Usually my wife drives the Pathfinder but I drove it twice this week, last being today and I have noticed this. I actually checked the hood on Thursday to see if it was latched down, which it was. Agree that it is tight but there is a slight flutter that one can see. Might ask the service department when first oil change comes due.

 

Adjusted the stops down a bit. It didn't mess with the alignment at all, but the weatherstripping seems to compress a bit tighter. We'll see how it goes I guess. Next remedy will be to adjust the hood latch.

 

Yes ours did the same thing. When we took it in to have the CVT checked, the mechanics adjusted the hood and its fine now.

 

Yeah, still fluttering, though I'm not sure if it's as bad as it was before. It could just be the skin flexing too. Not sure what to make of it as it is definitely cinched down / no give at all.

 

Welp, I took off my hood deflector and guess what? No flutter.

It seems that the way the hood deflector juts out at the tip of the hood creates a lifting action. No hood deflector, problem solved.

 

Mine does this on windy days. I figured with an open grill like the pf has a lot of air is going through there causing the hood to flutter. I thought this was normal.

 

My front hood on my Path also shakes. I will have Nissan dealership check it out.

 

me too! having dealer check tomorrow while there for another issue.

 

No shake here. My hood is fine. (No wind deflector, though.)

 

I just noticed this the other day while driving on the highway. I'll have mine adjusted when I go in for service.

 

I wonder how many of the new pathfinder owners have this issue. If there is a fairly big number I would imagine there should be a TSB or recall.

 

I've brought mine into the dealership for this same annoying issue. The dealer says the hood is fine and they couldn't replicate the problem. It's true that the fit seems tight but at about 45+ mph with a bit of a crosswind, the hood begins to shake and on a two lane road, if an oncoming semi passes, the hood actually shakes violently. Contacted Nissanhelp.com and was told there were no other complaints and that I should take it to another dealer to have them test and see if the problem could be replicated. Haven't had the chance to do that but took my iPad and set it up on the dash and have a recorded video of the issue. Intend to bring it back to my dealer to show them when time permits. May post on YouTube if I don't get this resolved.

This is the single biggest complaint about my purchase: Have a 2008 Altima and it's great. My fear is that this is a design flaw and the hood doesn't have enough structural integrity to keep it from fluttering. Infiniti hood design is different so it's probably just a Pathfinder problem.

And... where's the stainless steel rear bumper protector offered as an aftermarket accessory?

 

my pathfinder's hood skin flutters decidedly at 70mph...and especially if bucking a headwind ...i.e, at 100mph airspeeed- 70mph over the ground into a 30mph gusty headwind gives the appearance of papery flutter to the skin. yikes!

 

I have thought about it and it could be the wind hitting and being deflected somewhere at the grill entry that could be causing the noise.

 

Hood Shakes at High Speeds or High Winds

Mine hood shakes / flutters noticeable at speeds above 50 mph and especially if there is a cross wind. I will address Nissan Service about this and let everyone know how it's being resolved.

 

I drove about 400 miles this past weekend. I noticed the hood fluttering quite a bit. I was driving into a 25 mile an hour south wind, but I have not had this problem with any of my other vehicles. The Path only has 1000mi on it.

 

I drove my 2013 Pathfinder with a hood deflector on it over the last two days about 250 miles and notices a definite flutter at highway speeds. Has anybody had any luck at the dealership to correct this yet???

 

I don't have a hood deflector.

All the dealer has done for me is adjust the black stops on the hood. I don't believe they have messed with the latch but mine doesn't seem to be loose. It's fairly secure until a wind gust hits driving around 65-70.

 

It's been a while since I've updated my post here - mostly because my hood flapping issue seemed to get considerably better after I removed my hood deflector. That said, I have noticed it shaking here and there since, but not quite as violently as it did with that deflector.

I think I mentioned that my dealer claimed the latch couldn't be adjusted and instead played with the hood bumpers (which actually allows more air through the hood seam, since it increases the gap).

It was especially noticeable today after I got it washed and the hood was nice and shiny - so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

For anyone else who wants to do the same, it's actually quite easy to adjust the hood latch - and there is plenty of play in it, though mine was already pretty low from the factory. To do it, you just need to remove the radiator shroud (about a dozen clips, maybe a few more). Once that's off, there's just three bolts holding in the latch, right front and center - two to the left and one to the right of the hinge mechanism. Use a 12mm socket to loosen the bolts. Once they're a little loose, you'll notice that there's plenty of play in the latch. I lowered mine as much as I could and snugged up the bolts to test the fit. Once I was confident that everything aligned as it should (there is some left-right play as well), I torqued them down really well and replaced the shroud.

After that, the hood wouldn't close with the bumpers at their dealer-set position. So I screwed them up a bit into the hood (clockwise motion) and repeatedly tested to see how easily the hood would latch. As it sits right now, it requires a sizable slam. But that hood is absolutely not going anywhere - and I believe the gap is lessened greatly, which should hopefully reduce lift.

 

this!

I've done this before on another car. Its a bit of playing around with the latch height and rubber stoppers height. But once you get it - it should help

Just make sure you torque down those 3 bolts!

 

I also have the Hood Flutter. Planning on taking it in to see what they say and can do about it.

 

Hood Flutter

I have noticed the hood flutter since we purchased our PF last spring. I have mentioned it to the dealer when I've taken it in for oil changes. They did say they've had other 2013 PF owners mention it to them. It latches well and I haven't had any issues with it. I can say that we were in traffic on a mountain with a cross wind gust of 50-60 mph and the hood lifted slightly but didn't unlatch or come undone.

 

Mine flutters only when there is a cross wind....

 

I got the same problem with my hood. The dealership try to tightened some of the spring on the hood, it made it better. But sometimes it still vibrate and at worst make some clicking sound at 55MPH+ on a windy day (the same sound when you try to lift the closed hood with finger repeatedly).
I'm taking it to the dealership again to get it fixed again, we'll see what they did next.
Got so many little problems here and there and would like to get it over with and enjoy the car.

 

There are no springs. They probably adjusted the bumpers, which can be done by a trained chimp. If it's making noise,chances are the latch isn't right. Tell them to adjust the latch, it shouldn't be making any noise. If it is, that's a real safety issue.

 

Will do that Thanks for the info.

 

I have the same issue with my Pathfinder 2013 SL White.

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/index.xhtml

please voice this serious body defect above.

 

Nope. The NHTSA shouldn't be troubled with cosmetic issues. The latch works fine, it's just the skin flexing with natural induction and downforce at speed. Many modern vehicles with lightweight, aluminum hoods do this. It is not a defect.

 

I respectfully disagree, no cars or suvs I have ever owned had this serious and hazardous defect.

 

How exactly is it "hazardous"??