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Do Hood Springs Wear Out? Topic is solved

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

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MrAl
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Do Hood Springs Wear Out?

Post by MrAl »

Hello,

Do the springs that push the hood up wear out over time?
The other day i could not get the hood open, and i think it was because the springs seemed too weak.
Any ideas?
I’ve been driving a Volvo long before anyone ever paid me to drive one.
That's probably because I've been driving one since 2015 and nobody has offered to pay me yet.
1998 v70, non turbo, FWD, base model, on the road from April 2nd, 2015 to July 26, 2023.

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Post by rspi »

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Post by jimmy57 »

The hinges get rusty, the hood cracks around the area where the hood latch bar mounts on either side, and the latches need adjustment and/or lubricating are all causes for it not pop up. If any of those is wrong and you add something that forces hood upwards then you'll work around the real issue. At least in my experience.

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Post by Matty Moo »

I've had my hood opened and closed way over 2000 times, I don't think they wear out.
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Post by WhatAmIDoing »

You can open the hood without springs, it will just be very heavy and not stay up (unless Volvo's spring system magically works differently). What usually keeps hoods from going up is rusty hinges, broken latch, or misalignment. Did you hit anything with the front end?
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Post by Ozark Lee »

Replacing the springs is not for the faint at heart. The preload on them is pretty unreal.

I can't really remember what happened to my daughter's S70 but I went to a pick-n-pull to get a pair of hinges and springs and after I got the old ones out I was really sure I didn't want to replace them. I think I just bent stuff back until the old ones would operate again.

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MrAl
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Post by MrAl »

Hello,

Thanks for the replies everyone.
I guess i am going to have to apply some elbow grease to this problem, as well as using some more lube on the mechanisms.
I’ve been driving a Volvo long before anyone ever paid me to drive one.
That's probably because I've been driving one since 2015 and nobody has offered to pay me yet.
1998 v70, non turbo, FWD, base model, on the road from April 2nd, 2015 to July 26, 2023.

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Post by abscate »

I am more worried that some people count their hood cycles. Is a cycle an open and shut or just an open? What if you open it twice without closing?
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Post by hausmeister »

The hood locking mechanism on my 850 was worn down, but the springs are still ok. I think they last a human lifetime ;)
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Post by MrAl »

hausmeister wrote: 07 Dec 2018, 05:01 The hood locking mechanism on my 850 was worn down, but the springs are still ok. I think they last a human lifetime ;)
Hi,

That's good to know. I wonder if there is a test for this though.
I’ve been driving a Volvo long before anyone ever paid me to drive one.
That's probably because I've been driving one since 2015 and nobody has offered to pay me yet.
1998 v70, non turbo, FWD, base model, on the road from April 2nd, 2015 to July 26, 2023.

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