Bonnet latch mechanism

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shoryuken

shoryuken

Member
Posts
26
My Freelander facelift bonnet cable snapped on me. I'm in the process of getting to the mechanism to open the bonnet and have removed 3 rivets off the plastic under guard.

I can now see the spring mechanism as pictured. Dumb question so apologies in advance but do I need to be pushing back or pulling forward on this to open the bonnet?

 
Last edited:
Have sorted this now. Pulled on it by wedging a tent peg behind it and pulling with mole grips. Wasn't as hard as I was expecting.

Now to remove the broken cable and fit new one...this bit will be more tricky.
 
Well done mate ..:) let us know how you get on ;)
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Thanks Brack. My new cable hasn't turned up unfortunately, was hoping it would today. So for the time being I have hooked up a temporary way of opening the bonnet with a cunning use of cable ties.

If your going by Haynes ...See post #4 here by freelance - you don't need to remove the radiator to renew the cable..good luck :)
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Yeah I'd read about that and I was using the Haynes for guidance. In the end I undid the top left radiator bracket and was then able to push it back and out of the way. The studs on the top right hand bracket were well rusted and one of them snapped off as I tried to undo the nut so I left that side.

Got MOT on monday so really glad I managed to get the bonnet open today
 
when you get it sorted ..
put some grease over the exposed bit of the cable
what happens is that rain gets in there .. rust occurs on the cable ..
that causes the cable to expand slightly ( firs up ) and snag in the sleeve ..
driver pulls on the bonnet release .. cable snaps ..

every now and again i spray some motorcycle chain lube on the catch / cable mechanism .. keeps the rust away ..
 
Right, bit of an update on this. I've fitted the new bonnet release cable, routing it in exactly the same way as it was before but now have an annoying problem. With the bonnet open, operating the bonnet release lever in the footwell causes the latch mechanism to operate seemingly fine. However, once the bonnet gets closed the operation of the lever seems to alter slightly (feels different) and it will not open the bonnet!!

I've cable tied the cable in all the same places as it was before to hold it still. Am hoping this is just me being dumb and there's an easy solution. Any ideas?

Oh and car passed its MOT with just a couple of minor advisories :)
 
I never removed the mechanism from the car but I did lube it up thoroughly and like I said, the mechanism does appear to operate fine with the bonnet open.
 
Wonder if anything was strained with the previous cable - check the release lever mounting bracket (Under the dash) ... it might have bent a bit.
 
I did plan on checking the bracket behind at the release handle end but it's now miraculously working! Not sure why but when I was round at my parents the other night I went to show my dad how it wasn't working and in typical show-myself-up-style it worked! Since then I've opened and closed it numerous times and it seems to be working fine.

Thanks to the forum in this and previous threads about bonnet cables :)
 
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