kr3678

My car is a '99 Carrera 4 with a factory installed "taco" wing. The car has a single support strut mounted on the passenger side of the car. There are mounts for another strut on the driver's side, but they are not (and appear to have never been) used.

Currently, I cannot open the engine compartment unless I pull up on the lever and wedge something under it while I go around to the back of the car and lift the hood. I assume it is because the strut is not strong enough to pop up the lid when the lever is pulled.

While looking at Suncoast's site, I see listings for hood struts for Carrera ($37), C4S Coupe ($75), C4s Cabrio ($75) and Turbo, GT2 & GT3 ($75). My assumption is that due to my rear spoiler, I need the Turbo, GT2 & GT3 selection.

A few questions. First, what is the difference? Is the Carrera part a single strut and the others a pair of struts?

Second, can I get away with simply ordering a Carrera strut and mounting it on the driver's side? Or, do I need to order 2 of the ...GT3 struts?

Thundertub

kr3678,
My '99 C2 coupe has recently started to occasionally exhibit the same symptom, and I have been doing the same thing (pull handle up and put something under it to lift the engine cover).
I do not have the answer to your question.
However, it does not seem plausible to me that new engine struts would resolve the issue. These struts are designed specifically to prevent the engine cover from coming down when extended. You can feel (should feel) resistance when the engine cover is lifted. Therefore there would not seem to be any action by the strut to pop the cover up when the latch handle is initially lifted. And yet, I could be very wrong about that.

There is, however, a spring in the latch mechanism mounted in the engine compartment. There could only be two reasons for this spring:
1.To return the latch cable to the "rest" position,
2.To offer up the initial push to the engine cover to move the latching mechanism high enough to no longer be latched when the lever is released.

I have looked at the spring as the more likely of the probabilities. After 13 years, the spring, which spends most of its time in tension, has finally weakend.
I don't really care to disassemble the mechanism, and I don't really care to spend whatever it takes to buy a new one. I have never had success with disassembling springs in tension, and also assume that there isn't just some "one more click up" somewhere inside to further tension the spring.
I'm not an engineer, not a particularly clever mechanic, and not much on being the first to do something, so let us know how you resolve the problem.
Until then, I'll just continue to stuff my spare window cleaning towel, that I keep on the floor behind the drivers seat, under the latch handle when it doesn't release.

Or , I might spray some silicone on the latch mechanism in the engine compartment. I'll let you know if that works.

82_930

I also have this question. I have a "hoop" shaped wing and was wondering.

Thundertub

I have been playing with the Search function (often the first line of defense when you have a question) and apparantly we have some pegs that are stoppers on each outer corner of the engine cover. These pegs wear out (probably from constant compression) and can be unscrewed and replaced. Might also work if you just unscrew it just a little without removing it, to put more tension on the engine lid. If they don't just jump out at you, look up at the engine lid from inside and look for little round black circles in the paint. Then match them up below.
If there is no adjustment left, apparantly they can be replaced with new ones by just unscrewing them completely.

I am thinking that this thread will get only a small number of responses since only the 1999 and 2000 had manual latches for the trunk and engine compartments. All the other folks have little electric motors to pop the latches for them (which has brought its own set of bigger issues).

OGWGFIW

While my engine cover opens just fine on my 2003, I also have what appears to be a mount location for another strut on the lid. I noticed it because I like symmetry and something looked off. Always wondered what the deal was thanks for asking the question. I assumed it was for another, heavier wing.

Thundertub

Okay, so here is what really just worked for me just now. Curious by all the attention paid to the struts, I just went out to the car to have a real look at it. It is important to note that when I first tried the lever, I got no click and had to stuff my window cleaning rag under it to lift the engine cover lid.

Here is what I discovered:
1. I only have one strut - which works just fine for its intended purpose, despite the fact that I also have a factory taco spoiler,

2. When I looked at the edge of the engine compartment there were no appearant adjustment screws,

3. When I looked up at the underside of the engine compartment lid (ECL for now) I saw a black plastic stopper thing at each corner. It looked like an adjustment screw of some sort. I tride to turn it by hand but that moved only the end cap. So I looked closer and there was a very small hex opening that would seem to have been exactly right for the right size Allen wrench. So got my set of small Allen wrenches and played until I found one exactly the right size that inserted well into the opening, and had resistance. Then I just turned it a quarter turn out on each corner and closed the ECL.

When I tried the lever, I got something that had been missing for a while... a noticable click from the ECL and the hood popped just a smidge. It opened up just fine. Tried it several times. Worked like a charm.

I will probably fiddle a little more with it tomorrow in the daylight. I remember that it used to make a very distinctive release sound, once upon a time.

Hope this works for you as well.

kr3678

I'll have to take a look at that.

What got me started (aside from the fact that I had to go through a lot just to open the hood) was an old episode of Top Gear I saw last week. Seen here:


They were testing a 996 GT3 and when they popped the hood, I could clearly see a strut on either side of the hood. (Pause at the 2:05 mark for the shot.) Now my car isn't a GT3, but it does have similar body work, so I thought that might be the source of the problem.

Thundertub

Nice clip!

However, I truly believe that the struts do not have any residual dynamic energy in the "rest" position. I think you could put 10 of those struts on the ECL and not get a gram of push up from them when you pull the lever. In fact, it might be darn well impossible to open the ECL with that much resistance. LOL!

Shock absorbers do not hold up a car. The springs around them support the car. The shocks resist movements of the springs in both verticle directions. Gas or fluid inside must be moved and seals resist that movement in the smaller version on the ECL. Another test would be to open the ECL and find at what point the ECL moves UP under its own power. You won't, until the weight of the spoilers polar moment has passed top dead center in the arc of its movement.
In lieu of all this, remove the strut and try to pull the two ends apart by hand... Good luck! LOL!

I would think the reason for there being two of them on the GT3 is the substantially larger and taller rear wing. It probably has to do with the polar moment when the thing is up. It most certainly isn't for visual balance of the engine compartment, particularly in a GT3 that has been stripped to the bare essentials, and particularly no unecessary extra weight aft of the rear wheels.

Again, just my opinion. I could be completely wrong.