I am looking for a quick fix with my hood hinge (the hood is hitting the top corner of the passenger side fender). Is it possible to simply bend the hinge back and lube it so that it doesn't hit anymore? Has anyone done this? I do not want to go through the removal of the bumper/fender/hood unless I absolutely have to.

Also because it is only hitting the passenger side - does this mean that only the passenger side hinge is pooched, or is it possible that both sides need replacement?

Thanks!

 

I had to buy a new one, I tired messing with it only for it to rub again.

 

Ah damn. I am reading now via search that some people re-aligned the hoods and fender, and then lubed it up for a fix...I suppose it depends on how badly damage the existing hinge is.

Also, do you know if the hood damper kits on ebay are complete replacements for the stock hood hinges, or do they simply compliment the existing hood hinges?

 

They compliment the factory hinges

 

Thanks a lot greengoblin for your fast and informative posts.
OT: I wish I lived in South Florida - hopefully one day (once of course the economy turns around there).

 

This is the only car I've ever heard of that the hood hinges fail...why? Anything you do to fix them is only temporary, they need to be replaced. Spend all that money on design and then something like hinges/oil rings and suspensions that aren't adjustable spoils Nissan's reputation....again WHY? Nissan are you listening....Hello Nissan are you....
Gary

 

Why you ask? Ill tell you why - cost cutting where customer's won't see initially. It is what hurt GM in the 70's, 80's and early part of the 90's, and if the japanese don't watch out, it will hurt them too.

These cars are great brand new, but the rattles, squeaks, oil burning issues, transmission issues, tire wearing issues, bad paint issues, make me really question Nissan's quality. These are issues you rare saw on Japanese cars of the 80's and 90's (other than rust heh), but now its becoming common ground across all japanese cars (i.e. Honda's transmissions, Toyota's oil sludge issues, Nissan's oil burning issues with the 2.5 & 3.5 motors, etc).

 

its a car. cars have issues. the only test is time.

get new hinges. easy DIY.

 

Thanks to the posts here, my hood was ROCKING my fenders, literally bent fender corner upwards. I finally got to this today and I sprayed some PB blaster at the hinges. I made sure to cover with a rag the space just below since I heard that the spray can get into the cabon vent or something and stink up the cabin. I then moved the hood up and down for like 5 minutes. I had my wife do it actually while I peeked at the hinges to see what was up. I did see it gradually pivoting better at the pivot joint. Finally I guess it was moving as free as it needed to be, because VOILA when i open my hood now it no longer rubs! I was almost convinced this was NOT going to work. I totally figured the damage was done and hinges needed to be replaced due to being bent. Since i didnt have a new hinge on hand I had no real way to determine if the current one was bent or not. Anyways doesnt matter now. I will spray some white lith grease and put the cover back on. Once it starts to rub again i will repeat. Yea boyeeee.

 

A friend with a 2006 G35x had a rub between hood and RH fender, but not so bad as to bend the fender, fortunately. To get the hood open while a hinge is already bent on one side, it helps to lift firmly on that side of the hood near the hinge while you open it. (This may require the help of a buddy.) After shooting some lithium grease into(?) the hinges, I slipped a little 1-1/2" block of wood all the way in under the RH hinge, and carefully(!) lowered the hood just until that hinge started to groan a bit (and then raised the hood to remove the block, of course). This worked, at least for now. You may want to do the unbend in a few small steps to make sure that you don't overdo it, and have the hood corner higher than the fender. The paint was rubbed off at the corner, so I will touch it up.