check your bonnet catch

M

mad4slalom

Senior member
my daughter had a scary experience on a renault twingo last week. bonnet flew up at 65mph in the outside lane of the a30 .the bonnet is trashed, it punctured a wing , needs new hinges and a new latch, looks like there was a problem as the safety latch was sticking across and not returning , it was newly greased as if someone had been trying to free it up.only had it a week, two owners and 27k , such a shame as the repair billmis going to be over 900 quid , really shook up my daughter . am going to try renault uk to see if theres any chance of some goodwill , as with so few miles I feel that catch shouldnt have let go. the clios a few years ago had problems with the bonnets flying up. it was a private sale but the lady was totally genuine and i am sure she knew nothing about it, so dont want to make her feel bad., any way, looked at the saftey latch on the M ,and found that too had a weak spring and only semi returned, wd 40 improved things but ordered a new one any way , only 18 quid so a wise precaution i think, just a heads up to go and check yours as a bonnet coming up on a z4 woill be a lot more than 900 quid. ps , i am referring to the safety latch fitted to the underside of the bonnet and not the latch on the slam panel. :thumbsup:
 
Happened to me in my first car. 70mph on the dual carriageway. Not nice.

My last zed had a sticky catch, which I lubed up, but it was still sticky.

Current zed has a smooth catch, but will need to look after it.

I reckon it should be a serviceable item
 
Same thing happened to me in the s type r on my first run out in it. Bit scary when at full throttle in a 400 bhp car with the supercharger whining! Put a big dent in the roof but didn't even crack the windscreen.
IMAG1472_zps04ddc56e.jpg

It was the bonnet catch that had siezed and wasn't springing back into place :/ already checked on the z4, won't make that mistake again.
 
Wow, glad she's ok :thumbsup:

On the Z, this is the catch at the front/centre of the bonnet, right ? There are also two catches either side - would they fail if the centre one failed ?
 
shes fine thanks bing, the side catches are the locking ones and the centre one is the safety one i think, looks like the sring is weak so opted for a new catch.
 
Bing said:
Wow, glad she's ok :thumbsup:

On the Z, this is the catch at the front/centre of the bonnet, right ? There are also two catches either side - would they fail if the centre one failed ?
Click to expand...
The centre one is the safety catch so if the bonnet isn't closed properly the safety catch should be the back up. Unfortunately in my case the car was a project and I took the car for a spin after me and my dad were both working on it. I should have checked but the bonnet wasn't closed properly and it turned out the safety catch was seized. Unfortunate series of events :/
 
Don't use white grease etc on them . The dirt cakes and it stops moving . Only a little light oil like a kent kd400 ...Nice Jag ,mine was black too str super chargers sound sweet on the wind up ..... French cars where fitted with plastic bonnet catches around the 2000-2004 . This was changed back to metal when they started to break .
 
Must be a Renault thing.
I believe they were recalling Clio's before Xmas to check bonnet catches
 
It can also happen when you have a specialist race team looking after your car……

[youtube]GZo80oywXSY[/youtube]
 
Was very common on the mk2 clio.

I had a Clio Trophy from new and the problem was being highlighted on Watchdog for weeks. Rather than admitting there was a problem, Renault's response was to send all owners a new page to be put in the owner's handbook advising that the bonnet catch be checked and greased periodically.

They eventually did a recall which involved checking catches, and replacing where necessary, and it became an item to be checked at services.

The twingo is based on the MK2 Clio so it could be that it has the same bonnet catch and would fall under the same 'service' proceedure. If that's the case, and it has full Renault SH, I'd be pushing for them to foot the bill.

Hoz
 
the guy from reault who deals with bonnet catch issues is arranging to inspect it at the repair garage so fingers crossed.
 
The BMW E30's hinge from the back so can't fly open - WTF they ever changed that I'll never understand :?

A bit like "suicide" doors which hinged from the front, you don't see them any more do you?

[oh yes, except on the latest Rolls Royce! :o ]
 
Many years ago, an old boy told me to always close the bonnet over the safety catch then lift to check that they're latched- then with the flat of both hands, push the bonnet closed.
I've been doing it that way ever since - belt and braces maybe but who cares?
 
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