t700bes 1 Posted August 9, 2011 So i went to use the bonnet release yesterday and I heard a PING and the lever was moving freely....I then looked on here and saw guides about trying to get the bonnet open.. I have managed to get the end of the wire out of its housing from jacking up the car and pulling on the far right side so i effectly should be able to pull on it, and it would be like pulling the lever... It opens the passenger side, but not the drivers side..... I have also got someone to push down on the bonnet while pulling and then let go in the hope the drivers side pings up, but to no avail... Has anyone else got any ideas? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Critical_Mass 10 Posted August 9, 2011 Put the car on ramps, find something long relatively thin (like a rod of metal), something that wont bend too easily and reach up and lever the other pin release towards the centre of the bonnet, not towards the wing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RowanVW 0 Posted August 9, 2011 My passenger doesn't open so I take the grill off and stick my hand in with a screw driver and manually open it by twisting the screw driver in the wire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
t700bes 1 Posted August 9, 2011 Ah ok I'll give that a go, wont it be towards the wing? When you pull the level in the car does it not pull that thing towards the wing... Thanks for the heads up though. Maybe I have been pulling the wrong way!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Critical_Mass 10 Posted August 9, 2011 (edited) No they both go inwards. You'll see a white plastic tulip shaped piece that part of the bonnet cable (slides onto it like a bead on a piece of cotton) that pushes the lever towards the rad. If it turns out this has broken as mine did (must have disintegrated due to the heat of the engine), i got some metal ones made up. Let me know and i can send you it (for a small price) Edited August 9, 2011 by Critical_Mass Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
t700bes 1 Posted August 9, 2011 Thanks matey, I'll give it a go tommorrow then!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
t700bes 1 Posted August 12, 2011 Right, I managed to get the bonnet open I was pushing it towards the wing!!!! I don't understand how it works, or why its not working though.. I'll let the pics do the talking... When I pull on the release cable only the passenger bonnet pin opens... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Bowen 1 Posted August 12, 2011 looks ok, when mine broke once i found i just needed to tighten the cable using the brass cone thing at the other end. i think the plastic cone you have there should have the outer black part of cable touching it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KIPVW 0 Posted August 12, 2011 Do you have the cone things the wrong way round? looks olike there is too much slack in the wire, so you need to loosen the small grub bolt on the very end cone piece and pull the wire through more then re-tighten. In the pics is the cone thing plastic or metal? and does it have the grub bolt attached???? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
t700bes 1 Posted August 12, 2011 I got it working, its slack because the end that goes into the cockpit was on the floor in my attempt to open it, It seems you have to pull it at a certain angle to pop it open.. This is why when I was pulling from undernear it wasn't happening. So all in all, it was just the level that had gone, the cable and parts are all ok! So I have re-threaded the wire through to the cock pit and for now, using molegrips to open the bonnet by pulling on the wire until i work out a solution for the lever! Thanks for you help though guys! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
owen g60 10 Posted August 28, 2011 mine has just broken... the 'S' shaped bit that goes through the lever has snapped... im going to investigate it tomorrow when i can get it on a level driveway... hopefully should be able to pull it with a pair of pliers and ill use a grub screwed nipple to re attach it to the lever what solution did you come up with??? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VW_OwneR_85 2 Posted August 28, 2011 if any of you guys need a new cable, go to your local bike shop and ask for an inner tandem brake cable and a cable knarp/clamp, total cost is pence compared to a genuine one. i had to do this on mine when i 1st brought, you had to open the bonnet via rope in the grill :( Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
owen g60 10 Posted August 28, 2011 what length does the cable have to be?? i have a couple of rear brake cables lying around they are about 1800mm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VW_OwneR_85 2 Posted August 28, 2011 prety damn long bud, dont remember exactly, i work in a bike shop and regular cables arent long enough,i even used outer brake cable and the brass cable ends aswell as a barrel adjuster so i can adjust the tension, has to be a tandem one, if you pop the hood you can trace its location and roughly measure it, btw if you decide to use one they just thread through the hole on the release leaver, oil it up good! and it will be just as good if not better then oem. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
owen g60 10 Posted August 29, 2011 managed to get mine open by cutting about 6cm of the outer cable housing. then bolted a solderless nipple to the lever fed the cable through and tightened the nipple on it. took a few attempts to get it to open both sided, ended up pulling the lever towards me the pulling the cable with pliers till the bonnet fully opened and tightening the nipple up... now opens every time :) am going to make a bracket that mounts on the lever with a barrel adjuster on it for a better and neater fit Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vw_john 10 Posted August 30, 2011 where can i get one of these solderless nipples from? seems were having the same problems owen hah Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
owen g60 10 Posted August 30, 2011 i went to a motorbitz.... i believe some bike shops may do them too. would advise getting one that is threaded all the way through and using a short bolt to clamp it through the lever and you can the use the screw that will come with it to clamp the cable.. as you can see from the image below... excuse the zip ties havent got round to making the 'L' shaped bracket for the barrel adjuster yet [ATTACH=CONFIG]48964[/ATTACH] Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vw_john 10 Posted August 30, 2011 cheers mate, ill see what I can do! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vw_john 10 Posted August 31, 2011 fixed mine with a bolt with a hole drilled through it! good as new if not better Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cormjah 0 Posted May 30, 2012 Hi Owen I'vejust had the crappy *s* bend thing snap off the end of my cable. What dia solderless nipple did you use? I guess it's double sided, did you screw through from the back of the lever? There are plenty on fleabay, just want to make this fix as painless as possible, if that's possible with a Rado! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
owen g60 10 Posted May 30, 2012 I don't know what diameter I used. Go to a bike shop they should be able to help. Whilst your there get a brake cable from a tandem bike and use this to replace the rest of the cable Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
