Hi guys, my wife's old Fiat Punto needed a top-up of windscreen washer
fluid. Pulled the handle that releases the bonnet/hood and nothing
happened. Tried several times, with no success.
There must be an answer without taking it to a garage, surely?

Thanks in advance for any help.

On Sat, 3 May 2008 09:34:16 UTC, Mikeyboy wrote:

Hi guys, my wife's old Fiat Punto needed a top-up of windscreen washer
fluid. Pulled the handle that releases the bonnet/hood and nothing
happened. Tried several times, with no success.
There must be an answer without taking it to a garage, surely?

Try pushing the bonnet DOWN, hold it down and pull the handle.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

Mikeyboy wrote:
Hi guys, my wife's old Fiat Punto needed a top-up of windscreen washer
fluid. Pulled the handle that releases the bonnet/hood and nothing
happened. Tried several times, with no success.
There must be an answer without taking it to a garage, surely?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Angle grinder :-)


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Sat, 03 May 2008 09:51:50 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:


Angle grinder :-)

It's a Fiat - a small can opener will suffice.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Mikeyboy
saying something like:

Hi guys, my wife's old Fiat Punto needed a top-up of windscreen washer
fluid. Pulled the handle that releases the bonnet/hood and nothing
happened. Tried several times, with no success.

Has the handle suddenly went very easy to pull? If so, the cable could
have snapped or come off the release mechanism. You might be able to go
in from the front via the grille and release the catch with a long
screwdriver, but I'm not familiar with the Punto, so it's just a guess.

Whatever the reason, once you get it open give the locking mechanism a
squirt of oil.
--

Dave

Hi guys, my wife's old Fiat Punto needed a top-up of windscreen washer
fluid. Pulled the handle that releases the bonnet/hood and nothing
happened. Tried several times, with no success.
There must be an answer without taking it to a garage, surely?

uk.rec.cars.maintenance might have some answers

(my first thought is the head gaskets don't usually last long enough
to need a top up to the windscreen washer)

"Colin Wilson" o.uk wrote
in message g...
Hi guys, my wife's old Fiat Punto needed a top-up of windscreen washer
fluid. Pulled the handle that releases the bonnet/hood and nothing
happened. Tried several times, with no success.
There must be an answer without taking it to a garage, surely?

uk.rec.cars.maintenance might have some answers

(my first thought is the head gaskets don't usually last long enough
to need a top up to the windscreen washer)

Whilst pressing on the bonnet see if the handle is pulling all the way - if
it is and the bonnet is still not opening see if you can pull the cable on
the inside (may need pliers).

Important to oil such things to avoid this problem.

The message
from Mikeyboy contains these words:

Hi guys, my wife's old Fiat Punto needed a top-up of windscreen washer
fluid. Pulled the handle that releases the bonnet/hood and nothing
happened. Tried several times, with no success.
There must be an answer without taking it to a garage, surely?

Thanks in advance for any help.

30 years ago I managed to solve a similar problem with a friends VW
Beetle boot release. IIRC the problem in that case was that the clamp on
outer sleeve of the release cable at the release end had slackened and
pulling the release handle just advanced the sleeve rather than
actuating the release mechanism. If your problem is similar it might be
possible to restrain the outer sleeve under the dashboard or actually
pull on the outer sleeve at the same time as pulling the release handle.
That however depends on the route of the release cable and unfortunately
I know nothing at all about your particular model.

--
Roger Chapman
Nearest Marilyn still to be visited - Great Orme.
89 miles as the crow flies,
considerably more as the walker drives.

In message , Peter Parry
writes
On Sat, 03 May 2008 09:51:50 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:


Angle grinder :-)

It's a Fiat - a small can opener will suffice.

It's a Fiat, leave it out in the rain and the bonnet will dissolve.
--
Clint Sharp

Colin Wilson wrote:
Hi guys, my wife's old Fiat Punto needed a top-up of windscreen
washer fluid. Pulled the handle that releases the bonnet/hood and
nothing happened. Tried several times, with no success.
There must be an answer without taking it to a garage, surely?

uk.rec.cars.maintenance might have some answers

(my first thought is the head gaskets don't usually last long enough
to need a top up to the windscreen washer)

We used to refer to them as Fix It Again Tomorrow :-)



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

(my first thought is the head gaskets don't usually last long enough
to need a top up to the windscreen washer

That's just rude!! My wife is vey fond of said Punto, which she has
had for 10 years+ though it has only done 37K miles, so I must try to
rescue the situation.
:-)

That's just rude!! My wife is vey fond of said Punto, which she has
had for 10 years+ though it has only done 37K miles

Ahh, the head gaskets apparently start to go at around 60k, so you
might have a few miles out of her yet. The car too :-p

On 3 May, 10:34, Mikeyboy wrote:
Hi guys, my wife's old Fiat Punto needed a top-up of windscreen washer
fluid. Pulled the handle that releases the bonnet/hood and nothing
happened. Tried several times, with no success.
There must be an answer without taking it to a garage, surely?

Thanks in advance for any help.

I had the same thing happen on an old Nissan I had.

Try pushing down on the bonnet whilst someone else pulls the handle
franticaly, then pull the bonnet to see if it's just the spring in the
lock that needs lubing.

The next option is to start removing parts of the grill and trying to
operate the mechanism with a long screwdriver.

wrote:

On 3 May, 10:34, Mikeyboy wrote:
Hi guys, my wife's old Fiat Punto needed a top-up of windscreen washer
fluid. Pulled the handle that releases the bonnet/hood and nothing
happened. Tried several times, with no success.
There must be an answer without taking it to a garage, surely?

Thanks in advance for any help.

I had the same thing happen on an old Nissan I had.

Try pushing down on the bonnet whilst someone else pulls the handle
franticaly, then pull the bonnet to see if it's just the spring in the
lock that needs lubing.

The next option is to start removing parts of the grill and trying to
operate the mechanism with a long screwdriver.



I find that problems like this are sorted out more quickly if you join
an on-line forum dedicated to that specific make/model.

Try he
http://www.fiatforum.com/

Bruce wrote:

I find that problems like this are sorted out more quickly if you join
an on-line forum dedicated to that specific make/model.

Try he
http://www.fiatforum.com/


There is a very useful discussion he
http://tinyurl.com/648st5

Look for a contribution by "Catseyes" next to the bottom of Page 1.

On Sat, 03 May 2008 11:21:23 +0100, Grimly Curmudgeon
wrote:

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Mikeyboy
saying something like:

Hi guys, my wife's old Fiat Punto needed a top-up of windscreen washer
fluid. Pulled the handle that releases the bonnet/hood and nothing
happened. Tried several times, with no success.

Has the handle suddenly went very easy to pull? If so, the cable could
have snapped or come off the release mechanism. You might be able to go
in from the front via the grille and release the catch with a long
screwdriver, but I'm not familiar with the Punto, so it's just a guess.

Whatever the reason, once you get it open give the locking mechanism a
squirt of oil.

My old Fiat Panda has the problem that the cable to the bonnet catch
snapped a long while ago. Most of the time I can open the bonnet by
pulling on the stub of cable protruding from the front but
occasionally it gets trapped inside and then I can release it with a
long screwdriver (after a lot of poking around).