Bonnet Cable

[Guest musotechy]

Hi,

 

I have an 'N' reg Galaxy and the bonnet cable release is some what screwed.

 

The other day, the cable came out of the handle when I tried to flip the bonnet. I fitted the cable back but, now it won't pop the bonnet (it's always been a little dodgey). I have tried using two sets of pliers to give it a tug but nothing happens. Trouble is, the engine needs oil and soon.

 

Does anyone know of a way to get it popped?

 

 

Many Thanks In Advance

 

 

muso

[Masked Marauder]

Try having an assistant pull the bonnet up whilst you pull the cable.

 

If that works then look for two rubber stops on the slam-bar and screw them out so it will pop the bonnet.

[Guest stevebm1]

I had this happen to me a while ago.You can release it,by reaching up from below the engine bay behind the radiator,and operating the latch manually.This enables you to then use the push in piece through the grill,to open as normal.hope this helps

[Guest musotechy]

I am trying this right now but can't pull anything, nothing moves. Does anyone have a picture of the latch so that I can get a bit of a heads up?

 

 

Many Thanks

 

 

Gary

[seatkid]

Don't know how this will help

 

View from above, the pop out thingy that you push is in the bottom lh quarter

[seatkid]

view from inside the engine bay looking to front.....

[springen]

musotechy - Did you ever manage to get your bonnet open ? - if so how did you do it in the end.

 

I too have now got this problem. Peering through the front grill, slightly to the top-right of the 'S' (it's a SEAT!), I can see a bolt (10 or 11 mm). I reckon I could just about undo this bolt with a socket and extension.

 

Would anybody, who can get their bonnet open, be able to tell me if undoing this bolt would assist me ?

 

Mk1 1997 Seat 1.9Tdi

[rushy]

I have the reverse problem. I cant get my bonnet stay closed. Have tried adjusting the two bolts that hold the locking mech, but still I can just lift the bonnet up!!!

[springen]

Ah-ha - I had the same problem before - slammed it really hard and it stayed shut Hoorah I thought !! But now a week or so has gone by and I need some washer water - and now it will not open !! The cable at the puller handle has gone all slack looks like I might of busted something - oops !!

[springen]

Spent a long time today fixing this problem and eventually succeeded. For the benefit of others who may suffer the same fate, I'll explain what I did.

 

I first attempted to get to the cable from underneath the car after putting it up on ramps and removing the under-engine tray. Pulling on the cable will not work-I'll explain later why.

 

After studying SEATKID's picture above I could see that if I removed the two bolts holding the catch I could raise the bonnet. You'll note that one of the bolts has to be undone from the engine side and the other through the front grill. You can just manage to undo the inside bolt by reaching up from underneath (10mm) using a small socket wrench. The bolt (also 10mm) through the front grill can be reached using a small extension bar and knuckle joint. Once they are both undone then the bonnet can be raised.

 

Once I could get to the catch I could see that the end of the inner-cable wire had pulled through the hole in the bracket. The end of the inner-cable wire terminates with an 'S' shaped clamp that just passes through the hole and relies on it's shape to stop it coming out. Therefore if pulled really hard it WILL pull through. When the lever in the car is pulled it is actually the outer cable sheath that PUSHES on the catch lever to operate the bonnet catch.

 

I found that my cable had stretched. I took up the slack by padding out the gap between the outer-cable and the part of the catch that it operates on with a small nut. I also bent the end of the end of cable more so that it didn't pull out.

 

Of course all of the above applies to the Mk1 Alhambra/Galaxy/Sharon. I cannot comment on the Mk2 - but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't update/improve the design !!

[Gadgetoid]

Same problem on the wife's MkII TDi only 3 weeks ago.

Needed to get in as engine oil warning lamp was lit - but by that time (6pm Sunday evening) not a hope of sorting anything out.

Had to get her to take it to the garage on Monday morning, where it was all sorted out (so don't know the details). Needed 1l of oil adding - so with the scheduled service last week they put an extra litre in when changing the oil. DOH!

Wife under instructions to return to get the extra drained off ASAP.

[the_bed_wrecker]

If you remove the "nut plate" from the front cross member, clip it with the nut to back onto the bonnet catch assy you can then screw the assy back using both screws from the front so if it happens again thers no need to mess around removing the underchassis cover and crawling under the car !

Fix Or Repair Daily there not wrong there !!