Help! What's wrong with my hood latch?

[Sandwich Boy]

Last week, my hood latch was working fine. Yesterday I removed and disassembled both the upper and lower latch pieces for cleaning up, and I reinstalled everything very carefully to make sure it was the same as before. However, now the latch post won't "catch" when lowering the hood. Looking to the hole where it goes, I don't see anything that could grab it. I even removed the post from the latch and manually pushed it down in there, but nothing grabs it. I'm hoping someone can take a look at these pics and tell me if something looks wrong. I'm suspecting the moving piece that is circled in red isn't sticking far enough out to catch the edge of the post. Does this look right? Thanks in advance.

edit: I should also mention that the latch release movement seems to be fine. It's just not catching and holding the post no matter how I adjust it.

[blucille]

these latches are pretty clever, designed so if the cable breaks, the hood releases....from memory, I thought the latch came in from the right side....so, it could be your cable is either too tight or too loose. You need to find the tension on the cable that maximizes the protrusion of the latch, if that makes any sense.

Lewis

[John Z Goriup]

Note that in my attached picture the movable latch which "bites" the tapered post protrudes into the receiving hole on the right side.

In both your photos, the latch is out of sight, therefore it would not be in a position to engage the tapered post.

1. Looks like something is keeping the latch from returning to its normal position. Have you checked that the cable did not slip out of its pivoting socket, and that all the springs are still in place & functional. The small screw that secures the cable rusts and is sometimes very difficult to turn and tighten properly.

2. Have you checked for free movement of the latch with the hood open. Lubricate everything, including the cable inside the casing.

3. Have you visually checked for alignment between the hood post and the bottom hole in the X & Y axis.

[M_deJong]

Mine ('71) the latching piece comes in from the right at 3 o'clock and occludes about 1/4 of the circular space. I also don't see the cable/wire in the hole like in your photo. Maybe you put it back together wrong?

[Sandwich Boy]

A-ha! Now I understand what happened - The latch was under tension when I disconnected the cable, and when I put it back I didn't tension it like it was before. I just need to adjust it, so that in the released position the latching piece sticks out from the right side like in John's pic above. That was good thinking on Porsche's part to have it in the open position in the event of cable breakage.

Thanks for the assistance!

[304065]

Your latch thinks the cable has broken. See how you don't see the tooth in the hole? It will never catch.
Reach underneath and push on the tooth so it moves. See how it moves?
See the hole to the right of the recess for with the tooth? Push on the tooth until you can insert a small screwdriver through the hole. This pins the tooth in position so you can tighten the cable down.
Now pull out the screwdriver. The tooth should remain visible in the hole.
Now close the lid normally and go through the regular adjustment procedure. Good luck.