General: 850: Bonnet will not open

[migrator]

360dood has a problem with his 850 estate (Phase 1 - 'P' reg). The bonnet will not release to open. The local garage has been able to free up the nearside bonnet catch but the offside catch will not release.

The current options are :-

Break the headlight to gain access - not a good idea as these are a pair of units sourced in the States and can only be replaced (bought) in pairs with the addition of import duties. A pricey approach.

Cut the bonnet - better as there will be good bonnets available from breakers with the worst expense being a possible respray in the appropriate colour.

Has anyone here had this sort of problem on an 850? There may still be possible lines of attack that will get the bonnet lock releasing without too much damage.

[Thanatos]

depending on how long an extention you have and if you can see into the bonet area with usb camera can you get to he bolts that hold it and undo them as then you could open bonnet and remove it that way

[migrator]

One's extension is considerable (and there are a number of socket sets here ).

I had forgotten about that usb camera in beside the dice kit. Just need to get the camera software onto the dice laptop now. Thanks Andy.

[Logan360]

I had my bonnet release cable snap literally as i was about to leave on a 4 hour drive. Investigated with the R and found one way. got under, dropped out the washer bottle and squeezed my hand up to the near side catch and released them from that one.

[logan3d]

Im braking the car, and the cable snapped at me out of nowhere.
Was ready to cut it into pieces with a grinder, but then i somehow figured that you can just remove right indicator, get your hand in there and pull on the lock easily

[volvo2]

I had a similar problem with my M Reg. In my case by repeatedly pressing on the bonnet and operating the resease handle the offending catch eventually released. I lubicated all moving parts and have not had the problem since.

[migrator]

Update on this - the local garage has been given the task of cutting open the bonnet. They have done a nice job, just opening up a couple of small holes in the outer skin to gain access to the inner skin. It turns out that the off-side bonnet catch mechanism had collapsed so no amount of pulling/pushing/jiggling etc would have worked. A replacement bonnet in rather good condition has been acquired locally (plus the appropriate catch unit) and is in process of being fitted. The colour is, of course, not a match so the replacement will need a respray but at least now the engine bay is accessible and the headlights can be worked on again.

Thanks for the various tips and suggestions to get the bonnet open.