Stuck bonnet!!!

[staro30]

So after a couple of years of the bonnet being difficult to open (cable not pulling through cleanly) and the bonnet difficult to close (bonnet catch not returning and despite some grease and WD 40 in the past, its now well and truely stuck!!

I took the bonnet cable off the red lever as it was going to snap and it won't pull a inch, even with me pulling it very hard whilst a neighbour was pulling the yellow handle near the front grill.

Help!?

How will a garage get this bonnet open? Would the AA (we have home assistance) come out and have a go? How much would it cost to have the bonnet cable replaced?! Aaahh!

Cheers
Staro

 

[oilburner]

You might have to break the grille off to get access to the bonnet catch

 

[staro30]

Took to Ford and they managed to get it open with some pliers and someone bouncing on the bonnet. The cable is corroded and needs replacing. They'll do it for approx. £130 part and labour.

Someone suggested to me that I may be able to unpick the cable from around the bonnet (not through the dashboard) hold it up and drip oil down into it! Anyone done this successfully? Sounds like a faff that would give limited results?!

Cheers
Staro

 

[ryuu]

£130.00 !! buy second hand cable, oil it up ~ easy to route, follow existing cable and join up

 

[aberdarepuma]

That's a rediculous cos, second hand 1 around a tenner, its a lil fiddly, but not a hard job

 

[zinc2000]

What are they using?...gold cable?...as above, second hand cable, half an hour fiddling, job done.

When fitting make sure the lock itself is clean and free as well.

 

[staro30]

£30 for the cable plus £100 for the labour.
I see there is one on ebay for £32 !!
ASM Parts can do one for £20
Havn't found any £10 cables yet.

 

[staro30]

I'm not sure I want to pay out £130 or £20 plus a couple of hours messing about with it myself.

A pair of pliers is working well rather than the orange plastic handle.

I take it that this is ok to pass a MOT?

Thanks
Staro

 

[ryuu]

Pliers lol,been there and used me mams washing line before now !.....

Section 8 of the MOT testers manual say about the bonnet ~ it being secured, not so sure on whether it opens or not :?

MOT manual =
http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual/contents.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Gotta be a cable out there for a tenner somewhere !!!

 

[staro30]

I've got until late March so I'll keep looking.

Don't like the sound of 'a bonnet that cannot be safely secured in the closed position'. I do have to use the pliers again to pull the bonnet cable the other way or the bonnet won't close properly!

Cheers
Staro

 

[zinc2000]

I think I would be unclipping cable and pouring oil/wd40 down it.

The fact that you can pull it with pliers means that it should be freeable (note the word "should" )

Work at it my friend and like I said before clean the lock as well to take the pressure off the cable, the easier the lock moves the less you need to pull the cable.

So long as the bonnet opens and clses though doubt if it will affect the MOT, so long as you give the pliers to the tester :grin:

 

[staro30]

I've unclipped about a quarter of the cable and tried to get oil into it. Not much room to squirt the oil down. However, in many parts the cable has lost its plastic covering and the metal underneath is very rusty. I don't think its worth salvaging, so I'll spend a few more weeks trying to find another one for a tenner or so.

Cheers
Staro

 

[staro30]

Got a cable from ASM Recycling for £18. Neighbour and I fitted it within an hour so not as bad as I thought it was going to be! Hardest bit was getting the rubber grommet plug to fit securely in the hole between the engine and dashboard. Hope this helps other folk who get the same problem.