Help needed! Bonnet release lever not working, cant get bonnet to lift up!!

[Louise81]

Hi
   I need help urgently, am planning a nice day out at the coast 2mo so thought it would be a good idea to check oil, water etc, however, when i pulled the lever in the car that is supposed to release the bonnet it seems to not be attached to anything so it doesnt release the bonnet!! can anyone give me a clue how i can fix this or whether there is some other way to release the bonnet??

[gibby]

On the handle that opens the bonnet there should be a cable attached, or in your case possibly not attached to the lever, check that first and if its not attached you should be able to put it back onto the lever, the cable should have like a round circle on the end of it that should clip into a circle space on the lever, make sure the lever is in the closed position (bonnet shut) and clip it back in. You may need to just push the cable towards the bonnet first to get it tight before you clip it back in. If that fails you could try some plyers to open it by pulling the cable towards you but be careful not to strain the cable. 

[Louise81]

thanks for that, have just been out to the car and the cable is still attached on the underneath of the handle but doesnt seem to be tight enough i can lift the handle right up with no resistance at all

[gibby]

Right, push the handle forward as if the bonnet was shut, so towards the engine bay and then get the cable and push it forward, again towards the engine bay to make it tighter and then pull the handle again and see if that works.  The cable will probably fit into a groove on the handle, is it sat in that too ? 

[Louise81]

it seems so be in the place it should be, but when i push the handle towards the engine bay i cant get to the cable cos its attached underneath the handle so it tucks in as the handle goes forward

[gibby]

I've had this before on another car and I'm afraid I had to undo the handle, push the cable back towards the engine bay to get it tight, line up the cable in the handle and then screw the handle back in. It didn't take long to do really, I think you might need to try that, and dont lose the screws.

[Louise81]

hmmm oh dear not too good at doing car repair stuff, oh well everyone has to start somewhere, thanks loads for trying to help mate! if i pull (gently) on the cable with some pliers will it release the bonnet?

[monkeyalan]

thats worth a try. If the cables broken it will probably let up some slack. If it is you (or someone helpful) may have to try to unclip your front grill and try to pop the catch from there.
 good luck.

[gibby]

hmmm oh dear not too good at doing car repair stuff, oh well everyone has to start somewhere, thanks loads for trying to help mate! if i pull (gently) on the cable with some pliers will it release the bonnet?

Possibly, but you'd have to undo the lever anyway to get to the end of the cable. You could try to pull the cable bit before the lever but I'm not sure there'd be enough tension to pull it to be honest as the cable wraps slightly round the lever to make it tight. Unscrewing the handle should not be too difficult though, normally they are just a pain to get to as they are underneath the kick panel so you have to become a contortionist to get to them.   Or you could flutter your eyelashes and ask an unsuspecting passer by to help you out.