Bonnet release problem

[megadyptes]

Okay, so this morning I went to top up the screen wash in the Leon. Pulled the bonnet release from the footwell handle and up popped the bonnet. Wandered round to the front of the car, gave a tug on the plastic bit that pokes out of the grill, up popped the bonnet a bit more. And then nothing.

I can't lift the bonnet any higher than about an inch before it stops. I looks as if the catch mechanism isn't actually opening fully to release the metal loop, so before I spend good money on getting someoone else to fix it, are there any tricks for opening the catch and figuring out what might have gone amiss?

 

[DPJ]

How far is the plastic pull sticking out?

 

[megadyptes]

I can pull it out to the full extent of it's travel - maybe a couple of inches.

 

[DPJ]

Can you get a screwdriver in to the catch to push the catch off the loop?

 

[megadyptes]

Well, after half an hour of trying to spring the catch it came free, boy was there a lot of grit in there! Anyways, cleaned it out and dolloped a good amount of oil in there - guess I'll leave it overnight to see if it's made much of a different.

Anyways, the wash bottle wasn't empty - which was the whole point of trying to open the bonnet. Running the screen wash just causes it to ru nout of the drain hole on the wheel arch, so ...... anyone know how to go about tracking down where the leak is occurring, as i can't see anything obvious from within the engine bay.

 

[DPJ]

Well, after half an hour of trying to spring the catch it came free, boy was there a lot of grit in there! Anyways, cleaned it out and dolloped a good amount of oil in there - guess I'll leave it overnight to see if it's made much of a different.

Anyways, the wash bottle wasn't empty - which was the whole point of trying to open the bonnet. Running the screen wash just causes it to ru nout of the drain hole on the wheel arch, so ...... anyone know how to go about tracking down where the leak is occurring, as i can't see anything obvious from within the engine bay.

You could have a pipe off under the scuttle panel (plastic section in front of windscreen).

Pull off the long seal that goes all the way across the front of the scuttle, you should then be able to gently lever up the front of the scuttle to see what's happening with the washer pipes.

 

[megadyptes]

Spot On! the little plastic connector had sprung apart - took about 5 mins of swearing to get it to click back together, and will probably about a week to repleace the skin lost off the knuckles!

Thanks for the help.