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Cant open bonnet

Started by seatalehandro, April 07, 2019, 10:03:15 AM

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April 07, 2019, 10:03:15 AM
2003 Alhambra 1.9tdi
Steering wheel on left side.
Cannot open the bonnet.
There is a video on youtube on how to use a wire through the grille and I think I got to move the needed part but still cannot open the bonnet.

Any chance acceasing the latch mechanism from the grille without having to acces the car from beneath?
April 08, 2019, 06:19:33 PM #1
Nope, unless you take a saw to your grill and replace it afterwards. Its designed to be difficult unfortunately!
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April 08, 2019, 10:45:31 PM #2
Might be worth mentioning where its broken - if its at the operating lever end, then a pair of mole grips onto the end of the cable might be enough to get it to open. If its up the front, your probably a bit more stuck. Most other Fords of that era don't use the cable method, instead having a fitting for the key up the front under the badge.
April 10, 2019, 01:14:25 PM #3
Quote from: Mirez on April 08, 2019, 06:19:33 PM
Nope, unless you take a saw to your grill and replace it afterwards. Its designed to be difficult unfortunately!

The both side grilles are easily removable without braking their clips. I do now mind braking the middle one (since it is held by 2 additional screws already) IF it means I can somehow get the bonnet open from there. Will that allow me to access the latch and open the bonnet? Did not seem so to me, or perhaps there was more to be broken than met my eye... ?!?
May 08, 2019, 06:58:13 AM #4
Just an update if anyone finds this useful...
The problem turned out to be quite simple.
One evening, I decided to try to open the bonnet again - pulled the release lever inside the car and went to the bonnet itself and basically applied brute force...

So, the lock has like 2 latches - 1 for the release cable and the other one for the lever in the grille.
It was evident that the latch for the release cable had long been affected by rust and got completely stuck, and apparently at some point it cracked.
So, basically, when I pull the release cable lever from the interior of the car, it only move (barely) half of the respective latch.
For now, I can ipen the bonnet just by using the grille lever. Need to find the entire bonnet lock that is functional..
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