Simple question... how does one manually unlatch and open the bonnet if they do not have access the release lever in the driver's footwell?

With great difficulty since the car is designed to be completely secure from the outside.

Ok, so the reason I ask is...

 

With the current stay-at-home rules in force, there is a good chance the battery will be flat by the time we are allowed out again.

I have a jump pack in the house that I will be able to use to to get the engine started, but obviously need to access to the battery terminals to use it.

Without any onboard power to turn the central locking motors, there is no way to get into the passenger cabin to use the normal bonnet release.

 

Bit of chicken-egg problem if you see what I mean.

 

I've seen firefighters at accident scenes open the bonnet from the outside using a long stick, so there must be a way.

By far the easiest solution to your potential problem is to pull the bonnet release now and leave it on the latch, you could even remove the battery and leave it on trickle charge while the car sits unused.

I guess one option would be the run a long cable out to it to keep it charged from the house power?

1 hour ago, davepusey said:

I guess one option would be the run a long cable out to it to keep it charged from the house power?

 

A lot simpler than trying to open a locked car with a flat battery.

Always go for the simplest solution to a problem that does not yet exist, prevention is better than cure.

2 hours ago, davepusey said:

Without any onboard power to turn the central locking motors, there is no way to get into the passenger cabin to use the normal bonnet release.

 

You could always just use the key?

 

There should be a normal lock on the drivers door...

 

 

^^^Beat me to it, Lol.

 

Tis better to keep battery charged though if possible, to prevent further possible issues with electronics, but also prevent the battery damage in any cold weather.

And we are heading for a very cold snap i believe.

I actually now have a little socket on the front of my car to plug charger straight into, though use a solar charger all the time as well.

6 hours ago, langers2k said:

 

You could always just use the key?

 

There should be a normal lock on the drivers door...

 

 

That would work in my world, so why not?

 

Anyway, any reason why @davepusey can't use the key in the driver's door lock, and if it is goosed, why not aim to fix it while "at home"?

2 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

That would work in my world, so why not?

 

Anyway, any reason why @davepusey can't use the key in the driver's door lock, and if it is goosed, why not aim to fix it while "at home"?

 

No idea, he seems to be overthinking things a twitch though, catastrophism is commonplace in these strange times.

I was under the (now seemingly mistaken) impression that the physical door keyholes where nothing more than switches that commanded the central locking system to lock/unlock the doors by turning the motors.

 

Hence my thinking that no power would mean no unlock.

10 minutes ago, davepusey said:

I was under the (now seemingly mistaken) impression that the physical door keyholes where nothing more than switches that commanded the central locking system to lock/unlock the doors by turning the motors.

 

Hence my thinking that no power would mean no unlock.

 

It does do that but if the battery is dead flat it will still unlock the drivers door mechanically so that you can open the bonnet to charge the battery.

You can charge the battery from inside the car by using a charger which has a cigarette lighter plug fitted on the leads.This plug is then plugged into the cigarette lighter socket.Not sure if this works on every fabia,but it does on a 1.9sdi.The socket has a 12 volt supply which is connected all the time.  My car is not used very often I have been charging my car it this way  since 2002 when I first got the car.

Edited 26 March, 20206 yr by AndyPandy

15 hours ago, davepusey said:

I was under the (now seemingly mistaken) impression that the physical door keyholes where nothing more than switches that commanded the central locking system to lock/unlock the doors by turning the motors.

 

Hence my thinking that no power would mean no unlock.

Maybe some other info that might come in handy for you some time is, okay, you can open any doors that have a key/lock cylinder in them, as long as they have not seized up, checking them now and again is never a bad idea/waste of time and adding some proper lock lubricant - but maybe just as importantly, it is possible to lock all doors with no battery in the car - obviously when a door has a key/lock in it you can use that if it works, all other side doors without a key/lock should have a small rubber cover with what looks like a padlock moulded on to its top surface, for locking of these doors, you remove these rubber covers, use something like a key blade and rotate the thing below that cover through roughly 90 degrees and refit the cover - then shut that door and check that its locked, same for any other side doors without key/lock - after doing this, you can still reopen these doors by grabbing the opening lever maybe twice.

 

I only discovered that after needing to lock up an Ibiza SC after removing its battery - if I had be smarter, I would have already read the owners handbook from cover to cover - but do we ever?

On 25/03/2020 at 10:28, davepusey said:

Ok, so the reason I ask is...

 

With the current stay-at-home rules in force, there is a good chance the battery will be flat by the time we are allowed out again.

I have a jump pack in the house that I will be able to use to to get the engine started, but obviously need to access to the battery terminals to use it.

Without any onboard power to turn the central locking motors, there is no way to get into the passenger cabin to use the normal bonnet release.

 

Bit of chicken-egg problem if you see what I mean.

 

I've seen firefighters at accident scenes open the bonnet from the outside using a long stick, so there must be a way.

From experience of locking keys in a central locked car they power up a circuit and then use the crash sensor.