My car alarm has gone off randomly on two occasions now. Quick research indicated checking the system for warning alerts and the hood latch sensor being the possible culprit. Turns out the system does say the "hood" was the reason for the alarm to go off. This issue appears common among JLR vehicles. I noticed under the hood that the F-Pace has 2 hood latches, one at each side. My question is, are there two sensors or only on one side? I plan to clean and/or replace the sensor as has been suggested on Land Rover forums. There is not much information on the hood latch causing alarm issues in the F-Pace so I will endeavour to post my steps to resolve this issue.

 

I had the same issue recently, I found it only happened after I'd been out for a drive, sometimes a few hours after parking up, sometimes less than an hour. Once when driving home it said the bonnet (hood) was up. Once it refused to lock saying the bonnet was open, opening and closing the bonnet got it working again, but not being able to lock the car worried me. I sprayed some lubricant into the latches the next day. It was booked in for a service that week and I asked them to look at it as I didn't think I was far away from not being able to lock the car at all. At the service they said it was a faulty latch and they replace it under warranty. That was a week ago and it's not happened since. I didn't see anything that looked like a sensor, though I was looking for something like a microswitch.

Hope this helps.

 

From what I understand there is a microswitch under the latch. There are two latches I suspect there is only 1 switch though. I guess I can take apart both latches and see.

 

Confirmed by this extract from JEPC:




Two Primary Latches and the one on the right (your passenger side) has the switch.

Graham

 

As an update, I had cleaned up the switch and used cleaning solvent on the latch. last night for the first time since posting the alarm randomly went off again due to the latch at 1 am! Will need to replace. Has anyone replaced it? OEM or is there a better than OEM quality aftermarket?

 

Upon looking at the picture, it is all basic with a 2 springs attached to a latch. If the hood locks & open, then it is a perfect functioning mechanism. I think there's a lot of dirt that are trapped inside the mechanism especially where the rods holds the 2 springs in place. Here's what I am going to do as a last resort to avoid not going to the process of disassembling the entire latch from it's base. If you have already have a high quality Engine Degreaser, Autozone sells for $2.99 (highly recommended). All you need is a vacuum cleaner with a Flat Nozzle Crevice attachment and a toothbrush. Spray the Engine Degreaser into the mechanism & then clean it with a toothbrush especially to where the 2 springs are held from the rods. Don't wait for it to dry up, use your vacuum cleaner immediately. Make sure everything inside is free of dirt. If not repeat the process again. Hope the outcome is good. Good luck.

 

The F-PACE latching is a poor design, low quality component and not helped by the flimsy bonnet panel pressing which is about half the thickness of that on my XK.

If you are satisifed both the latches are closing properly, the simplest solution is to bypass the one microswitch before an irate neighbour fixes the issue for you.

Graham

 

LOL when we looked at ours on the forecourt that was actually something i pointed out to the sales person. we have had no trouble with it. touch wood..