Hood Vibration Question

[shinbatsu]

Just got a question for anyone with a BRZ or FRS that they daily drive on the freeway and have a bumpy roads.

I notice by hood has a very slight vibration (no sound) when driving on the freeway and the road is bumpy. Is this normal? This is the first car I can actually see most of the hood, and near the driver side "hump" where the fender meets the hood I can see that it's vibrating very slightly.

Maybe someone can drive to work today and confirm if their hood does the same or not.

It's worth noting my hood was replaced due to a minor accident because they couldn't get the old hood lined up properly.

Thanks!

[strat61caster]

You should be able to adjust the rubber stops near the front of the hood to reduce the vibration, it's something that most cars will do at some point in their life, you just came across it sooner due to the wreck, things probably settled down after driving on the repair and need a little fine tuning now.

[B-R-Z]

Yes see if you can turn/loosen/unscrew the rubber stoppers just a little bit on the underside of the hood that rest in the engine bay when you close the hood. This will make the hood have a tighter close. I had a similar issue on my S2000 and this worked.

[shinbatsu]

Thanks for the responses!

I took a look just now and I didn't see anything that was adjustable either on the underside of the hood itself, nor in the engine bay.

All I could find was what looked like a rubber stopper, it was able to turn but did not change height. There didn't appear to be any kind of bolt or nut, just a hole where one would possibly go? (and there was one on both sides)

So from what I'm reading, this isn't something normal? Maybe when they changed my hood they didn't align it properly, the funny thing is the fitment is perfect from what I can see and they changed pretty much everything involved including the hood latch assembly and all bolts.

But yeah, the vibration is really annoying to have to look at while driving.

Does anyone know for sure where the adjustment points are, and more important if there is supposed to be some kind of adjusting bolt the shop may have forgot to replace?

THANK YOU!!!

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by shinbatsu

Thanks for the responses!

I took a look just now and I didn't see anything that was adjustable either on the underside of the hood itself, nor in the engine bay.

All I could find was what looked like a rubber stopper, it was able to turn but did not change height. There didn't appear to be any kind of bolt or nut, just a hole where one would possibly go? (and there was one on both sides)

Those are the ones I'm thinking of, I couldn't find anything online, I'll go take a look at mine soon.

[shinbatsu]

I went online and looked up some high res pictures of the BRZ engine bay, and it looks exactly like mine.

The stoppers have the same hole in it, and don't look like they change height.

I have a lifetime warranty from the shop for the repairs, if I have to I'll just take it back. (I'd rather not, they are backlogged for 3 weeks). I also have the extended warranty from Subaru.

If it's something quick like adjusting the headlights (which I had to do once I got the car back from the shop) it's no big deal.

Has anyone been able to drive the car and see if it vibrates a little? I'm thinking this could possibly be normal. It's the part of the hood over the drivers side "hump" area.

It's my first brand new car, and so I'm very paranoid about this issue.

[Totality]

At higher speeds 80+ my hood would always be shaking like it wanted to pop open.

I removed the gasket on the firewall that seals the back of the hood just below the wipers. Solved the problem instantly. Plus it cooled my engine bay. However a bit more induction noise can be heard.

[kiichiro]

This is normal phenomenon

[strat61caster]

@shinbatsu

Go take another look at those rubber stops. Grab the top and lift up, see how they seperate at the bottom? The rubber is cut in a spiral so that if you turn it, it will 'screw' up or down. You can back it all the way out if you want, pretty nifty design, Toyota's been using it for 20+ years, just noticed it on my gf's Corolla a few weeks ago and wanted to double check before telling you. Unscrew it say half a turn on the side that's lifting and you should be golden.

Sorry I flaked on you.

[shinbatsu]

@strat61caster:

I just wanted to follow up on this thread since I fixed the problem.

You were right, the rubber is spiral cut and will spin. You just have to spin it quite a bit before it does anything. When I first looked at it and spun it, I thought it was just spinning in place.

I basically made adjustments 1/4 turn at a time, then made sure the top of the hood was still even on both sides. I then drove the car, and checked for vibrations then repeated until it stopped.

Of course at 80+ mph the hood does wobble a slight bit, but that's because it's so light, and from what I've researched it's normal. The dealer confirmed this as well. The terrible Hawaii roads do not help the situation much.

Appreciate the help!

[Sam86]

I’m having this issue, the rattle is EXTREMELY loud above 110km/h

I have adjusted the rubber stops almost to the very top and have done 2 adjustments lowering the stops and it still rattles like anything.
I haven’t noticed this happen since I had my turbo installed, (maybe wasn’t making enough power to have the same force??)

The latch itself is very secure, I’ve noticed the hood doesn’t make a strong click sound when it closes like it used to. Still clicks in and locks just sounds a bit softer than I remember