the bonnet release cable has snapped how can i get the bonnet open

alex, February 2009

Hi Derek many thanks for taking the time to reply.Tried your way but i could not get to it however with a big hammer i smashed the rad. grill prised off n\s air deflector to rad. Then i got thick piece of fencing wire,bent one end over into a hook,feed it through where the new rad. grill is going, and after a lot of rude words managed to get the wire hooked up with the spring [it has an eye on the end to put the cable into] then pulled the wire towards the n\s and now the bonnet is up regards Alex

Alex, February 2009

hi alex, where has the cable snapped? at the release handle or at the bonnet end? if its at handle end is there any cable still showing if so use pair of pliers to grip the end of the cable and pull it. if you haven't got enough cable to grip then you'll have go to underneath the car and find where the cable comes through the bulk head and pull it out cut away the outer sheathing and try the pliers again. But if it snapped at the bonnet catch end that is a little trickier to do. you'll have to remove any splash guards under the front radiator look up to where the bonnet meets the slam panel, and with the help of long wide tipped flat head screw driver find the lug that the cable would normally be connected to, place the screw driverbehind this lug a rotate the srewdiver so that it acts like a leaver against lug. once the lug clears the groove in the cone on the bonnet it will pop. good luck

derek, February 2009