IWMTom
Autocross Newbie
- Location
- North East England
So my bonnet/hood release cable broke.
To those who don't know, there's a junction box under the bonnet where the cable from the release lever and the cable to the latch mechanism join together - a metal ball on the steel wire from the lever sits in a plastic socket/cup inside the junction box.
When you pull the lever, the cable pulls the socket, which in turn pulls a spring acting as a "clutch" (according to VW), which then unlatches partially the bonnet so you can unlatch it fully.
There's a cover over the junction box designed to keep the ball in the socket.. only it's all made of plastic, and eventually it fails.. just like mine did...
Do yourselves a favour and go to your car, open the bonnet, and cable tie the damn thing shut to prevent having to butcher your front emblem and grill just to open the bonnet.
The junction box sits above one of your headlight housings, I believe it's the drivers side on both LHD and RHD vehicles - see this diagram, junction box highlighted in green (number 7):
Aaaand pinched from another forum, cable tie it like this:
Any questions, just ask.
To those who don't know, there's a junction box under the bonnet where the cable from the release lever and the cable to the latch mechanism join together - a metal ball on the steel wire from the lever sits in a plastic socket/cup inside the junction box.
When you pull the lever, the cable pulls the socket, which in turn pulls a spring acting as a "clutch" (according to VW), which then unlatches partially the bonnet so you can unlatch it fully.
There's a cover over the junction box designed to keep the ball in the socket.. only it's all made of plastic, and eventually it fails.. just like mine did...
Do yourselves a favour and go to your car, open the bonnet, and cable tie the damn thing shut to prevent having to butcher your front emblem and grill just to open the bonnet.
The junction box sits above one of your headlight housings, I believe it's the drivers side on both LHD and RHD vehicles - see this diagram, junction box highlighted in green (number 7):

Aaaand pinched from another forum, cable tie it like this:

Any questions, just ask.