bonnet alignment DIY fix

Monty · Jan 4, 2016

Could stand the 'pinched in' bonnet not more! Even though the missus said I was a "ridiculous man" for obsessing over something she couldn't even see.

I noticed one or two of the other car pics posted in the UK section had this issue as well. Our catch mechanism appears to be different from the US model so posting my little DIY if it helps anyone.

Before

After

The catch seems to be different from the US model by the way. There seems to be an extra mechanism (sits under the latch), tacked onto the normal adjustment screws. This just makes it a bit more difficult to get to the adjustment screws, which are behind the extra bits.

To give yourself working room, you need to take off the radiator plastic cover, via 8 of the cheapest plastic clips you'll ever see.

My car also seems to be missing a nut (right hand side) from the extra attachment (see image).

The main adjustment screws allow up and down and right-to-left adjustment.

1. remove hateful plastic clips

2. remove plastic cover

3. adjust undo the front nut to get to the ones behind, loosen these, reposition the catch and re-tighten.

Col3371 · Jan 4, 2016

Excellent thanks. Every car I've seen here in the UK has that problem and was planning to sort mine out when it comes. Assume by 'adjusting the catch', you mean raise it a little?

Monty · Jan 4, 2016

Col3371 said:
Excellent thanks. Every car I've seen here in the UK has that problem and was planning to sort mine out when it comes. Assume by 'adjusting the catch', you mean raise it a little?

Yes, I pushed it up as far as it would go and it's still not perfect - the centre of the bonnet still sits slightly lower than the plastic bumper in front of it.

The catch also has some lateral movement which I only realised when I'd put everything back together again and noticed there was half and inch gap one side, and a micron the other! Doh! I must have shifted the catch to the middle when I adjusted it. My catch needs to be all the way up and all the way to the left.

The two rubber stoppers either side of the bonnet can also be adjusted for those that have one side higher than the other. My right side sits slightly higher but if I adjust, it then becomes more out of alignment with the wing/headlight. I remember reading on the main forum that it's just not possible to align every panel with every other panel on all cars.

Jimboy2 · Jan 4, 2016

Why is t this sort of thing being sorted at PDI??

Monty · Jan 4, 2016

Jimboy2 said:
Why is t this sort of thing being sorted at PDI??

For most (normal) people, it probably won't be an issue and for those that complain, the garage might even be able to put it through as 'warranty' work and make a few quid from Ford? Although to be fair, one salesman told me that they'd done some panel alignment on most Mustangs. Overall, all of the UK Mustangs posted on here haven't been that bad. I'm so glad nobody has had a car with the infamous wonky rear window.

I'd rather not have to prat about doing this kind of thing myself, but preferable to taking it into a main dealer, only to have it come back even worse, plus; tea rings on the dash, oil on seats, bogeys on steering wheel, foot marks on door card, radio changed to Radio 1 on loud, etc. etc..

Jimboy2 · Jan 4, 2016

Monty said:
For most (normal) people, it probably won't be an issue and for those that complain, the garage might even be able to put it through as 'warranty' work and make a few quid from Ford? Although to be fair, one salesman told me that they'd done some panel alignment on most Mustangs. Overall, all of the UK Mustangs posted on here haven't been that bad. I'm so glad nobody has had a car with the infamous wonky rear window.

I'd rather not have to prat about doing this kind of thing myself, but preferable to taking it into a main dealer, only to have it come back even worse, plus; tea rings on the dash, oil on seats, bogeys on steering wheel, foot marks on door card, radio changed to Radio 1 on loud, etc. etc..

You have a valid point. Plus at least you know how well made these car is :lol:

jc1804 · Jan 4, 2016

happening on ours over here too, "there within specs" is what dealers say.
little adjusting sorts them out though.
Looks nice Monty

slowhand99 · Jan 4, 2016

Monty said:
................................... but preferable to taking it into a main dealer, only to have it come back even worse, plus; tea rings on the dash, oil on seats, bogeys on steering wheel, foot marks on door card, radio changed to Radio 1 on loud, etc. etc..

Just for reassurance, this is not my recent experience of Ford main dealers who have looked after me better than Mercedes and Audi. The exception to this is the lack of sales info updates; but then Audi wouldn't even sell me a car once they knew I was paying cash.

