Vectra C Bonnet Latch/Cable Release
See new input from Rich at bottom
Someone came to me saying that their bonnet would not open. I googled it and there are load of incidents of this. Unfortunately there does not seems to be a definitive answer to the problem. The most widely used DIY fix is to break the plastic grill in the bonnet to get to the latch. The local Vauxhall dealer told me they would have to remove the bumper - but would not say how to remove the bolts covered by the bonnet which is locked down. Not to be deterred we set about trying to release it. It is impossible to reach it from under the car as there is a large central plastic cover integral to the bumper which stops this.
With a strong inspection lamp up inside the engine bay in front of the radiator, it was possible to see the latch and bowden cable through the grill - kneel down and look up through the grill. Don't try it in strong sunlight, we did and it was impossible to see anything. I made a hook at one end of about 15" of coat hanger wire and in this case hooked it over the bowden cable next to the latch. I then gripped the wire with mole grips and pulled very hard and the latch popped - took about 20min to eventually latch it on by bending the wire bit by bit till it reached. To help here is a photo taken underneath the latch show the spring latch which is holding the bonnet in place. This spring needs to be pulled back to release. Also shown is the bowden cable running from the cockpit. The wire needs to be hooked onto the cable or if broken onto the rear of the latch
In our case the cable had not broken but stretched beyond the ability of the cockpit lever to release the latch
.
I simply undid the the nut/clip holding the bowden cable sheath (see above) and pulled the cable tight and tighten the nut again. I also greased the latch mech and screwed the four hexagonal bonnet stops right in to reduce the pressure on the latch. I think it would be more difficult if the cable had actually broken as the hook would need to be maneuvered onto the latch itself, but not impossible. BTW I originally tried to pull the bowden cable without the aid of cockpit latch using grips but it would not release. Since loads of cable came out I assumed (too early) it had snapped. This should be your first port of call if you get the problem.
The dealer was very suprised when we told him we had done it so I thought it was worth putting it on the website
A nice guy called Rich emailed me with his story of the repair and says it CAN be reached from underneath see below
Hi Peter,
On 05/05/2020 21:09, Peter wrote:
You must have very long arms! I'm not quite sure how you did it, was it on a ramp? Maybe the layout is different on later models?
The car had one side on a reasonably high kerb - at the front and not at the back, and whilst facing up a hill - which gives an additional tilt at the front. Ramps would suffice - but you might need something to raise you up again if they were too high. I'm only 5' 9", so no, arms not particularly long, but I'm fairly flexible.
I'll put you note on the site when I update the the site. Believe it
or not that page is probably the most visited
I suspect that's because the couple of videos out there don't actually show the mechanism in the way you have. Your photos were particularly helpful in allowing me to understand what I was dealing with whilst not being able to actually see the mechanism etc.
Once you understand that the cable feeds in from the passenger side (of a right-hand drive car), that it pulls the catch towards that side, and that it needs to be fed back into the slot from the front, if it's come out, that's half the job. It only too me five minutes - it took me longer to actually get it back into the lever in the footwell.
(Feel free to include any of the above.)
Cheers,
Rich Harding.
