Obviously the bump stops (bolts with rubber cushions) both at the edge of the hood and the second one further to the center of the car have to be adjusted just so.
Thanks to all who replied with suggestions.

Steve

 

So I guess the original problem was you did not slam the hood down hard enough, then you started tinkering with it and it wouldn't latch properly? I suppose my suggestion in post #4 worked.

Glad you got it fixed! And most of all, thanks for following up! Too many threads just end without a followup!

 

I can relate to this issue. I wrongly thought that someone (an on-looking mechanic at the shop) had spun the bump stop upward, because I looked at the hood one time, saw it protruding above the fender height, and freaked. It (the threaded post with bumper on top) must have spun itself upward as a result of mechanical vibration or somesuch. I plan to mark the threads and inspect after the next roadtrip to Norman or OKC. If this in fact is what's happening, some red thread-locker should keep things squared away. BTW, I jumped the electrical lead which connected to the faulty "hood open" switch; now no more false warnings, and lock-down faults. Nothing even comes close to the Jaguar experience, sorry all you other marques.

 

I had a similar problem, but in my case the RH latch (facing forward), was not returning correctly after unlatching the hood due to a duff release cable. Inspection revealed corrosion and outer cover split where it sits in front of the radiator. A new cable cured the problem.

 

What am I saying? I mean bonnet problem!

No need to slam chaps-With bonnet horizontal place hands directly above each latch and push down sharply.

 

Thanks so much for this thread, I had exactly the same problem and your solution worked pperfectly first time. Thanks again.

 

The 246 page owners manual has the answer too:

To close the hood (bonnet) hold it open 14 inches and release it.

Not 12 inches or 16 inches. But 14...

Works for me.

Latches properly lubricated, of course. White lithium.

 

The latches themselves are also adjustable. So one might need moving downwards a touch.

 

I cringe when I hear "slam the bonnet hard", I agree with Meirion1, just close it till it stops when push down sharply

 

Thank you guys for this post. We just became Jaguar owners for the first time yesterday and I can tell this forum is going to be a lifesaver! After much adjusting the bump stops and latches on the hood/bonnet to no avail I finally figured out that my problem was that the passenger side latch wasn't latching. It doesn't appear to have been properly lubricated for a while so I worked in some white lithium grease and now it's good to go!

I don't have an after pic yet but this is a picture from the car's sale listing where I could see the problem originally.