Hello, first time member from Canada here. I've had a 2019 Cherokee Trailhawk for the past three years (bought it brand new). I've had varying degrees of issues with hood flutter. It is WINDY here in Manitoba, and this weekend, in particular, was bad for the hood flutter. It was fixed once, and got worse. I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue and what a good fix might be. I've seen some posts on the adjustment of the six pins, and I believe that's what my local dealership did the first time, but it doesn't seem to be a long-term solution. I'm wondering about hood latches like the wranglers or, maybe better, hood pins. Thoughts?

Thanks

 

Welcome! It's funny seeing this as I just literally got done adjusting my hood yesterday (this issue appears to plague the 2019 KLs). I will attach the official STAR case to this reply and it will walk you through the steps. I found that the various 'bumpers' they're called, appeared to be pretty loose while I was adjusting them. I'm not sure if they can be tightened so they stay in the proper place. I suspect adjustment might need to be fairly regular as I think with bumps and opening and closing the hood, these will just tighten or loosen at will. The two front ones behind the grill of the hood are the ones I've found best to get the hood flutter to stop. These can be adjusted out yourself using either your hand or pliers. I did it in quarter to half turns or so until it was at the proper setting. The guide advises you, when the hood is closed, to push in on the bottom left & right parts of the front of the hood next to the grill. If there is any play inward at all, you need to adjust those bumpers out. Once there is no play, I found that flutter to stop nearly completely on the highway. I can't say much on if the hood can be fitted with straps like the Wranglers, I do know the hood is made from aluminum and is very light weight. I'd be concerned about damaging the hood when putting screws in to get the strap bases mounted, I'd think pre-drilling would be ok. From what I have extensively read about on this forum as well, is a lot of dealers aren't even aware of this issue, and most folks need to actually present the service advisory to them to do it properly. This whole procedure can be done in about 30 minutes with proper tools (pliers really). If you find you need to make the adjustments again, I'd advise to save your money and do it yourself. It sounds like the dealer you took yours to might have known what they were doing. Being in the Denver area, I'm still trying to find a reputable one. My latest 1st visit to one on a kind of related issue (stop start not working) was less than fair, it was terrible.

I know I didn't really answer your question, but since it's related to the other posts I figured I'd put my experience out there. Cheers

 

Chris674, thanks for the attached guide. I had found it at one point in time, but do you think I could find it again???
I very much appreciate your advice, and will now try adjusting myself.

 

Happy to help! Below is a copy paste from the doc if you are having issues viewing/downloading:

1. Fore-Aft hood adjustment
With the hood closed, confirm that the fore-aft hood bumpers have good
contact. Bumpers are shown in fig 1.This can be done by pushing on the front
of the hood in the bumper locations (fig 2). The hood should not flex in these
locations. If the hood does flex and does not touch the bumpers, open the
hood and turn the bumpers counterclockwise until desired contact.
The design interference for these bumpers is 2mm.

2. Latch adjustment (fig 3)
With the hood open, adjust the latch to be centered and lowered to the full down
position. This can be done by loosening the 2 bolts on the latch and gently
lowering the hood into the secondary latch position. This will center the latch, and
the latch should be loose enough to fall to its lower position. Open the hood and
tighten the latch bolts to 11N.m.

3. Hood flush check.
Close the hood and inspect the flushness of the hood, relative to fenders. The
hood should be flush or slightly under flush along the fender cutline. If the hood is
too far under flush, adjust the up/down hood bumpers to raise the hood. Turn the
bumpers counterclockwise until desired flushness (fig 4)

4. If the front of the hood is no longer shaking while driving, but the hood sheet
metal is moving examine the hood’s anti flutter foam for separation. The green
dashed lines show the anti-flutter foam in Fig 5

I would focus on step 1 mostly, that's what is the major cause for the flutter as the air gets under the hood and pops it up if the bumpers are not pushed up against the back of the grill portion of the hood. A note as well, I'm not sure how long you've been dealing with the fluttering. I've discovered today regarding my ESS (stop start) system, the sensor under the hood drivers side, kind of a push button thing, wore out because of this issue for me. I was getting nearly constant errors, "service stop start system" and it would complain about the hood being open (but it's not). I just replaced that and my ESS system works great now. $25 part and I saved $170 in diagnostic fee just by replacing that. It makes sense because if the hood is bouncing excessively the sensor is just going to go up and down and get worn out. Hope all this helps!

Thanks,
Chris