Toyota Faulty Hood Design?

Anonymous · March 15, 2006, 17:47

right,

my hood has a 1 inch hole in it on the driver side, just behind the seats...

i thought someone must have punched a hole into it but then i started investigating...

The exact same spot but on the passenger side, there is wear, looks like after a few months that will rip aswell

Now i treat my hood well, and i dont think i could have done anything to prevent this.. could it be the fault of toyota's flawed design?

anyone else have the same sort of problem?

and is there anywhere in london/essex that repairs hoods, really hate seening my little 2' like this s:(

s:(

spit · March 15, 2006, 18:03

It is a flawed design. I posted a heads-up for folk to check on this about 18 months ago but I don't think anyone picked up on it s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

One of the hood's bars has a bracket each side where it clamps the parcel shelf string. The edge of the bracket is angular and sits proud of the bar - this can rub on the hood each time its pulled up. (You can feel it if you work your finger round the outside of the bar with the hood half-up.

The tell-tale that this is happening is that you begin to see a small dimple (or a smoothing of the weave) in the hood from the outside.

Mine was starting to show wear, so I bought a dinghy puncture repair kit and patched each inside lining before it caused more damage. The patches are taking a scuffing but the hood hasn't got any worse since.

Sorry, it doesn't help your driver's side now its worn through, but you might be able to save the pass side, & I'd urge everyone to check theirs out before it happens to them.

Anonymous · March 15, 2006, 18:48

yeah, my passenger side was gone before I bought it (y-reg) and the drivers side is on the way. pulling the rear screen down flat to pull the fabric over the bars before putting the roof all the way down seemed to prevent it getting any worse.

(Since the accident though, it's not been the same, roof seems much tighter, the tear has now changed direction and I cant use the roof as it gets worse each time. I'm trying to get norwich union to do something, but not really getting much joy! s:cry: :cry: s:cry: )

Liz · March 15, 2006, 18:51

Hoods Galore in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex are good, put a new roof on hubbies MX-5 for him, did a good job.

Anonymous · March 15, 2006, 19:35

if this is a known fault shouldnt toyota themselves fix this as a gesture of good will? i remember with my last car, a common problem was the blue leather on the steering wheel fading, ford got me a new one for free! and thats ford!

i think i'll give Hoods Galore a ring tommorow, thanx liz s:)

s:)

spit · March 15, 2006, 20:37

Quote from: "RoadRunner"if this is a known fault shouldnt toyota themselves fix this as a gesture of good will?

I'm not sure that its been formally recognised, but I've seen loads of '2s with those tell-tale dimples & when you look into the design of the bracket and its proximity to the hood as it tightens, you'd think a good case could be made.

Perhaps people are blissfully unaware that a problem exists until its too late. One things for sure though - as the '2 gets older we'll see more of these occurrences, so best get preventative maintenance done now. I went with a patch, but some guys on Spyderchat filed down the rough edges or bound the bracket with insulation tape, and both seem to have worked.

Anonymous · March 15, 2006, 21:03

I'd be interested in a proven pereventative maintainance procedure if there is one? A pic of the problem area would be good too.

spit · March 15, 2006, 21:10

The three I've outlined all work. Filing the bracket is the most fiddly but the least obtrusive result. I agree with your sentiments though - none of this furtling about should be necessary.

I'll try and get some pics posted if I can coax the camera off me Dad!

Anonymous · March 15, 2006, 22:42

i had my entire hood and frame replaced after 2 weeks of having the car because the frame was causing the same damage.
3 years on and i have had no problems with the hood or frame.
i was told that there was a moddifcation to the old frame but the techs stopped short of saying that there was a fault which was causing the damage but thats toyota techs all over hence i never use main dealers anymore.

Two's Company · March 16, 2006, 08:46

Quote from: "spit"I'd urge everyone to check theirs out before it happens to them.

Can we check this when I next see you? s8)

s8)

spit · March 16, 2006, 09:04

Keedokee

Anonymous · March 16, 2006, 11:00

Just been out to look at my car (2005). There is a fairly rough edge on the bracket where it attaches to the bar, but it's well clear of the fabric whilst the hood is up. Does this sound as though my car has the 'improved' design, or does the wear occur as the roof is being put up/down?

spit · March 16, 2006, 11:28

In situ - all is OK, the bracket is behind the hood and out of contact. Its when the hood goes through its journey that it can catch, particularly if the hood is cold.

I'm not convinced that the design of the bracket has been changed/improved at all. I had a look at Rusty's car (?03 ish) a while back and he still had the rough brackets but no evidence of catching on the way up or down. Maybe its down to the way the hood lies/folds as to whether it rubs or misses (although I'm not aware of any structural alterations to effect that either, so perhaps its just pot luck?

I didn't raise this issue to scare anyone unnecessarily, but forewarned and all that, particularly as our cars aren;t getting any younger. s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

spit · March 16, 2006, 12:27

OOPS AMENDMENT.

