Oil change debacle
Thread Starter
2nd Gear
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 2
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Oil change debacle
We did our first oil change the other day on our 02 convt. We now have what seems to be a completely unrelated problem; our hood is now misaligned. Could this be from where we jacked the car? My husband jacked first from the shipping / "puck" location on the passenger side just behind the front wheel. He then placed the first stand under the cross member that the manual says to jack from, then worked clockwise around the car. When I went to close the hood after the change (car still on jacks) the hood wouldn't latch on the passenger side but did latch on the drivers. I started to lift the hood from the passenger side when I realized it didn't latch, that's when I discovered that the driver's side was latched. We released the hood tried again, same thing. Husband took over and closed hood hard, both sides latched, and I noticed passenger side misalignment (hood raised, large gap). Any suggestions on what may of happened? Could it have been from the jacking or perhaps pulling on corner of hood? We are baffled. 
Thanks
Thanks
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 992
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From: Granville Ohio
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16'17-'18-'19-'20-21
That would be unusual if you racked the hood with what you did while jacking it up.
Do you raise the hood by lifting the center or from an edge? It may be possible to rack it if you lift from the side of the hood instead of the center.
Do you raise the hood by lifting the center or from an edge? It may be possible to rack it if you lift from the side of the hood instead of the center.
Thread Starter
2nd Gear
Joined: Oct 2006
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Started to lift from passenger side but when I realized it was latched on drivers side I stopped. After we released hood I couldnt' reach the exact middle but got as close as I could when I lifted it back up.
Are we in for a major pain to realign?
Are we in for a major pain to realign?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,847
Likes: 795
From: Longview Texas
You don't say if the hood closed normally after you got the car off the jacks. I would never even try to slam my hood closed with the car up on jacks.
It is possible that the frame has a slight twist up in the air, but I have never heard of any permanent misalignment caused by jacking the car up and supporting in the correct locations.
Let us know how the hood closed once the car was back on the ground.
It is possible that the frame has a slight twist up in the air, but I have never heard of any permanent misalignment caused by jacking the car up and supporting in the correct locations.
Let us know how the hood closed once the car was back on the ground.
Team Owner
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hmm...can't imagine the bolts being that loose....that being said you should be able to see where the hinges lined up before if in fact you need to adjust it....
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 216
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From: Greenfield Wisconsin
We are talking about a C5 here, not like the days of my '72 coupe,
talk about a flexible frame!
The C5 has torsional rigidity that completely debunks all the
things we used to do when jacking older cars,
no offense, like leaving the doors ajar.
I'd find it hard to believe you did anything to hurt your C5,
like screwing up the hood alignment, by jacking it up.
talk about a flexible frame!
The C5 has torsional rigidity that completely debunks all the
things we used to do when jacking older cars,
no offense, like leaving the doors ajar.
I'd find it hard to believe you did anything to hurt your C5,
like screwing up the hood alignment, by jacking it up.
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Race Director
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 10,554
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From: Not on either liberal coast.
I know for a fact that an all steel old timey car with a full length frame (like a '55-56-57 Chevy) can be twisted enough to experience mis-alignment of car doors/hood/trunk when jacked up. You learn not to slam things closed until everything is back under full curb weight on four tires. They're fine once the car is off the jack/jack stands.
I can't imagine even a "new technology" C5 Corvette would be any more rigid.
I can't imagine even a "new technology" C5 Corvette would be any more rigid.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 23,283
Likes: 906
From: Lake Elsinore, CA
Originally Posted by Arnie Guitar
We are talking about a C5 here, not like the days of my '72 coupe,
talk about a flexible frame!
The C5 has torsional rigidity that completely debunks all the
things we used to do when jacking older cars,
no offense, like leaving the doors ajar.
I'd find it hard to believe you did anything to hurt your C5,
like screwing up the hood alignment, by jacking it up.
talk about a flexible frame!
The C5 has torsional rigidity that completely debunks all the
things we used to do when jacking older cars,
no offense, like leaving the doors ajar.
I'd find it hard to believe you did anything to hurt your C5,
like screwing up the hood alignment, by jacking it up.
I have jacked C5's up every way but Sundays and have opened/closed doors, hoods, hatches, trunks - you name it - with the cars supported in almost every way imaginable and never so much as a millimeter of misalignment has resulted. This sounds like the hood was racked. It should be able to be realigned with a bit of patience and attention to detail. 
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 10,179
Likes: 2,306
From: Wesley Chapel, FL Las Vegas, NV
Originally Posted by Arnie Guitar
We are talking about a C5 here, not like the days of my '72 coupe,
talk about a flexible frame!
The C5 has torsional rigidity that completely debunks all the
things we used to do when jacking older cars,
no offense, like leaving the doors ajar.
I'd find it hard to believe you did anything to hurt your C5,
like screwing up the hood alignment, by jacking it up.
talk about a flexible frame!
The C5 has torsional rigidity that completely debunks all the
things we used to do when jacking older cars,
no offense, like leaving the doors ajar.
I'd find it hard to believe you did anything to hurt your C5,
like screwing up the hood alignment, by jacking it up.
Should be easy enough to realign.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 5,118
Likes: 122
From: Madison (Huntsville) Alabama
CI 6-7-8 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '09
If I understand your jacking procedure, you jacked behind the passenger front wheel, put a jack stand under the cross member, then removed the jack and did the same thing in front of the rear passenger wheel, then in front of the rear driver's side wheel, then behind the front driver's side wheel.
If this is correct, it seems to me that you could do some considerable torqueing to the frame, maybe even enough twist to cause some misalignment.
It's probably best to raise the entire front by jacking on the crossmember, installing the jack stands, and then move to the rear and raise the rear, placing the jack stands. No torsion is induced that way. You can get the front up high enough to get the jack under by driving it up on a couple of stacked 2-bys.
Many say you don't need to open the hood, doors, and hatch when jacking from the side. But why not? It doesn't take but a minute and it's a little safety factor.
If this is correct, it seems to me that you could do some considerable torqueing to the frame, maybe even enough twist to cause some misalignment.
It's probably best to raise the entire front by jacking on the crossmember, installing the jack stands, and then move to the rear and raise the rear, placing the jack stands. No torsion is induced that way. You can get the front up high enough to get the jack under by driving it up on a couple of stacked 2-bys.
Many say you don't need to open the hood, doors, and hatch when jacking from the side. But why not? It doesn't take but a minute and it's a little safety factor.
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 216
Likes: 0
From: Greenfield Wisconsin
Originally Posted by rrichar2591
I learned the hard way not to slam the hood. Just press down on each side of the hood where the latches are. Hope this helps.
Um, don't do that.
Just hold the hood in the center, about 1 foot up, no more,
and let it go.
If it doesn't shut properly, it's out of adjustment.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 2,402
Likes: 3
From: Raymore Mo
Some times mine does that. One side will completely latch, and the other one will not. Two things I have found out about closing the hood. #1. Make sure the lever inside the car that you pull to unlatch the hood is fully back to the original position. When I open mine it will only go back about half. If it's not back all the way then the hood won't close properly.
#2. Do what Arnie said. Hold hood about 1 foot in center and drop.
I don't think you have a jacking problem.
#2. Do what Arnie said. Hold hood about 1 foot in center and drop.
I don't think you have a jacking problem.