Hi skoma, thanks for your reply (and to Tilt for the earlier suggestion).

 

I tried to do that, but it felt like the clip would break if I forced it. I also tried fitting the lever first then sliding the clip in from the back, but there is not enough room at the back of the lever - the clip hits the plastic trim, get forced on an angle, and won't go in to the back of the handle or clip into the groove on the spindle.

 

When you pushed it in assembled did the plastic clip expand to go over the spindle, and then contract again to fit into the groove (without breaking, obviously)?

 

Cheers,

Dave.

28 minutes ago, djm0999 said:

When you pushed it in assembled did the plastic clip expand to go over the spindle, and then contract again to fit into the groove (without breaking, obviously)?

 

Butting in..........but yeah, that would be the idea. Try a bit of light grease / vaseline on the clip / spindle to aid pushing on.

 

Oh yes..............and wiggle it, just a little bit, Lol. 

 

It should push on. Good luck.

OK, thanks to you both. I'll give that a go and let you know how I get on.

Cheers,

Dave.

4 hours ago, djm0999 said:

When you pushed it in assembled did the plastic clip expand to go over the spindle, and then contract again to fit into the groove (without breaking, obviously)?

 

 

Hi Dave,

 

Yes it all went on OK as you describe above but did take a fair old push to get it to engage properly...

Thanks Tilt / skomaz,

I have now managed to fit the new lever. I put some grease on the prongs of the plastic clip as suggested before sliding it into the back of the lever, and pushed the lever on, waggling it up and down as I did so (reasoning that this would be most likely direction to open the clip and allow it to slide over the spindle and then close again, locating it in the groove). I did need to give it a 'fair old push' as you described, but it seems to have gone on ok. It still feels 'iffy' when I pull on the lever to open the bonnet, and requires quite a lot of force before the bonnet catch releases, so I am still holding the top of the lever and the outside of the car body in a kind of clamping motion with my right hand to give some support, whilst pulling the lever with my left hand. I have also followed the advice I saw on another thread on this forum suggesting checking and greasing the bonnet release mechanism (both of which I have done) to reduce the amount of effort required to rotate the lever.

Many thanks for your help and advice.

Cheers,

Dave.

The lever takes a good pull on mine too, before it releases...........feels nice and solid.

 

I would be worried if it opened too easily bud.

Hello there, Slightly piggybacking this op, does anyone know where I can get a replacement clip from. Spoken to some right jokers on eBay, but can't for the life of me finding the retaining clip and so the handle keeps falling off the spindle (which is driving me nuts!). 2011 Octi.

Just buy a new lever... The clip will come with it.

But bear in mind it might not be the clip that is the issue. On ours then end of the spindle broke off meaning the clip had nothing to fasten to so it was the mechanism behind the handle that needed replacing.