My old hood struts were blown and had leaked fluid. You can tell the fluid was leaking because the strut was wet. Since they were blown, they wouldnt hold my hood up, and actually even rattled a little bit when the hood was closed. I bought some new Stabilus hood struts and problems solved.

Replaced my hood struts about a year ago and have not had any problems since. The hood hit my head enough times, that I wanted to get them replaced :) My hood struts were made by Sachs, and I recommend them.