icy CL

I've been going through this site looking for some clues. I did suspect it was the hood latch sensor. Based on my reading, looks like it is. And the alarm goes off everytime it rains or extremely humid. WhenI lock the doors, I don't hear the beep and the red blinking light does not go on in the dash. I would have to open the hood then close it. After only doing so would I hear the beep when i lock the doors and the red light comes on. My neighbors don't like me very much at this time. I plan to just go ahead and disconnect the sensor. Posting here to find out if there is anything special i need to do. I know I may need to remove the panel convering the radiator to get to the connector. Is the panel difficult to remove? Anything more...please advise. Thanks!

danman2991

The same thing happened to me a year or so ago, but i was able to bend the metal lead on the hood latch micro-switch back to a point where the alarm stopped randomly going off (try looking into that, its a quick, cheap fix and there should be some tutorials on youtube). If you just unplug the hood latch sensor i believe you will never be able to arm the system and get the "beep" when locking the car, just an FYI.

icy CL

Thanks! I think if i jump the relay portion of the switch, it would fool the system to think that the hood is closed. I'll play around with it. My concern is how to get to the latch. I peered in there yesterday in the rain and know i need to remove one panel. I will check again when the weather clears a bit.

icy CL

i guess i'll have to access the latch by removing the grill first. just thinking about it is making me nervous! I read the other post about how to remove the grill. Them plastic pins always make me nervous...i tend to break them.

danman2991

It is possible to remove the latch by just taking off the 2-3 bolts holding the actual latch assembly on. It may be a bit of a tight fit but i was able to take it off by leaving the grill on and only pulling the engine covers off. The only thing to make a note of is where the little index lines line up so when you reinstall the hood height is correct when it is closed.

icy CL

Thank you. I ended up not having to remove the grill. I just pushed the connector off the mounting bracket with a long flat head. then fished the connector out with another long pair of needlenose pliers. not as easy as it sounds...it never is. disconnected the sensor by pulling the tab on the relay side...not the sensor side. one thing to note....no need to jump the relay side. if disconnected, the system thinks the hood is closed. now, with the hood open (and the sensor disconnected), i lock the car and the red light in the dash blinks normally. i also hear the "beep". if i had the connector connected and the hood open, when i would lock the car, the red light would not light up and no "beep". hopefully that is the end of it. I taped up the disconnected connectors so no moisture would go in. also kept them far away from the radiator. Gracias!