Hood Ajar Alert Beep

Don't know what happened but I got a Alert beep that said my hood was ajar that lasted about a minute or so because I could not pull over to check. Before I could pull over the beeping stopped and the dash went back to normal. When I did pull over the hood seemed to be secure and not ajar. Anyone Know what would cause that to happen? Tks

 

There is a sensor (or switch) on the latch. Look down at the bottom if it and you will see a wire attached. There should be a plug or connector of some kind, give it a wiggle and make sure it isn't loose.

 

By the lack of response I take it that what I have is RARE? I must agree because I never heard of any situation like mine. How can I disconnect the beeping temporarily till I figure this out. As of now the beeping is on all the time unless at a complete stop.

 

I hit a bump one time and my hood popped up, the alert did come up on the screen but went away once I pushed the hood closed.

 

Tks Mine is closed good though.

 

When you close the hood the steel loop on the hood engages the latch on the truck body. When the latch rotates to the lock position it changes a switch that satisfies the input the computer is looking for and the warning goes away. This is only a switch on the latch, not much tech here. Components: latch, release cable, switch, wire.

With the hood open you can simulate closing the hood by pressing down on the latch with a stout screwdriver being used in place of the loop on the hood. I do this to cancel the warning if I want to leave the hood up for a while -- just make sure to pull the hood release to reopen the latch.

With the aid of a helper you can set/release the latch a few times and observe how it works -- just make sure to pull the hood release before attempting to close the hood.

Although I haven't done it I don't believe it would be difficult to unbolt the latch mechanism for a closer look if needed. Do you have the skills/tools to give this a try? If not any reputable shop should be able to assist you.

 

Have you looked at the wire harness to see if anything has been chewing on it,or maybe someone tried breaking in,just a thought. Maybe you could disconnect the connector from the hood latch switch,then jumper it out. I don't have a schematic, don't know if its Normally open switch or normally closed type. Definitely make sure the latch is in fact holding the hood secure.

 

Update- Tks TW for the help, I did remove the latch and clean the sensor to no avail and decided to bypass the sensor to no avail again. I did have a tilt alarm installed a few years ago and noticed they did tie the alarm to the hood sensor. After tracing the wiring I found that the alarm wire had broken off at the connector. After re-splicing it, all systems are good again. Thank you again TW.

 

Glad it worked out for you and cheap too.

A personal rule: You always start first where the last guy worked. -- This one has helped me thousands of times.

 

Halena Molokai, thanks for the update and good troubleshooting. We all learn a tad bit when People let us all know the outcome. Again,good troubleshooting.

 

I don't have the hood latch with the switch harness, but have the wiring to the front of the truck. My question is.. is the "switch harness" just a switch with NO resistor or electronic circuit board ETC.. attached. I was wanting to jumper the existing wiring at the front of the truck to bypass the signal to the alarm system. Any help will be appreciated.
Brian

 

Apparently the screwdriver I was using wasn't stout enough - it kept slipping and I didn't want to cause more damage but thanks for getting me in the right direction on where the switch/latch was located. I'm using a Battery Tender clamped to the battery posts since I don't drive that often. But I also found on another thread that the dash hood ajar warning will time out in 10-15 minutes so I'm good with that.