Bonnet Will Not Open

[jericho200]

hi there i have a ford galaxy aspen 1996 now the problem i have is i can not get teh bonnet open as the cable has snapped off at the lever inside the car , i can see a lever or some kind of catch at the front near the grill but this does not seem to do anything anybody got any ideas on how i can open the bonnet preferably without damaging the bonnet itself.

any help would be much appreciated guys

thanks

[KeefyD]

Sorry, it's a bit late to help this owner but maybe it will help someone else.

I had a similar problem recently. I had a flat battery so tried to open the bonnet to charge it but the bonnet release cable snapped off near the bonnet release catch (because it had rusted through) so I was unable to open the bonnet. Luckily, I have Home Start Cover with Green Flag so called them out. They opened the bonnet by removing the skirt under the front bumper and unbolting the bonnet catch from underneath (this is the only way to do it). He was then able to jump started the engine.

I went to the Ford dealer to get a price for replacing the cable. The new cable assembly was about £22 and they quoted about one and a half hours to fit as they said it was a time consuming job, so it would have been almost £150 total cost.

I decided to buy the cable and have a go myself. Even after removing the glove box, trims around the passenger footwell, lifting the carpet, cutting a hole in the insulating (because the cable disappears behind it, removing the air filter, battery and battery support plate, I was still thwarted because the cable goes through the bulkhead behind a metal block with very fine metal pipes coming out of it (not sure what this is. At this point I gave up on the idea of replacing the complete assembly myself.

I then had an idea and went down to the local cycle shop, purchased a rear brake inner cable for a tandem bike (a normal bike cable is too short). I chose the one with the thinnest diameter cable and the smallest diameter lead nodule at the end, although even then I had to drill out the Release Lever handle to take it. The new cable then gets pushed into the old outer cable from the release lever end. At the bonnet end, you need to use a bit of ingenuity (e.g. a knot or a very small electrical screw terminal). If I had done it this way to start with, the whole job would have taken me less than an hour and cost just £7 (which is what it did cost as the Ford dealer was kind enough to refund the cable assembly I had purchased).

[gregers]

ive seen your solution before posted on another galaxy forum(by some one else)iirc they didnt remove the skirt,apparently it can be reached from under the car(JUST)and it is a P.I.A