Stuck bonnet on a C5 mk1

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evilclive
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Stuck bonnet on a C5 mk1

Post by evilclive »

My wife came and told me we were missing a headlamp bulb, so time to learn how hard these actually are. Haynes gives you the choice of removing the front bumper, or "it is possible with the headlight in place but access is quite limited". Given this is Haynes, I was expecting something along the lines of gynecological keyhole surgery, accompanied by gynecological language. But what's the first step? Open the bonnet. Pull the lever, and oops, nothing happened.

A bit of googling around, including on here, gave people talking about fiddling with screwdrivers, breaking grilles, and other such things. I thought I'd see what I could do.

Fortunately the lower grille was replaced by the previous owner with a natty wire mesh affair, and it wasn't terribly well attached. I pulled it out, and discovered that that gives quite a lot of access to the catch.

And my first guess was right - it felt like the cable wasn't doing enough, so I stared through things till I worked out where the cable was, then took some old bike gear cable (I have a lot of that hanging around my house..), made a loop, and hooked it over where the normal cable is supposed to be. Mole wrench on the other end, aim in approximately the right direction (as far sideways as possible), and give it a good heave. Hmm, I didn't hear anything. That's not worked. Hang on, the bonnet is now open - it has worked!

As for the bulbs, yes, they were a bit tricky, but nothing like as bad as I'd feared. Getting the connector off the bulb was quite hard work, but the rest was actually fairly straightforward with the help of a couple of photos to see where the little clippy bits needed to be pushed.

Bonnet catch is now lubricated and freed up, and back to working as it should - but that loop of cable is in the boot in case! Lower grille now has a couple of cable ties on it too.
admiral51
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Re: Stuck bonnet on a C5 mk1

Post by admiral51 »

Good work evilclive and thanks for posting it, someone somewhere on here will be buying you a virtual pint in the future
Hell Razor5543
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Re: Stuck bonnet on a C5 mk1

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

admiral51 wrote: 03 Jun 2019, 19:57 Good work evilclive and thanks for posting it, someone somewhere on here will be buying you a virtual pint in the future

While I have not (yet) needed this information, here is a virtual pint (with a bit of fun added);

:beer: :dom:
James
ex BX 1.9
ex Xantia 2.0HDi SX
ex Xantia 2.0HDi LX
Ex C5 2.0HDi VTR
Ex C5 2.0HDi VTR

C5 2.2HDi VTX+
Yes, I am paranoid, but am I paranoid ENOUGH?
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evilclive
Posts: 82
Joined: 31 Oct 2010, 14:24
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Re: Stuck bonnet on a C5 mk1

Post by evilclive »

Thanks - I think :-)
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