This is my first post on the forum, so “hello there”

About a week ago the bonnet of my S reg Felicia refused to close. As I was very near to the limit on my parking space time, I panicked and forced the bonnet shut. Something I now deeply regret.

Now I am unable to open the bonnet at all in the usual manner and have spent some time studying the lock from underneath the car. The first thing that struck me was that it looks nothing like the photos in my Haynes manual. To me, it also looks quite different from other descriptions on this forum and elsewhere on the Internet. For example, I see no plastic bit to lever to one side.

Here is the best photo I have taken of my seized lock:

I think the lock striker pin has somehow pushed through the striker pin aperture. It is just about visible and seems to be bent at an odd angle.

Any suggestions on how to open my bonnet would be very much appreciated. I have been poking about and levering with screwdrivers without success.

sadly they are quite difficult to access, you may have to smash the grille up to get in there to open it

sadly they are quite difficult to access, you may have to smash the grille up to get in there to open it

My bonnet stuck shut a while back (post-facelift Felicia). I removed the Skoda badge, prized the top part of the plastic radiator surround (that actually touches the radiator, it seems to be fixed with three plastic clips. I broke the top one of mine) and bent it towards the front of the car using a flat bladed screwdriver. Then using another flat-bladed screwdriver (through the hole where the badge was) I levered the catch sideways to open the bonnet. I then replaced the bonnet catch with another one. There are one or two more threads here on the subject that you may also find useful. Hope this helps.

Many thanks for the advice so far, which I shall bear in mind. Unfortunately I'm unable to look at the problem again for a couple of days.

I could be mistaken in identifying the part, but the lock striker pin and its spring appear to be bent over at quite an extreme angle (only just visible in the centre of my photo), so I wonder if that's the sole reason why my bonnet won't open. Perhaps it's possible to unscrew the striker pin locknut and completely remove the pin and spring. I think I'll try that first before mucking about with the grille.

Edited 8 September, 201015 yr by hubcap

Hooray! I’ve just managed to open my Felicia bonnet without resorting to any kind of drastic action

First of all, from underneath the car, I sprayed lots of WD40 as deeply into the mechanism as possible. I used a 100ml can that was small enough to reach up through the confined space and spray right inside the lock using the nozzle extension.

Then I carefully fed the handle from a scissor jack through the grille so that the 90 degree bent part went upwards through the narrow gap in front of the radiator. I probed about either side of the grille badge until I touched what must have been part of the lock. Suddenly I heard a small clicking noise as if something had moved within the mechanism.

I went underneath the car to inspect the lock again and noticed that the object, that looked like a pin and spring wedged at an angle in the centre, had disappeared. I could now see the lever with a small black plastic button on the end, and tried without success to move it to the driver’s side using a screwdriver as suggested elsewhere.

I’m afraid that what finally did the trick was done rather blindly. Without looking at exactly what I was doing, I felt around the mechanism with a 7mm blade screwdriver until I made contact with something that had some give in it. The blade also felt as if it was wedged between two objects. Then I rotated the screwdriver clockwise and, lo and behold, the bonnet opened.

Now I have to buy a new latch.

Edited 13 September, 201015 yr by hubcap