hello everyone,
I am the proud owner of a 2000 Jeep Cherokee. A while back i took my jeep through a jet pep carwash because it was rather dirty. When i got home i popped the hood so i could check my fluid levels and whatnot however when i lifted the hood up a heard a horrible cracking noise so i dropped it back down. turns out my windshield cowl just self destructed because it somehow got into the path of the raising hood and was crushed. now i have been trying to figure out what happened and how i can make sure it doesnt happen again. (on a side note if anyone knows a website or place i could go to buy a new windshield cowl it would be much appreciated.)
thanks in advance for any help it is very appreciated!

 

Don't go through automated washes. They suck.

I don't know if that would've caused your cowl to move around though. Got any pics of what happened?

Welcome to the site btw.

 

i dont have any pictures but i could take some if it would help at all. but really all it is is the broken cowl and the hood. i guess i could take a pic of how the hood hits the cowl, although it might be a bit off since the cowl is broken and no longer in a fixed position...

 

Yea that's would help ME understand at least. May be less confusing to others. Lol

I don't understand how it happened.


Did you have to really force your hood up when you opened it?

 

nope just pulled the lever to pop the hood and when i lifted it about a quarter to halfway up the whole cowl just shattered... i will get a picture up later today or tomorrow because im unfortunately busy right now. i appreciate the help.

 

same thing happened to me, but i've never taken mine through a car wash.

you should be able to just adjust the bolts, maybe add another spacer.
the hood is set with multiple spacers stacked together, so you should be able to just go to a junkyard and grab a few.
you shouldn't have to remove the hood to add a spacer, just loosen the bolts and slide the spacers in.

 

im not exactly what you might call mechanically savvy. so the whole spacer thing you just mentioned made no sense at all. if you could please explain in steps a novice person could understand and also explain how it would help i would be eternally grateful.

 

Any idea why the cowl would be that loose?
As far as aligning panels:
http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/t...s/viewall.html

 

If hood rear corners are level with fenders, there is no reason to readjust hood.
You need to push center of cowl hood edge up.
1. remove cowl grille
2. open hood
3. remove rubber seal
4. put piece of wood about 1/4-1/2" thick under rear edge of hood and slowly move hood down (don't shut it)
Try to control the process somehow, by measuring height of rear edge, for example.
I hope you will not ask me how adjust it down, be careful.