hood latch hard to open

[DonRybak]

5 minutes before 2022........ Happy New Year to all. Just wondering if any RK37 owners have an issue opening the hood. MIne has always been a bear to open since new sometimes requiring a screwdriver through the grasping ring to open the hood. I figured that was normal until I noticed on some the RK37 videos on YouTube where they seem to have to put no effort at all into opening the hood. With the hood open I can close the latch with a screwdriver and open it with ease. The cable and latch assembly seem to work effortlessly with the hood open. It seems that when the hood is closed that the seals add enough stress on the latch to cause this difficultly but I didn't see any adjustments to this. I greased the latch and lubes the cable and like I mentioned the cable and latch move smoothly with the hood open. Anyone else faced this and if so what was the fix? Thanks.......Don

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I tired to open a couple at RK... no go. Seems to be common

 

[oosik]

My hood latch on my M6040 is always tough. I've never had to use a tool - I have a heavy pair of leather gloves. One finger thru the grasping ring and one mighty pull - it's open.

On mine - its the compressing of the hood seal that makes operating the hood latch difficult. I'd rather have it that way than accidentally opening when I'm in rough terrain.

 

[K5lwq]

Have you tried a little grease on the latch? If it is the gaskets, can you push down on the hood while unlatching?

 

[duffer]

If you haven't tried this....

Push down on the hood and wiggle it a little while you're trying to release the latch. It might take some stress of the seals and latch assembly.

 

[DonRybak]

The latch has been greased and as I mentioned, it opens easy with the hood open when i close the latch with a screwdriver as the hood would. I haven't tried pushing down on the hood but I'll be heading out to feed my horses in a little while so I'll give it a try then. Thanks for the replies.

 

[DonRybak]

It's a very awkward position to try to push down on the hood and pull the latch cable at the same time. Hard to work around the FEL arms. I did push down on the hood while standing in front of the tractor and there's very little movement since the seals are so tight. Looking at the latch mounting bracket it appears that I could slowly shim it with flat washers to the point that the hood is still tight but not so much as to allow it to come open.

 

[sengli]

I had to use a spray type lube on my latch itself to be able to open the hood normally. Otherwise mine was stuck shut. Pulling the cable to open it, was fruitless before I lubed the latching mechanism up. Mine sat on the "lot" for over a year before I bought it, so it was exposed to the elements for some time. Plus almost all of the foam seals under my hood had come loose. Had to clean them with paint thinner, and re-attach them with new 3M adhesives, and some RTV.