JustinCase

Here's one I have never read about -- when closing my front ("frunk") lid over the last several years, occasionally it hit something metal hard instead of dropping smoothly into the safety latch position. I could then close the lid but moving the red latch lever slightly to the right, which would allow the lid to drop properly into the safety latch position, after which I could latch it full closed normally. I always thought this was happening because maybe the lower lock mechanism was pivoting slightly too far to the left, causing the upper lock part (997-511-051-00) to strike some metal part of the lower lock that was out of position. A very careful examination seemed to indicate that this was impossible, so I just lived with the mystery.

Yesterday it happened again, and I had a little extra time, so I decided to try to figure out precisely what was going on. Again, a careful examination of the lower lock mechanism did not reveal anything moving too far or out of place.

Next, I thought perhaps the lower latch mechanism might be randomly sticking for lack of lubrication. Unfortunately, I keep the appropriate grease and spray lube at work, and I did not want to drive in for something so minor when I was going to work the next day, anyway. So I made a mental note to lube it at work the next day.

Then it dawned on me -- maybe the upper lock part (the staple) was misaligned for some reason. I took a TX30 Torx driver and loosened the screws holding the upper lock part to the front lid, and sure enough, there was quite a bit of slop in the mounting holes -- at least 1mm, maybe more.

This part has a curl which nests right over the matching contour on the underside of the lid, so I concluded that this was a production locating/indexing point (see photo below).


Front lid, upper latch part, mounted with 2 - TX30 Torx bolts. Note locating curl on the left side, which fits snugly over the contour of the underside of the lid.

So I slid the upper latch mounting plate over to the right until this curl nested tightly over the matching contour of the lid, and tightened both screws down.

Ever since, whenever I close the front lid, it drops into the safety latch position very, very easily, and also fully latches quite easily, noticeably easier than ever before. I still have not lubricated anything, although I may put a very light film of grease on the striking points to reduce future wear. It has not seemed the slightest bit misaligned ever since.

On looking at how easily the upper lock part migrated to be slightly misaligned, I thought other people may have experienced this problem and would like to end this minor annoyance in about 60 seconds without all the head scratching I went through..

Petza914

Nice detective work to get it fixed.

captainbaker

Good job. Anytime I have a clearance issue with something like this or even a door striker on the house, I put some charcoal dust on the post and try to close it normally. Open it back up and see where its making contact where its shouldn't be. Ive also used a light coat of wet paint in a pinch.