C5X7 Bonnet Release

[mikez12]

Hi there,

Today I tried to pop the bonnet on my 2011 C5X7 2.0 Hdi Exclusive but nothing happened. The lever inside the passenger door is moving up and down freely (too freely perhaps?) but there seems to be no resistance and the bonnet doesn't pop up at all.

Does anybody have any ideas as to how I might be able to get it to open? and also if the cable has snapped I would be very grateful if anyone has an extract from the manual or any instructions on how it is routed and how to replace it etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks.

[GiveMeABreak]

See my posts from here on down Mike:

viewtopic.php?p=595633#p595633

[mikez12]

Thanks very much for your reply Marc. I read your previous posts but it seems my problem is slightly different from the one in that topic.

My problem seems to be caused by the longer cable marked no.7 on your diagram. When I pull the lever located down in the passenger side front pillar nothing happens, so I fear the long cable may have to be replaced.

I'm going to try and get the bonnet open from underneath tomorrow and have a better look.

I'm wondering if you or anyone else might have any info or experience in replacing the long cable and how to get at it etc. I'm hoping to avoid wasting time by stripping out half of the interior trim etc only to find that I didn't need to do it in the first place!!!

Thanks and regards,
Mike.

[GiveMeABreak]

It's not for the feint hearted Mike... there are anti-intrusion covers in there to stop what you are intending to do from what I can see.

The following assumes you can get the bonnet open and to change it the following have to come off:

• The front bumper
• The air filter box
• The battery carrier
• The engine fuse box
• The front pillar trim (Left hand )
• The built-in systems interface
• The driver’s steering column air bag (assume LHD only)

I'm not sure what you would be able to do in this case without the bonnet being open. Maybe bite the bullet and ask the dealer for a quote...

[mikez12]

Had a better look at the bonnet this evening. I managed to get it open by removing the engine undertray and also the smaller undertray below the front bumper. I was then able to reach up at the front of the radiator to get to the bonnet locking mechanism. The bottom of the locking mechanism has a plastic cover over it, but by pulling it out a bit I could push a screwdriver through the gap and move the release lever inside which popped the bonnet.

On closer inspection the actual cable does not appear to be broken or damaged. The cable has a little nipple on the end and a square metallic connector thing with a round leg which fits into a hole in the lock and holds the cable on to the release lever. Unfortunately the round leg part seems to have broken off.

I don't fancy ripping half of the car apart to put in a new cable so i'm going to see if I can bodge something together with cable pinch bolts or cable ties.

[GiveMeABreak]

Looks like you found the anti-tamper cover then.

Well done for getting that far. That is the worst one as it's the longer cable that goes right back to the internal release and such a faff. This is the first one I've ever heard of failing on this part!

I'm sure you will think of something to stop it coming off.