Hood Stay - advice needed

[paul_GB]

Guys I am going mad trying to fit a new stay for my hood (or 'bonnet' as we say in the UK).. Ive read the very useful threads on the subject and tried to follow them but still have probs....

I have a new stay to fit as my car didnt have one fitted. Ive bought new plastic blocks etc. The hood is off the car and laying on my carpet ;o). The new stay has the short end that slots into the hood frame pointing in the opposite direction to the torsion arm (long arm) that slots into the detent block on the inner wing. I looked on the SLS site and the diag there looks correct against mine. If I slot the short end into the hood frame facing forward (i.e short end pointing to front of hood) then I have the long arm pointing to the rear of the car. If I then begin to twist the arm CCW (whilst I stand next to the car - battery tray side) it has to go thro around 360 deg to get to a point where I could clip it (with an 'S' bracket)  to the hole situated in the side of the hood frame. HUGE tension..! I tried twisting CW direction but the short arm presses against the ali skin (!!) and tension in that direction doesnt seem right. What am I doing wrong..? Am I inserting the short end the right way..? Do I have the correct torsion rod..?  Help... (sorry its protracted)

[Naj ✝︎]

Hi, Paul,

I think these are incorrectly made.

I had the same problem as yours with a new MB supplied one but luckily still had the old one which we reused.

If you find out any different, let me know.

naj

[paul_GB]

Thanks Naj.. good to know I am not going crazy.

I am thinking that the bar ends should point in the same direction to make it correctly when its installed and tensioned. 

Just trying to fit the hood to get the car to an MOT test in the morning (no panic).

[gugel]

I agree with Naj that the new MB hood stays are incorrectly made.  I had the same problem, and neither Tom Colitt nor I could figure any way to get it on, so I ended up reworking the old one and re-using it.

Chris

[paul_GB]

.. can I ask how you modified the torsion bar to work okay..

[gugel]

The bar had gotten curved so it didn't hold the hood up high enough.  I pretty much just bent it back into shape.  It's still a bit curved, but much better than before.

Chris

[al_lieffring]

I remember having this problem 30 years ago when I installed my new hood spring. But I don't rember what I did to made it work. Puting the old one back on wasn't an option because I didn't have one, so somehow there is a way to make it work.

[hkollan]

so somehow there is a way to make it work.

... Not with the ones MB are selling now, unfortunately.
They are crap as several ones have confirmed already.

[VincentR]

Hi All,

I had the same problem with my new bonnet stay.
I did not really realize the problem when I installed it because the previous one was broken and I had no idea of the tension of the original stay.
But after 1 week the part of the new stay which is in the bonnet structure pushed the bonnet aluminum skin and I had one boss outside.
I tried to push the aluminum boss (visible on the upside of the bonnet under sunlight) but without success. I finally decided to put one strong stainless steel between the stay (its ended part inside the cross structure) and the skin. There is a little gap (about 1mm) between the beam and the skin of the bonnet. Now the pressure is applied through the plate and more "soft" because the contact surface is bigger on aluminum internal skin.
Nota : the stainless steel plate is just in place by the pressure of the stay end and even when you close the bonnet, the plate remains in place without falling. I put it in place without disassembling the bonnet. It does help if you put some grease.
Then I pushed back the aluminum skin with my inch (and the second inch on the first one to get strong pushing).
The surface of the stainless steel plate is about 6cm x 3cm and its thickness about 0.5mm.

I hope that you will understand my explanation (my english is not so good!!).

Best regards.
Vincent R(from France).

[tel76]

If the springs have been manufactured incorrectly, then i assume that they have been returned under warranty to MB.
What was the response from MB and have they now rectified the problem?
I ask this question because i will require one in the future.

[tel76]

Do i take it that no one returned the faulty stays under warranty?

[Largeowner]

I was at a car show last weekend and the wind came up...hood blew off the latch, and the stay buried itself behind the battery.

The stay is now bent!  Based upon what I just read, it sounds like straightening it myself is the best course of action.
Unless......Has anyone tried the stay that Millers sells, and does it have the same problems as genuine MB?

Large

[Naj ✝︎]

Does your car not have a check strap?

I think the rod will be reuseable.

naj

[Largeowner]

Yes, I have a fresh check strap but it either stretched since I installed it, or the rod bent.  It any case, it was not fully taut when the torsion rod was in the groove.  Straightening it will be my project today.

Large