Monty · Jan 4, 2016

slowhand99 said:
Just for reassurance, this is not my recent experience of Ford main dealers who have looked after me better than Mercedes and Audi. The exception to this is the lack of sales info updates; but then Audi wouldn't even sell me a car once they knew I was paying cash.

Glad you had a good experience. Not singling Ford dealers btw, although you get to the point after years of shocking service, that its just the safest bet not to place any trust in them at all.

In the last 6 months, taken cars in BMW main dealers twice (Sytners). The first time, they stuck a screwdriver though the dash (and initially pretended it was like that when it came in). The second time, they (a different dealer) cracked the windscreen during a routine service and of course pretended they hadn't done it.

Accidents happen and people make mistakes. Main dealers are the 'public sector' of the garage world, so sloppy work is almost expected. However, the dishonesty and BS is completely out of order.

Regarding the Audi experience, if the service was so poor before you'd even bought a car, imagine what the after-sales would be like. I had similar at a Merc garage recently - the bloke didn't want to give us the time of day.

GregT · Jan 4, 2016

Monty;986891... I had similar at a Merc garage recently - the bloke didn't want to give us the time of day.[/QUOTE said:
Yup, arrogance is assured at Merc dealers. They're just not hungry enough.

Thanks for a really useful post Monty. The demonstrator I took out had this issue and it looked terrible to me. Hoping mine might arrive little straighter than my 50 year old Stang. But hey it was a bargain car in its day and so is this one

Greg

tooley · Jan 4, 2016

slowhand99 said:
but then Audi wouldn't even sell me a car once they knew I was paying cash.

I think that's more to do with anti money laundering legislation than picky dealers. Audi does seem to take a more consistent line than some others though. Failing to comply with the legislation for checking, let alone laundering is a criminal offence and carries up to two years in prison and unlimited fine. If I was a dealer principal I'd be erring on the side of caution too

slowhand99 · Jan 4, 2016

tooley said:
I think that's more to do with anti money laundering legislation than picky dealers. Audi does seem to take a more consistent line than some others though. Failing to comply with the legislation for checking, let alone laundering is a criminal offence and carries up to two years in prison and unlimited fine. If I was a dealer principal I'd be erring on the side of caution too

Sorry I wasn't clear, I'm not talking a carrier bag of folding; I'm talking direct debit or bank transfer. It's lazy salesmen (or woman in this case); they only make money selling finance deals. No such problems with Ford to be fair to them. Note if you take Ford's finance package to buy (not PCP) a Mondeo they effectively pay the interest with a 'deposit contribution'; that's how much there is in finance packages for them. Unfortunately the Mustang interest rate is higher and there's no deposit contribution.

tooley · Jan 4, 2016

Ah, ok. I see.

I think it must depend on the dealer then. My experience was quite different. I wanted to finance my Audi so originally got a quote from a broker site, £6k off list. Then went to a few dealers to see if they could match or better it. Rather than concentrating on the purchase price though I looked at the total cost including finance interest, effectively saying that I didn't care what cost the car was as long as the total cost including finance was below the figure I could get from independently financing and taking their price offer.
The dealer said that they couldn't move on the finance but were happy to offer the car price I wanted, however I financed it

slowhand99 · Jan 4, 2016

tooley said:
Ah, ok. I see.

I think it must depend on the dealer then. My experience was quite different. I wanted to finance my Audi so originally got a quote from a broker site, £6k off list. Then went to a few dealers to see if they could match or better it. Rather than concentrating on the purchase price though I looked at the total cost including finance interest, effectively saying that I didn't care what cost the car was as long as the total cost including finance was below the figure I could get from independently financing and taking their price offer.
The dealer said that they couldn't move on the finance but were happy to offer the car price I wanted, however I financed it

I think you are right; it's down to individual dealer management and individual dealers. It's been interesting being able to compare people's experiences of different dealers on this forum. At the end of the day, maybe we expect too much from the average car salesman when he's faced with something other than a straightforward Fiesta sale. I've had more care and communication from the Ford salesman I bought a used Mondeo off than I have from the guy 'looking after' my Mustang order for the past 8 months. They are certainly not all the same.

tooley · Jan 4, 2016

:focus:Anyway, back on topic...

I wonder if the hood catch is changed at the upfitters for the UK cars? Maybe the cause of the poor adjustment?

bonnet alignment DIY fix

Monty

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Col3371

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Monty

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Jimboy2

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Monty

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