Faulty engine bay latch

[RobertH]

HI Folks,

Last weekend my engine bay latch decided to stop working - it's not locked, I don't have the key, but has never given me any problem before (in 6 previous outings). This time it's decided it does not want to stay closed any more. I've looked at it quite carefully and nothing seems obviously faulty. Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be wrong or how I could fix it ?

Are these easily removable with that bolt from underneath ? Any suggestions welcome, thank you.

 

[db199]

I'm not sure about how to fix yours but this company has many latches to chose from. They may not have the exact match to yours but they probably have something that will work. It may take some digging through the site as I didn't really know what to search for when I was looking through here and it wasn't necessarily obvious which category I needed to look at. But if you dig around you will probably find something that will work for you. I didn't end up buying one so I don't know how that experience will go for you. Good luck!

Latches and Access Hardware Solutions

Southco is the leading global designer and manufacturer of engineered access solutions. Trusted by industry leaders for over 70 years to create first impressions that last.

southco.com

 

[Blkrvrbart]

Yes that is a Southco latch. You should be able to get a part number off of your existing latch. Make sure to get that dude fixed and properly adjusted before towing the boat anywhere, there are quite a few folks who can sadly say they’ve lost the whole engine cover when the latch let the cover open going down the road.

 

[RobertH]

Thanks guys. I ended up removing and thoroughly cleaning the latch mechanism - it had gunked up with salt deposits or whatever. Once cleaned out the latch itself seemed to work perfectly well. Upon reinstallation however it still wouldn't close quite enough to latch.. I believe that the boat's fibreglass shell may have swollen or otherwise enlarged enough so that the latch mechanism just wouldn't quite shut.

I filed the latch tongue a bit....maybe 1mm off it, it's very strong...still couldn't get it to close. In the end I removed the metal plate that is screwed underneath the boat hull and that did it. Not an ideal solution but it worked. I've taken the boat out twice now and no dramas at all.

Thank you all