mikeevo

Ok , today on the way home my front hood sensor went off , big red screen showing the hood was open . strange I latched it 2-3 days ago and it was latched well. so when it went off a couple more times on the way home I was like great a gremlin already only 2 weeks owning the car. so I tracked down the Hood latch sensor. it is under the latch catch on the Passenger side. long silver bar. Found the problem , not a bad sensor it is a lever type and should last a while. but the clip that holds it in place is plastic with small tabs on each end. These popped out. It looks like the switch just barely sits in the grooves and could easily be pushed out if your hood closes hard or its is pushed on . so I tried to extend the 2 small tabs but it is hard plastic and probably heat shrunk over the ages. here are a few pics to help. I just taped the back of the plug to keep it pushed forward. hope this helps someone else fix it with out paying for a new switch you dont need.

daniel3ooo

My car had this problem when I was checking it out at the dealer. The dealer fixed it before I took it home. They probably did the same thing. Good work!

mikey33

Be careful messing with the hood sensor. If you do not watch out the hood cable can become pinched very easily and once you close the hood it will not open again! Just wanted to let you know because it is common.

mikeevo

Thanks but I didnt really mess with the hood cables at all. where would they be pinched at. I was only working with the sensor , there is a cable further down but I dont see how it could be put in a bind. more info please before I shut my hood.

mikey33

hi. Basically, watch out for the sensor and the plastic piece not being aligned with the cable when reinserting or moving it to the correct position. If you put bolt it back down when the cable is not aligned it will pinch and cause the latch to get stuck where it does not open.

To test, before closing the hood bring it down about 3/4's of the way and make sure that there is not a lot of tension or where it feels like it is not moving up and down fluently. If it is going up and down without tension then close it and everything will be good. Hope this helps.

mikeevo

Gottcha, I didnt have to work with the hood latch at all. just the small switch underneath so everything clearance wise and cable wise looks good.

thanks

AMGE55K

I'm going to run out and check mine out thanks for sharing this.

mikeevo

Was it giving you trouble ?

daniel3ooo

I hit a pot hole yesterday and thankfully it didnt cause any damage but my hood sensor did go off. I didn't have time to fuss with it yesterday night but I took a quick glace at it this morning.

My question is: Is the silver bar suppose to be slanded downward. I can't tell from the picture but when I popped the hood open today the silver bar slants downward towards the front bumper. Is the end of the bar closest to the front bumper suppose to be free to move up and down? It's hard to explain but I'm hoping someone can answer my question.


Also, mikeevo if you get a chance to read this could you tell me what you wrote in red in the second picture? The font is too small...thanks!

mikeevo

I sent you a pm but reading your post this sound like mine. it should not move around freely , and should be level from front to back it seems like your front probably fell out , just lift it up and slide it back into place with the tabs on the front and back. mine seem to have hardened with time and temp. so i placed as screw at the back to keep it moved forward and hence it would not fall back down.

AMG_RL

just did this right now, thank you so much I was worried the sensor went bad...and I just bought my E55 two days ago! lol

mikeevo

glad to have helped, just watch it. I think long term this will cont to be an issues since there is no support under the sensor.

vinylkemist

@mikeevo - Had this happen in my 2008 CLK 350 just yesterday...thank you for the photos and description. I wedged a small piece of electrical tape on top of the sensor so it is always suppressed and this fixed the nasty big red hood warning screen.

heavyc300

Actually it is super easy to fix. The part costs about $20 on eBay. I fixed it myself on my 2008 C300.
The hood sensor is on the driver's side. It envelops the latch catch. But the whole thing is covered by a plastic panel. So this needs to be removed first. The plastic panel cover is held down by 2 pin fasteners, which can be pulled up by a pair of pliers. Then use a flat head to remove the rest of the fastener.
Use appropriate metric wrench to remove the 2 bolts holding the latch catch. At this point, the latch catch assembly can be taken into your hand. Gently pull and remove the sensor cable. The hood sensor is actually a cover for the latch catch. Using a flat head, pry open the hood sensor. The reason for the failure generally is a metal strip that goes soft. This wire pushes down the actual switch. When the metal strip goes soft, it does not push down the switch anymore.
When I got the new switch on eBay, it did not work on the first try. So I had to bend the metal strip a bit to get it to work. Pictures attached. Due to some weird reason, they get attached upside down.
Time taken: 40 mins. Cost of replacement part: $20

champ2413

Thanks for those posting - sharing my experience. Used a ziptie to keep the sensor down - pic below. Total time - 10-15 minutes

kenneyd

I kept popping mine back into place until it broke. Then i just unplugged it to permanently fix it. ( cant remember if i had to bridge the ports.

bimmerm3

LOL Thats exactly what i did. I wonder if there is any harm or long term effects in just leaving it zip tied.

Deaira Moore

so my hood got stuck today, it will not open , how can I open it without taking it to the dealer