Hi,

Today my Dad took our old Fabia to show to someone who's interested in buying it from us. He went to open the bonnet to show them the engine, but after pulling the bonnet release lever in the driver's footwell, couldn't get the release lever in the grille to pull out.

 

I've had this once before and solved it by giving the lever in the footwell another almighty tug but today this didn't work. The gille lever is visible and you can get your hands on it but it just will not budge - it's basically stuck.

 

We're now stuck as we can't lift the bonnet and we can't get it to go copmletely shut again - it's just sat at that first stage where you can move it about half an inch.

 

Anyone know how we can sort it out easily? I can't take it to the garage until at least next week and could do with it being sorted asap for peace of mind as my Mum drives it most now.

 

Thanks guys, any help will be gratefully appreciated.

@alessio92 - OK, I think what's happened is that the grille lever, aka the safety catch, has seized. Try a shot of PlusGas, then get your Mum to pull the interior catch while your dad and you try and pick the car up by the bonnet.

 

Failing that it's honestly a case of "educated brute force".

Cheers. I sent a few shots of plusgas up behind where the lever pokes out through the grille, but at the moment it still won't budge. Is that where you meant to spray it? I'm going to leave the PlusGas a bit longer to work it's magic and we'll see after that.

Apologies for the delay in replying, but thanks for your response.

Try pushing down on the bonnet while someone pulls the handle.

Cheers, will give that a shot!

Right, so, we've got the bonnet up. The mechanism that releases the handle through the grille seems totally seized, we had to pull it out with pliers and it took some doing. It now won't drop back into place so we've doused the mechanism in PlusGas... fingers crossed.

 

There was some collateral though - whilst pulling the release handle in the driver's footwell, something behind the plastic trim has snapped it no longer operates the release. How big a job is that to fix? I don't dare drop the bonnet at the moment because both aspects of the release aren't working properly.

A few pics for you :

 

An inside look at the bonnet release handle stopper clip:

 

 

It can be removed with a flathead screwdriver and the handle pops off.

 

The trim is held on by four clips, it is good to know their exact locations when taking it off:

 

 

Just be careful not to break anything. The first time getting it off might be really difficult. On the other hand, if you break most of the clips, it'll be easier next time.

 

You can get better leverage on the clips through the lever hole:

 

 

And when the trim is off, you can see the bonnet release cable actuating mechanism:

 

 

Quite a simple mechanism but plastic all over.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Edit: If you're a Brit, you'll have to hold the pictures up against a mirror to have the correct orientation.

Edited 21 April, 20188 yr by RaKa

Thanks so much. That's really helpful. I've heard you can only get a new cable from Skoda themselves - is that right?

Part number for the cable is 6Y2823531B

 

There are some on ebay.

Edited 24 April, 20188 yr by TMB

This is the bit I have been looking for, how to remover the trim behind the bonnet release handle in the foot well, thanks for posting the images, do I need to :

 

1. do anything with thee door rubber

2. do I have to remove the trim that runs along the bottom of the door opening (the other part goes underneath it slightly)

 

Thanks

The plastic is flexible enough to slip out from under the dash panel and other trims but it may need some apparently excessive force. DO NOT DO anything to the door seal as this will cause leak/damp floor issues.

 

Raul