Bonnet won’t open!

[Joe Roberts]

Hi there, I’ve just taken proud ownership of my elan, but I can’t get the bonnet open! The cable pull works but is somewhat loose so I think it may have come detached from the catch.. can I get to the catch by removing the front spoiler etc I’ve tried pushing the bonnet down pulling it up but I’m concerned I will break the bonnet if I force it anymore.. need some help here. Thanks

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Joe,

Sorry for not seeing this sooner. It appears that it somehow missed an index and sat out not being included in last week's postings.

Sometimes the bonnet needs a bit of a shift left or right at the nose (as well as a push down). It almost sounds like the pin is hooked on the body instead of the release lever.

Post / add your location and maybe someone nearby will offer a better suggestion.

Welcome to LEC. The system is usually very accurate flagging new posts and making them visible to everyone, but your post somehow got lost.

[Joe Roberts]

Just for information and for anyone else who encounters this? So I managed to get it open and there are a couple of ways.

You can access the locking mechanism from under the car access with your hand between the engine and the radiator just to the R/H (offside UK) of the centre of the catch there is an oblong hole about 15cms long which you can get your hand into and then push the cable and lever to release the mechanism. (non turbo so I'm not sure there is a much room with a turbo?)
Also remove the front O/S wheel (Right hand) and then the inner arch cover, this then gives you access to the bonnet cable so you can pull it this way)

Cheers

[John_W]

Well played for an unusual problem!

[siejai]

I just experienced this issue and I'm not sure what's holding it up. The bonnet lever seems to be tight enough but it isn't popping up, I'm not sure what it is latched to. Looks like I'm going to be taking off the wheel arch liners and probably the front bumper cover to try to get at it.

[dapinky]

Before you start to dissmantle too much of the car , when mine did I found that by grabbing hold of a willing assistant (other types are availlable!), lifting the headlamp pods, and thus allowing you (or assistant!) to grab hold of an 'edge' of the bonnet each side.

Whilst pulling the lever in the car, wiggle the bonnet a bit and it allowed my latch to release.

[siejai]

I did give that a go with no luck. I now have the bumper off and I can see the underside of the latch, just not sure what isn't working. If anyone else has this issue in the future I'm not sure the best way to get the bumper cover off because luckily I was missing the top two bolts that go into the headlamp pod cavity.

[siejai]

Looks like the cable popped out of the latch on one side. I got it open by sliding the latch mechanism with a crowbar.

[siejai]

Thought I had it fixed, but didn't. If you need to take the front bumper cover off with a bonnet that won't pop, you need to remove the three Phillips screws on each side that adjust headlamp pitch for the inner lights so the lamps will fall into the pod. You should be able to move it out of the way enough to get a ratchet in there with a 13mm deep socket to remove the upper bumper cover nuts. The other hardware can be removed by the normal means. Once the bumper cover is off you can squeeze the mechanism together from your left side, or press on it from your right side.