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Johnboy98

Holy Cow Batman! My Bonnet cable has pulled through! HELP ME

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Oh deary me, my bonnet cable has been pretty crap for a while now and yesterday she finnaly gave way. I used to have to pull the grill out of the way and reach under and pull on the bowden cable (both sides) to release the catches. Whilst doing the aforementioned technique...(see bodge) the cable came completely detatched from the clamp end so now im left with one catch permantley engaged.....erh whoops and other more colourfull words plopped out of my mouth when this little incident happened!!

 

Erh any pearls of wisdom peeps ?

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Yes mate. From what you said you can get the grill off with the bonnet shut, so do that. The slam panel has vertical walls on the inboard sides of the headlamps. The sprung wire which locks the bonnet pin is on the inboard side of this wall so you should be able to lever it (screwdriver/pliers) and release the bonnet pin. Depending on which model you drive, the passengers side radiator air feed shroud covers this area and needs to be removed - two bolts fix it to the radiator side piece, access from the front. Its a tight fit getting an extension socket on to the top bolt. Unfortunately you'll have to pull the bumper forward to get at it. And, of course, the fog/inds wiring will still be connected which will limit how far forwards you can move the bumper. If you are lucky, just undoing the top shroud bolt will enable you to get at the spring.

Best I can do. Good luck and keep us posted

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following on from a very old thread i'm in this same position at the mo, i.e. bonnet is jammed shut and the cable is connected to sod all unfortunately! :(

 

Luckily the front of the car was still half stripped down from some other work i've been doing so at the mo the grill & bumper are both off, i've just about managed to get the plastic cowling thats down the passenger side of the rad un-bolted. If i feel up under the slam panel i think i can feel the 2 loops of steel (feels like a hook of some kind on either side) that i need to release but after a bit of poking about with a screw-driver i'm not having much luck. Is there some technique to this is missing i.e. do you have to pull the loops forward / down or back etc as can't quite figure out what i'm doing wrong!

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Put a torch on to the subject or strip light from underneath then find a coat hanger manufacture a straightish piece from it, ie snip of the twisted bits then put a small hook on the end bending it right back so the hook is a small diameter and at the other end put a 4 inch 90 degree bend in which will make it a handle. From the grill part assuming thats out! go fishing, basically hook the bonnet release mechanism loops and pull them towards you .

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Hi John, cheers for the info i'll give that a try in the morning, i've just borrowed a task light off my neighbour.

 

just want to make sure i've got this 100% right once i've hooked up the loops should i try and pull them towards the centre of where the grill would normally sit, also daft question maybe but can you release them one at a time or do you have to do both together?

Alex

 

Put a torch on to the subject or strip light from underneath then find a coat hanger manufacture a straightish piece from it, ie snip of the twisted bits then put a small hook on the end bending it right back so the hook is a small diameter and at the other end put a 4 inch 90 degree bend in which will make it a handle. From the grill part assuming thats out! go fishing, basically hook the bonnet release mechanism loops and pull them towards you .

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I saw how this complex system worked when I had front off car the other week.

I think you can release them one at a time, but the fact that the bonnet is still held down by the latch you have not freed may mean that the bonnet will not pop up at the freed side unless you or someone can lift it unevenly at that side.

 

IMO is best to release both catches at once. Those loops are nasty sprung things and IIRC, they both pull inwards towards the centre to release both latches simultaneously.

 

Hope this works - and forgive me if I'm wrong!

 

loops/spring are 28 and 29 in drawing. Diagram is poor, I'm afraid.

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yeap towards the centre dont have to pull simultaneously, individually is far easier, shouldnt need anyone to hold the bonnet down or help flick it up either, the bowden/teleflex cables are notoriousley shit when they get kinked. Happy hooking Alex.

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Many thanks both John & Craigowl, just tried the coat hanger trick and it worked like a charm...brilliant!!! :D

 

yeap towards the centre dont have to pull simultaneously, individually is far easier, shouldnt need anyone to hold the bonnet down or help flick it up either, the bowden/teleflex cables are notoriousley **** when they get kinked. Happy hooking Alex.

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can some explain that diagram and how it all works?

 

i know its a LHD car but i still can't work out how the mech works. plus with mine the nipple with the grub screw is at the end?

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nipple with the grub screw is at the end?

:thumb right:

That is correct, 3corsameal.

The diagram is not much like the thing in real life. I dont know what sh!t is going on with it.

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