Xantia bonnet won't open

[RichardW]

Nice one[:D]
I'm off to tape up the cable on mine this afternoon to avoid a repeat performance....![8)]

[Laxon]

Morning,
Done! sequence went like this
1) Grab a cup of coffee (it was just after work[:D])
2) Remove two screws within the grill
3) ponder how to get at the screws under the indicators (or break the grill and still be able to repair). In the end the screws ARE accessable you just need to lever the grill down abit
4) Use a chisel and 'shear off' the plastic pins holding the top of the grill (lucky as these can be metel) to the slam panel. Yes i agree it is dark under the grill but i managed to get access under the slam panel between the panel and the grill mounting lug
5) Now, grill was loose but would come out. The grill actually has a section behind a raised section of the slam panel so simply pulling the grill out straight is not possible. After a bit of wiggling it did come out, but i did slightly crack one section of the grill (easily repairable and won't show). On inspection the same chisel from earlier should have been used to 'cut' the grill either side of the raised section to allow straight removal, this modification to the grill wouldn't show either.
So, in the end 20 minutes and the grill was off, further 10 seconds and the bonnet was open[:)]
It turned out that the cable from the locks to the intersection behind the headlight had popped out of the joiner plate thus the release lever couldn't pull the lock. Now put back into place, with lots of lubricant and tape around the joiner plate.
20 mins later, oil / filter / liquids service complete.
So, in summation, the grill does proove to be the best way in (unless its a post 1998 model where the grill is part of the bonnet?).
Thanks for the help, hope this saves anyone else a headache![8D]

Thank you this was the trick who made bonnet open up again.