Hood latch replacement
 

Anyone know what's involved with replacing the front hood latch? Does the bumper cover need to come off for that?

I'm chasing a few minor problems on the car, one of which is a single beep when locking it up. The alarm LED also double-flashes, both of which mean something isn't properly locked I think. I noticed the front trunk light didn't always come on when opening the hood, so I'm replacing the latch to try and fix that. It does work occasionally so I know the bulb is good.

It may well be a combination of switches, as I also noticed that the digital part of the cluster does not shut off when removing the ignition key. They will only go off when I lock the car. The interior door lights work properly though. I also noticed that on rare occasions the windows don't drop down the few inches when unlatching the top, so I am suspicious of the top latch switch also.

The door locks seem OK and the windows do drop and rise automatically when using the door handles, so I think those are OK. The rear trunk also works fine as does its interior light.

Anyhow, if anyone knows how to get at this front hood latch, I'd appreciate any advice. First job today is replacing the airbag frame on the wheel to cure the random horn sounding problem.

The bumper cover needs to come off to replace the front hood latch. While you're in there, you can clean out your radiators and ducts, including separating the ac condensors and radiators and cleaning between them. Also make sure both your high note and low note horns are functioning, the only time you can replace them is when the bumper cover is off. For you alarm single beep, the first thing I would check is the center armrest compartment. It can look like it is securely closed even when it isn't. That is the thing that give me the single beep all the time. And if you're not locking your car, the digital part of the cluster will stay on for a while and then go out on its own. At least that is how it works on my 2003. For your front trunk, the first thing I would check is the switch that causes the light to come on, it may just be sticking. If you do remove your front bumper cover, whether or not you replace the front latch, you may want to re-route the emergency release cable so that it is hidden behind the tow hook access cover.

If left unlocked, the dash should stay illuminated for approximately 4 minutes, the door and dome light for about 30 seconds...and if you have orentation lights, they stay on for about 2 hours.