How to Lubricate the Hood/Trunk Latch in a Dodge Durango

The Dodge Durango is an SUV designed for families. This full-sized SUV replaced the Dodge Ram Charger in 1998. To keep your 1998 and newer SUVs in good repair you need to lubricate the hood and back hatch latches every 5,000 miles, or as often as you change your oil.

Instructions

1

Expose your work areas by popping the hood and the trunk. Start your DIY lube projects at the front of your Dodge Durango. Remember to secure the hood before you start working under it.

2

Clean the hood latch of surface debris and obvious grime and dirt build up. Use a soft, clean cloth to wipe away dirt and excess grease from both the female and male ends of the latch system.

3

Examine the cleaned surfaces for rust. Use a metal brush or a piece of sandpaper to remove any rust you find. Treat the cleaned areas with WD-40. If the rust is deep, or if the latch system has been compromised, you may need to replace the entire latch mechanism.

4

Wipe the latch system again to remove splatters and excess WD-40. Then, use a lithium grease aerosol like CRC White Lithium Grease to spray down and lubricate the entire latch system. Spray around the edges of the latch system and into the latch system.

5

Activate the latch system a few times to make sure the grease works its way around all the moving parts. If you still hear squeaks, re-lubricate the latch.

6

Walk around to the back of your Dodge Durango. Raise the back hatch. Use a small shop vac to remove dirt and debris from the back of your vehicle. This will prevent the sand and dirt from the back of your Durango from contaminating the back hatch latch.

7

Clean out the latch thoroughly. To do this, you may need to wrap your cloth around your finger and swab out the inside of the latch mechanism. Remove rust and apply lithium grease to the latch, just like you did for the hood latch system in Steps 3-5.