wrote in message
oups.com...
The bonnet release catch (the one under the dash) on my Merc E Class
Turbo D broke today when the little boy from Charlie Browns pulled
on
it. He then tried to open the bonnet by grasping the cable with his
Mole grips. It wouldn't budge!

Somehow the catch under the actual bonnet must have failed, I don't
know how because it's opened quite regularly and always seemed free.
Other than sending a ferret with a screw driver up through the
bottom
of the engine, does anyone know how I can get under the bonnet?

Failing that, has this happened to anyone else and did you have to
re-mortgage to get it fixed?


Has anyone tried pushing the bonnet down as someone else pulls on the
mole-grips, even some quite mangled (RTA style) bonnet catches respond
to this method.

Often dealers and car body shops know the best ways of getting bonnets
open in these situations whilst either causing no damage or the less
possible - just be thankful that it's not a front hinged bonnet, on
Jaguars one often *has* to drill holes in the top surface to allow the
pins to be unscrewed !