Can't open bonnet of my car! Any advice?

Hi guys, my wife's old Fiat Punto needed a top-up of windscreen washer fluid. Pulled the handle that releases the bonnet/hood and nothing happened. Tried several times, with no success. There must be an answer without taking it to a garage, surely?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Reply to
Mikeyboy
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Try pushing the bonnet DOWN, hold it down and pull the handle.

Reply to
Bob Eager

Angle grinder :-)

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

It's a Fiat - a small can opener will suffice.

Reply to
Peter Parry

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Mikeyboy saying something like:

Has the handle suddenly went very easy to pull? If so, the cable could have snapped or come off the release mechanism. You might be able to go in from the front via the grille and release the catch with a long screwdriver, but I'm not familiar with the Punto, so it's just a guess.

Whatever the reason, once you get it open give the locking mechanism a squirt of oil.

Reply to
Grimly Curmudgeon

uk.rec.cars.maintenance might have some answers

(my first thought is the head gaskets don't usually last long enough to need a top up to the windscreen washer)

Reply to
Colin Wilson

"Colin Wilson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@news.motzarella.org...

Whilst pressing on the bonnet see if the handle is pulling all the way - if it is and the bonnet is still not opening see if you can pull the cable on the inside (may need pliers).

Important to oil such things to avoid this problem.

Reply to
John

The message from Mikeyboy contains these words:

30 years ago I managed to solve a similar problem with a friends VW Beetle boot release. IIRC the problem in that case was that the clamp on outer sleeve of the release cable at the release end had slackened and pulling the release handle just advanced the sleeve rather than actuating the release mechanism. If your problem is similar it might be possible to restrain the outer sleeve under the dashboard or actually pull on the outer sleeve at the same time as pulling the release handle. That however depends on the route of the release cable and unfortunately I know nothing at all about your particular model.
Reply to
Roger

In message , Peter Parry writes

It's a Fiat, leave it out in the rain and the bonnet will dissolve.

Reply to
Clint Sharp

We used to refer to them as Fix It Again Tomorrow :-)

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

(my first thought is the head gaskets don't usually last long enough to need a top up to the windscreen washer>

That's just rude!! My wife is vey fond of said Punto, which she has had for 10 years+ though it has only done 37K miles, so I must try to rescue the situation. :-)

Reply to
Mikeyboy

Ahh, the head gaskets apparently start to go at around 60k, so you might have a few miles out of her yet. The car too :-p

Reply to
Colin Wilson

I had the same thing happen on an old Nissan I had.

Try pushing down on the bonnet whilst someone else pulls the handle franticaly, then pull the bonnet to see if it's just the spring in the lock that needs lubing.

The next option is to start removing parts of the grill and trying to operate the mechanism with a long screwdriver.

Reply to
pdrrose

I find that problems like this are sorted out more quickly if you join an on-line forum dedicated to that specific make/model.

Try here:

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Reply to
Bruce

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for a contribution by "Catseyes" next to the bottom of Page 1.

Reply to
Bruce

My old Fiat Panda has the problem that the cable to the bonnet catch snapped a long while ago. Most of the time I can open the bonnet by pulling on the stub of cable protruding from the front but occasionally it gets trapped inside and then I can release it with a long screwdriver (after a lot of poking around).

Reply to
Maris

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