It's getting about time to put those G35's away for winter storage for any of you who live in cold weather climates that get snow and time to start thinking about preventative maintenance before putting your car away for the winter. Just a reminder for any of you newer guys here that our hood hinges are a bit of a problem area for G35's. Our hood hinges tend to seize up if you don't regularly maintain them, and will result in bent hinges, and possibly paint and fender damage if you try to open it when they are seized. They are actually really hard to lube up too due to their location. I use a little home-made tool to lube mine up:





Two of those disposable plastic spray straws from any old generic spray can joined together by a small piece of cut rubber hose will give you a flexible joint in the sprayer nozzle that you can use to spray around corners and into the tight area where the hinges sit.

I just spend about an hour today helping a friend and fellow G35' owner out who never lubed his up the entire time he's owned his car, and his were seized... and figured it'd be a good time to mention it again for everyone here who may have either forgotten or not known about this. I was able to get his free with some Seafoam Deep Creep and very careful manipulation of the hood without damaging the hinges or panels and paint.

Don't wait... or you'll be pretty pissed at yourself when it's too late.

 

Now you tell me lol...Where exactly am I suppose to spray this on, what part of the hinges? Any tutorial or video? I'll be visiting the car's storage location at some point over the holidays in a months time, maybe I can do it at that time?

 

It's tough to explain. Take a bright flashlight and shine it in where the hinge goes under the flange of the fender. You should be able to see a bit of it there if you lean your head into the engine bay low and so you ear is right near the engine cover. Spray the lube in once from the outside of the hinge and then go at it from the other side (inner side). You want to try to drop the lube down from above onto the hinge and then open and close the hood a bunch of times to work it in.

 

Trying to get a visual of this lol. If you ever get a chance, take some pics so I can see where to shot some white grease. Don't have the car so I guess it'll have to wait until X-mas time anyway. The drivers side will have to wait until spring, there is no way to get through unless I just spray down into the fender reaching over from the passenger side fender.

Contacted the previous owner via email a few hours ago, he never had a problem with hood hinges, he remembers hood hinges being in one of the maintenance packs at the dealer, so should have been done at least 2-3 times over the years. Looked at the service records and there are a few bills that say 'lubricate all locks, latches, hinges'. Hopefully the hood has been done.

 

It's actually really tough to take a picture of with the location that it's in. Even if I got a shot, getting the phone/camera into the exact location for a shot that is in focus would be tough.

If you really wanted to get to the other side, you could always throw a blanket over the motor and fenders and lay across it while you try to spray the lube into the hinges on the drivers side that's near the wall (remembering your parking situation from the other thread about the window roll-down/battery removal process).

If you're storing your car in a garage where it's out of the rain and excessive humidity, you should be fine though. Some people such as myself are stuck storing our cars outside for the winter under a car cover, so it's important to keep them lubed prior to storage... particularly since the hood won't be getting opened while it's sitting that entire time.

If you look closely in person though and follow the awkward path of the hinges, you'll see where they go. Just make sure you have a flashlight with you if it's in a garage, because standard overhead artificial light probably won't be good enough to see the target area. I actually find that using one of those strap-mounted LED forehead lamps works good for this sort of thing because it allows you to keep both hands free when working on it. I swear by those for auto repairs in general because the light is always pointed at what you're looking at without taking up a hand to get it there and they weigh next to nothing.

 

You're a good man party. Thanks for your replies. Just called the dealer to ask about this, they told me it's a known problem on older cars that don't see the dealership anymore and it is included in maintenance #2 and #4. Guy said to just shoot inside the gap in the fender in the direction of the headlights, can't miss. Or take it to 'their' body shop to do it properly, which is interesting since they don't even have one in house.

Interesting you mentioned moisture, this car has always been garage kept both summer and winter and rarely driven in the rain. Previous owner only drove it in the rain when taking the occasional long distance trip and I have yet to drive it in the rain. Coincidence it has never had any of the electrical issues such as window motors, locks, actuators. They're all original and not a single light bulb, ballast or LED has ever been changed. Not practical I know, especially if it is your only car, but something to think about. I'll update this thread in a few weeks when I can see the car again