Hood ajar warning after replacing front blinkers

[jjd]

I had to replace a front blinker bulbs last weekend and I thought I had done everything correct except I'm now getting a hood ajar warning.

I've checked the hood and latches and everything seems correct so I suspect I accidetly dislodged a quick connect harness for the latch sensor and can't figure out where that would be.

I had disconnected each of the light house wiring harnesses and a two-pin connector under the right light housing attached to the frame which I believe is for the fog lights and thought all three were reconnected. All lights are working.

Where would the hood open sensor be located? Is there a quick connect for that sensor which I may have accidently disconnected?

Thanks for any help

[murphy]

The hood has two latches and presumably has two sensors. Verify that both latches are secured.

[jjd]

Yup I know the two latches, and did check them for any sort of switch sensor. Check both latches weren't stuck open and found that both looked to be working correctly (and hood is down tight). Pressing on the closed hood doesn't seem to remove the warning. I couldn't see any sort of wiring on/near the latches. I can't find those switches.

 

Any idea where these hood sensor switches are mounted? (pictures?) Most of the car door sensor switches I've seen are placed somewhere else in the door frame and woudn't be surprised to find the same with the hood. Just don't know what these would look like or where to look.

[murphy]

Yup I know the two latches, and did check them for any sort of switch sensor. Check both latches weren't stuck open and found that both looked to be working correctly (and hood is down tight). Pressing on the closed hood doesn't seem to remove the warning. I couldn't see any sort of wiring on/near the latches. I can't find those switches.

 

Any idea where these hood sensor switches are mounted? (pictures?) Most of the car door sensor switches I've seen are placed somewhere else in the door frame and woudn't be surprised to find the same with the hood. Just don't know what these would look like or where to look.

There is a gray connector at the lower left of the driver's side latch. It appears to be wired to a microswitch located directly above it.

 

Make sure the hood release lever is fully retracted. If it isn't completely retracted it might affect the microswitch.

[hikyuuri]

Old thread, but wanted to add my notes to it.

 

There is also two connectors on either side of the Driver Side headlight assembly. These connectors are not accessible without removing the front bumper cover. This is the "sense" wire for detecting if the hood is open or not. If the circuit is "open", the car counts that as the hood is open.

 

If one or both of these connectors are not connected, or not connected securely, then the car will read that as the hood being open, even if it is fully latched.

 

Source: When replacing my headlights with LEDs, I forgot to attach this cable. I didn't even notice until I went to turn the car on and it said the hood was opened. After ripping the front bumper cover off, I realized I left these disconnected. Connecting them fixed the issue.

[jjd]

Thanks for the note, reminded me I forgot to follow up. Turned out the switch was fine. My problem was the wiring harness which is on the attached to the trunk side of the driver's wheel well wall. This could also only be reached with the bumper cover removed. Next time I'll check everything before putting the front end back on!

[hytibill]

Yuck. I broke a wire in the wiring harness. Should I try to repair it or replace it? Any guides on what the part no is? Haven't been able to find it.

[hytibill]

Okay the hood ajar light is bothering me. I broke a wire going into the electrical connector behind the driver's side headlight. Now the hood ajar light stays on and remote start doesn't work. How do I fix this? I was thinking of getting a wiring harness but I don't know which one to get.

[eisbaer]

Uhhh splice the wire back together? I suppose its just a sensing wire to determine if the electrical circuit is either open or closed.

[billford]

12 hours ago, hytibill said:

Okay the hood ajar light is bothering me. I broke a wire going into the electrical connector behind the driver's side headlight. Now the hood ajar light stays on and remote start doesn't work. How do I fix this? I was thinking of getting a wiring harness but I don't know which one to get.

 

Remote start won't work if it thinks the hood is open.

 

You don't have to replace the harness, solder a piece of wire in place of the broken one. Use electrical shrink wrap to seal out the moisture.

 

[jjd]

18 hours ago, hytibill said:

Okay the hood ajar light is bothering me. I broke a wire going into the electrical connector behind the driver's side headlight. Now the hood ajar light stays on and remote start doesn't work. How do I fix this? I was thinking of getting a wiring harness but I don't know which one to get.

I too was going to ask about splicing the wires together. All depends if you broke the wire at where it connects to the harness.

Can you get a crimp connector on the wires?  Heat shrink butt connector may work. I prefer Wago connectors but they aren't waterproof, not available in single wire , no small quantities and a little pricey. If you get the waterproof butt connector make sure it's the right size (gauge) for the wire being spliced, crimp hit with heat and you're done.

 

You can also twist or solder them and then use heat shrink, electrical tape, or liquid electrical tape to waterproof it.

 

 

 

 

There's also liquid electrical tape which would work great for this too. That said, this all depends on having wire to work with.

[hytibill]

Sorry for the late response. I broke the wire right where it joined the connector so I couldn't just splice it together. I watched a Ford Tech Makuloco video about connectors. I took the connector apart, took out the broken part of the wire inside, stripped the end of the existing harness, and inserted it into the connector. It is barely long enough to get pushed back into place. I had to replace the harness on the rear taillight. I broke the connector while taking it apart. Ford's replacement harness comes with heat shrink butt connectors that you crimp into place, then heat. Thanks for the responses.