Open the hood, a light would come on, where did they go?

[WobblyElvis]

I had a couple of cars that had a light under the hood, but they seem to have disappeared. Maybe the high end cars have them now but my 85 base model Caprice had one. My 94 GMC STX van had a light on a spool of wire that could wind out and reach the back of the van with a magnet to hold the light while you changed a flat. Now I have a Dodge, Hyundai and Mazda, no lights under the hood.
Any new cars with this light?

 

[Andrew1972]

No modern vehicles have them likely. It’s excess weight and cost of vehicle.

 

[Passport1]

Open the hood, a light would come on, where did they go?​

 

[skyactiv]

No longer needed.

 

[PimTac]

Lights haven’t been under the hood in decades but you never know what will come in the future.

Hoods used to have spring assist hinges that helped raise them and keep them up. Then prop rods became the norm. Now I see more and more hoods with assisted lift again.

 

[wings&wheels]

To the bottom line...

 

[dishdude]

No one opens the hood anymore! Growing up, my mom had a 1990 Cherokee that had an elaborate light under the hood, it pulled out on a 20' cord and was magnetic. You could take it all the way to the back of the Jeep and use it to change a tire in the dark. The magnet let you stick it right to the quarter panel.

 

[billt460]

My 1991 F-150 has a light. Neither my 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee, or my 2018 Toyota Camry has one. The both have gas assisted lifts.

 

[billt460]

No longer needed.

Why, doesn't it get dark anymore?

 

[AutoMechanic]

Really no sense in putting them on anymore. People don’t know how to raise there hood or just don’t do it. Of course I like them and still want them but there is a lot of stuff I wish was still on cars lol.

 

[PimTac]

Those under hood lights were small and dim bulbs anyway. The better alternative is to have a small LED light that you can use anywhere, under the hood or under the car. They light everything up much better than those old hood lights.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I miss those!

 

[Kira]

Sis' '88 Jeep had a pull out light. I pulled it out 3' once and was happy the cheap thing retracted.
Her '99's hood had the holes for one.

 

[krismoriah72]

Those are for the old cars that had a wing nut to check the air filter. Also for people that checked the oil. The working man that checked his oil before he drove to work needed that light. Also on some pickups maybe cars the crappy jack was located under the hood on the fender well.

Usually those cars had a big fluff of insulation that was hanging down. Mice built nests in them in the winter.

Nowadays the manufacturer puts a big piece of plastic over the whole engine so that you cant see anything.. a yellow dipstick end and a plastic dipstick that you cant read. Non servicable trans so no need to look at that either.

Every person has a cellphone with a built in flashlight now... and a camera to post a picture of whatever is wrong with their car to post on social media...

Under Hood lights are non-essential now.

 

[CKN]

Other than perhaps filling "the windshield washer reservoir" then is absolutely no reason for the average driver to open their hood-day or night. Remember- we are all "special" on here.......

 

[WobblyElvis]

I think very few drivers are capable of doing anything should their car quit in the middle of the night. Only thing people do now is call for assistance. 50 years ago if you drove down my street on a Saturday morning, you'd see a few men out in the driveway with the hood up. Those days are gone.

 

[LowMilesLesabre]

My 99 LeSabre has one and it is surprisingly quite bright even though it’s an incandescent bulb. The only other thing I know about it is that it only comes on when the hood is up and the engine is running. When the engine is turned off, the light goes out. I’m pretty sure it was engineer this way but have no clue as to why

 

[eljefino]

How did those switch on, pin switches? Mercury switches? I don't see them wanting to use Mercury for that anymore.

 

[JTK]

The wiring connector and mounting point were still in place on my 2017 Ram 1500 and I believe some 2018-19 still had them. All you had to do was order the under hood light kit.

I'm not sure if the 5th gen Rams have them or not.

 

[CharlesInCharge]

Wasted costs, weight, and complexity. Probably added $100 to the car and was totally useless.

I'd rather just have a good flashlight or shop light.