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Bonnet won't open



mark123

mark123

Hi

I have a 52 plate 172 cup.

When I came to change the cam belt the bonnet won't open! When I pull the lever you can hear the cable/mechanism move under the bonnet.

I've tried all the tips I can find on the forum. Pull cable harder, wiggle bonnet, etc to no avail.

I can't see anything to pull through the grill even if I cut if off. And from underneath it doesn't look like there is much space.

Is there a way to get to thre mechanism without breaking things? Has anyone done it on a clio with 172/182 engine in it?

Thanks
Mark
 
F

Fred@BTM

  Lionel Richie
get some one to pull up on the bonnet, whilst you pull the lever

other than that, you'll have to take the front bumper off, risk breaking the grill and pop the mechanism with a screw driver

have you got the locking tools to do the cambelt?
 
B

Big Iain

  Burgandy 174 sport t
I noticed mine has been getting tighter, may have snapped? cant help u out with opening it though]
 
F

Fred@BTM

  Lionel Richie
they are 100% essential!! don't even bother attempting to do the cambelt without the correct tools!
 
mark123

mark123

How come they are essential?

I've changed a few cam belts in my time so I'm no novice.

If I mark the pinions I reckoned that would be enough. Though as I read the instructions it sounds like the crank pinion is not locked to the crank except by the tightening of the pulley bolt - is that why you think I need the tools? I figured the crankshaft locking tool could be replaced by modding an old screwdriver if necessary. But I was opening my bonnect to check how feasible that was.

Similarly for the cam locking tool I didn't see any reason why marking the pinions wasn't sufficient and I won't be removing them so they won't move. Again I tought I could rig up some similar looking tool if necessary.

I'll buy the tools if necessary. Thanks for the info.
 
S

SBV116

  Mondeo TDCI 130
Agree with yoz! dont even try it you will get in a mess, there is no woodruff key on the crank, so the pulley floats, if you havent locked it with the pin and cam locking tools you wont have a clue whats going on! trust me! i have got a set of tools, think they were £40 ish! as for the bonnet, cut the centre out of the grille with some side cuttters and buy a new insert, thats the easiest way!
 
B

bmh.01

  BMW M135i
FredYozzasport said:
get some one to pull up on the bonnet, whilst you pull the lever

other than that, you'll have to take the front bumper off, risk breaking the grill and pop the mechanism with a screw driver

have you got the locking tools to do the cambelt?
Click to expand...

Looking to do mine soon, where abouts can I get the tools for a 1.6 from fred ?
 
K

KrissyBufton

  182
arrrgh i have this problem too! think its the mechanism seizing up that does it? a new lock needed? i tried WD40 on it... but been too scared to try it recently lol
 
B

bmh.01

  BMW M135i
I got mine stuck once before on my old dynamique, I wedged the release level in the open position with a ring spanner and pulled the bonnet up and it opened. Was shitting bricks though until I thought to try this, talk about relief.

Mine was because i'd misaligned the catch when pissing about with it. Though i'd imagine rust over time would have the same effect.
 
mark123

mark123

Well I'm almost at the point were I'm considering cutting through the bonnet.

Any last thoughts before I make the cut?

I've already cut a hole where the Renault badge is as SVB116 said and you can see the mechenism sort of but access is still bad. I poked and prodded to no avail with a long screwdriver.

No room to get your arm in from underneath to the top of the radiator where the mechanism is, too many rigid pipes in the way. If only I had a 1.2, well maybe not ;-)
 
S

SBV116

  Mondeo TDCI 130
the grille is the black bits....... the renault badge is part of the bumper! so i hope you havent cut that!!!!
 
A

AliasOmega

  Shhh
Front bumper is made up of 3 things,

the bumper
the grill at the bottom
the drill at the top

As people have said, you need to sacrifice the top grill to get the bumper off. This involves basically removing / damaging the top grill enabling the bumper to come off.

To remove the bumper, simply remove it from undernearth the car (on undertray plate thing) & from the wheel arch mounts and simply remove. Did have pictures of the bumper off, this allows access to the rear of the lock mechanism..

SO, DONT CUT THE BONNET..........the grill is cheaper.
 
mark123

mark123

I got the b**tard open and didn't need to break anything (important)!

Here's how I did it.

Remove bumper as suggested. The grill just unclipped from the bumper. Rather than break the grill I took a hammer and screwdriver to the little blade thing that holds the bonnet shut. You can just see this through a little gap, you'll need a light. Gave it a few whacks and it opened. Once open I couldn't see how I could have done it from the back as the mechanism is so well protected from tampering.

The pivot was totally seized, all greased up and moving again now.
 
mark123

mark123

16 quid for a new badge, not too bad ;-)

Did the cam belt. Locked the crank with an 8mm drill bit instead of the special tool. Blunt bit forward! Was tricky to find without removing the cam seals at gearbox end. So removed a spark plug so I could tell when I was near TDC. Marked the cam positions against the head/cam cover gasket before unbolting the crank pulley. Cams moved when removed belt so had to be realigned by hand when fitting the new belt. Had to use mirror to set the tension and wouldn't have known to align the tensioner marks without the instructions. Now donw 200 miles and no new engine yet...
 
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