1994 Es300 Hood Support Question

[JudyinTX]

The hood won't stay up. I'm told on the phone that there's a hood support rod but I can't find one, and haven't found reference to one in the manual.

Is there a prop for the hood on the 94 ES300? If so, exactly where is it?

[SKperformance]

there is no prop rod only 2 shocks on the corners to hold it up

[steviej]

if the hood won't stay up on its own, then one or both of the gas cartridge supports have crapped out.

The supports go for a bit of change from Lexus dealers but can be had for less money from internet Lexus parts suppliers like www.irontoad.com or www.lexus-parts.com.

There have been some posts by people that have successfully obtained aftermarket supports form Autozone or similar neighborhood auto parts stores.

You just have to look for the one that fits the same year Toyota Camry. Some manipulation of the fasteners may be involved. Replacement lift support brand names are Strong Arm and Mighty Lift.

I hope this helps.

steviej

[amf1932]

Is there a prop for the hood on the 94 ES300? If so, exactly where is it?

Follow the red arrows. They point to the hood struts.

[JudyinTX]

I just had the oil changed and apparently all was well when it went in or they would have said something.

Maybe it's just a coincidence that they both suddenly stopped holding the hood, all at once. I mean, it'll slam shut. Can these shocks be damaged by forcing them or anything ... that would cause them to stop working completely?

[amf1932]

There is the possibility that one of the struts went bad, or was weak causing the hood to slam shut. If both the struts were bad you would find it very difficult to even lift up the hood.

[JudyinTX]

Thanks guys. This might have appeared to be a very simply question but it's not when you start looking for something that 'isn't there'. ha

I especially appreciate the info on why it can't be both of them.

Assuming there's not an easy test to see which one has gotten weak or gone bad, is this a normal maintenance item to where one should just automatically replace both of them irregardless, or is this an exception to the norm & replacing just the bad one would be appropriate?

Vehicle only has 40,000 miles on it. I keep forgetting it's also 10 years old. *smile*

[amf1932]

Ideally, it's always best to change them both, but you can get away with changing only the weak one. If you listen carefully to each strut as they open you can hear a hissing sound which is louder on the better strut.

It's hard to say what the life of a hood strut is, because sometimes they last very long and sometimes they don't. I wouldn't consider this a normal maintenance item though.

[SKperformance]

to see which one is bad

lift the hood and when it gets to open lift it higher the weak one will just flop down more than than the other

[hokief86]

I had the same issue on my 94 ES300 about 3 months ago. I went to O'Reilly and bout a pair of Mighty Lift replacement struts for a 94 Camry for about $85 and they worked fine. You'll need a drill and the right-sized bit to drill out the old support fasteners, but it ahould only take about an hour to install two of these. Best Wishes!

[Goin_Loco]

I work at autozone and actually replaced my hood struts with the mighty lifts and I must say they work great.

[tckcumming]

I had the same issue on my 94 ES300 about 3 months ago. I went to O'Reilly and bout a pair of Mighty Lift replacement struts for a 94 Camry for about $85 and they worked fine. You'll need a drill and the right-sized bit to drill out the old support fasteners, but it ahould only take about an hour to install two of these. Best Wishes!

My hood stays up just fine in the summer, the struts hold it up perfectly. But as the temperature drops in the fall they don't work as well. In winter (usually very cold here), they do nothing, the hood won't stay open at all.

So I have constructed a custom hood prop especially designed to work in cold weather. Custom-fitted to my ES300. Can also be used in summer if desired. It looks good, too - made of exotic hardood. It stores compactly in the trunk when not in use and it never fails.

It's a stick about 3 feet long.

I'll gladly share exact dimensions and specs for anyone interested in duplicating my invention.

tck...

[blk_on_blk]

tckcummings is right on spot... all these gas struts loose strength when the temp drops. My hood struts do the same thing... won't hold the hood up in cold weather, but if you "pump" them by opening and partially closing the hood a couple times, they hold it up. I don't know if that heats them up enough, or if they've just 'settled' from being closed so long, but it works. Of course my struts are getting old, but as long as I can get them to work, I won't change them out.

I had this same problem on my 4Runner's rear hatch. In cold weather they wouldn't open the hatch all the way, so I replaced them. Even with the new ones, I got the same effect in cold weather. In warm weather, they spring open fully... both the originals and the replacement.

JudyinTX, I wouldn't worry about it... I have a feeling they loose a little bit of their 'lift' when sitting in the closed position for an extended period of time, and with how little one has to maintenance these cars, they sit in the closed position for quite a long time :P Once the hood was opened and closed a couple times, the struts are now probably working fine, which is what you found at your last oil change. I bet if you opened your hood right now, it'd stay up.

If they ever do get where they just won't stay up at all, it's always best practice to change them both at the same time... because if one was fatiguing, the other was taking the load, and putting extra wear on it, plus the other one is just as old... so both should be replaced (but I wouldn't replace yours just yet :P)