C-MaxSea Posted September 18, 2013 Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 (edited) One weak element of the F & F on the C-Max is the front hood. I believe they have engineered a gappy fit between the hood and front cowling - which seems like it would be a sucking aerodynamic drag. I played with mine a little (I think) by adjusting the 'stoppers' (???) inside which control the maximum drop of the hood. I only adjusted a bit for side to side match. It looks like it would not be possible/advisable to adjust further because it would close in on the headlight and rub. I believe this may be universal, or at least very common. It has bugged me from 'day one'. Hope they tweak this hood or realign it in the 2014. Just two cents worth. Brilliant vehicle overall IMHO. Post script: Sure hope they offer us 2013ers a free 2014 replacement front hood gasket. Nick http://nollieworks.smugmug.com/photos/i-CsDZkh6/0/L/i-CsDZkh6-L.jpgbefore http://nollieworks.smugmug.com/photos/i-TKzWX2k/0/L/i-TKzWX2k-L.jpgafter http://nollieworks.smugmug.com/photos/i-GDd9kmD/0/L/i-GDd9kmD-L.jpg'stoppers' Edited April 6, 2014 by C-MaxSea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbov Posted September 18, 2013 Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 You do realize that the big rubber thing next to the stopper is the hood seal, one of the things Ford says they changed in the 2014... you may be on to something. Your photos show that the seal stops at the edge of the uppermost grille while it could continue over closer to the headlight and give a better seal. As long as the seal is actually sealed, and air flow is small, the gap should have little effect, akin to the grille louvres being behind the visible grill. HAve fun,Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-MaxSea Posted September 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 (edited) Yes, Frank, I assume that is the infamous seal, and those were my thoughts as well. When I put my pinkies under the closed hood, it seemed like an air-ball on the seal. I would like Ford to give us the new seal, and inspect / tweak the hood alignment in all of our 2013 C-Maxes. I think there is a chance of that. What is your C-Max hood fit like? There is also the aesthetic element here as well. Nick Edited September 18, 2013 by C-MaxSea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mxanotcar Posted March 16, 2014 Report Share Posted March 16, 2014 To anyone still viewing this post orginated by C-MaxSea, yes the hood seal between the engine compartment and the hood is a problem. You can see my other post in the link below and how this problem can be bad overtime. I also posted the pictures on water and salt spots collected and corrosion in the engine compartment to my gallery. I think you need to log in to view the gallery. For the stoppers, on mine, I was able to turn both clock-wise all the way down, and the hood edge was not hit the headlight casing, and the gaps between those are now much closer. http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/3599-road-salt-badly-collected-into-engine-compartment/ http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/gallery/member/1916-mxanotcar/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-MaxSea Posted March 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2014 (edited) Yes Good C-Max, I saw your photos and I am concerned along with you. When I rotated the stoppers down I eventually got a floppiness side to side because of the latch stop in the center - therefore I backed them out to where they stabilized the hood with three points of rest. I believe there is a thread talking about re-tooling the latch so that the hood can be dropped further with the stoppers still working (hope I remembered that correctly). It has also been threaded here that the 2014 hood seal is wider & a bit taller - I have not confirmed this. I will definitely be checking in with the dealer about the 2014 seal, and looking at threads here to learn how to seal off the engine compartment from the top - the hood that is. How about this: http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/3616-cheap-2014-hood-seal/?do=findComment&comment=41300 Nick Edited March 16, 2014 by C-MaxSea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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