I've just bothered to look at my car s:oops: :oops: s:oops: and the brackets are not the ones that hold the parcel shelf string (at the top). They're to the sides of the same bar, and have a canvas strap riveted to them.

Anonymous · March 17, 2006, 20:38

mine had a small tear in the passenger side when I bought it, and the drivers side was well on the way as well. s:? :? s:?

What i've found is that making sure you help the back screen lie totally flat on the parcel shelf, it seems to stop it getting any worse. If you don't, and just fling the roof back it seems to stretch the fabric over the joint/rivet much tighter, causing the damage... I may be wrong, but that's how it seems on mine, but then, mine has more than its fair share of 'issues'! s:(

s:(

Anonymous · March 17, 2006, 21:34

Quote from: "jamesr1"I may be wrong, but that's how it seems on mine, but then, mine has more than its fair share of 'issues'! s:( s:(

james, mate i feel exactly the same way, love the car and all but i expected better build quality from a toyota after owning a ford previously s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

Anonymous · March 23, 2006, 18:42

this is bad, the passenger side is gettin really bad now, dont know what to do s:(

s:(

im going to have a hood with holes in either side in no time s:evil: :evil: s:evil:

spit · March 23, 2006, 19:10

I've done a search for you on Spyderchat, but it turns out the article I referred to on there was lost in the big database crash of '04 !

Ho-hum.

RR, the hood patch thing has worked for me - they've been on 18 months now and there is no further damage to the hood lining or outer skin - in fact the tell-tale dimples on the outside have gone too now.

Will it help if I post some pics up at the weekend?

Just to confirm, is your hood wear appearing on the side of the hood about midway between your door window and the vertical seam around the soft-top rear window?

Ste

Anonymous · March 23, 2006, 20:31

Dont mean to cut in on someone else's thread - but I think I have this hood wear, wgere spit just mentioned, but also on the rear seam that goes across the hood as if you were looking at the car from the back - going left to right above the back window.

I'd appreciate pics of the inside and outside, and the steps to repair/prevent further wear, if you have time.

Thanks

Roo

Anonymous · March 23, 2006, 21:07

this is the damage on mine, exactly like this, on drivers side, and the passenger side is wearing bad s:(

s:(

thing is ive used the halford hood repair kit thing, and when you put the hood down it just messes up the patch s:? :? s:?

Anonymous · March 23, 2006, 21:24

The recommendation we promote at Spyderchat is to locate the source of the rubbing, which you'll find to be two rivets on the hood bar. Cover these with a strip of bicycle handlebar tape.

We're having a heated discussion right now over the correct procedure for raising and lowering the top. There are several schools, ranging from the "Throw it back whilst seated" group to the "Stand for raising, sit for lowering" bunch. What has emerged from these observations is that no two tops are alike - some bind more than others, some are fairly loose, some are bang on perfect. This accounts for variances in wear and rubbing over those rivets.

Anonymous · March 26, 2006, 16:05

Any update on taking photos of where in the inside needs taping?
I've noticed some wear on the inside of my hood - would like to fix this asap.

Cheers

Roo

spit · March 26, 2006, 17:09

Sorry Roo .... s:oops: :oops: s:oops: It was on my list for this weekend, but Inma rolled in from Alicante on a surprise visit so I've been otherwise distracted s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

I'll get out there and do it now...... not sure I can help with the rear seam but I'll have a firtle around and post pics - others can always scribble on them as a pointer if they've had & fixed the same problem.

Ste

Anonymous · March 26, 2006, 17:45

Thanks very much for doing this matey.

Roo

spit · March 26, 2006, 18:20

OK - not sure how useful these are, but its a starting point. Sorry its rushed and not very photogenic......

First up, the back seam - mine looks OK, but a later pic might prompt you to look at your top bracket (holding the parcel shelf string) as a possible culprit?

Next, the tell-tale dimple on the outside of the hood that suggests you might have a problem brewing. Its mid-point between the two hood bars. I caught my off-side starting to wear sooner and the patch has removed the dimple completely. This one was much, much worse before I patched.

From the inside, you can see where I've used a patch (rubber dinghy puncture repair kit, available from good boaty places!) to protect the weakened area. I cut the patch to a size so that the left and right edges are hidden behind the bars when the hood is up. Its not neat, I grant you, but it has halted the wear.

Finally, another view from inside with the roof slackened a little. You'll have to use your imagination a bit, but essentially the bracket catches the hood as it travels back (and even harder on the way up again) about mid-point between the two bars - which is why I used a long patch.

Other's roofs may be different, but if you feel the back edge of this bracket (rivet side) its pretty rough. The top one is too - which may be your issue Roo - but on mine it doesn't seem to foul the top.

The Spyderchat fixes will probably also work - taping up the bracket (difficult because of the oblique strap thats riveted to it) or filing the rough edge down (access is tricky but it can be done with roof half-down)

Hope this helps,
Ste