Left bonnet catch not locking in

G

ga41

Veteran
 Paphos
For some reason the left bonnet catch on my M is not locking in place when i close the bonnet. At first i thought grime must've gotten in the mechanism and seized it so i sprayed it with grime/oil cleaner, washed it off with water and then sprayed lots of chain lube. Did this to both sides just in case. This did not fix it.

I noticed that the right one could be locked in place by pushing it down with a flat head screwdriver whereas the left side would not lock at all. Does this mean that something is wrong with the mechanism's internals? Is there anything else i could try?
 
Yes, it should lock. It's a very simple mechanism, not much internal. Do you mean the locking hook/cam doesn't move, or that it moves but doesn't lock? You might try unscrewing the mechanism and examining it from the bottom for any clue to why it won't lock.
 
It moves but does not lock like the other one. I tried moving the cable a bit with a set of pliers to see if it was stuck but that did not make any difference.
 
I had the same problem; the "hook" on the bonnet hood itself is a screw in eye, with a plastic rivet to prevent it coming unscrewed. Unsurprisingly, the plastic rivet broke for me, and so the eye wasn't sufficiently screwed in. It's a simple fix - if the rivet is missing fiddle with the eye's screwed-in-ness until it works (look at the one on the other side as a guage and then put in a new plastic rivet to hold (free from the dealer as they couldn't be bothered to charge me the few pence for it :D )
 
@z4chris: good tip, that is something to look out for, but would not cause the lock to fail to operate via screwdriver.

@ga41: Stuck cable was my next guess, but you got that one already. Now sounds like the locking pawl (rounded lever below the locking hook/cam) is either seized or the spring is broken or detached. You still should unscrew it to see what's what from below, as if there's nothing to be fixed from below, you'll need to replace the part anyway. That's all there is: lock cam, pawl, springs and cable in a sheet metal housing.
 
I was planning to remove it today and check but it was raining. I'll go out in a bit though to do it and see. Hopefully the problem is something simple.
 
Checked it today. Removed it to take a closer look. By the way it's a bit annoying removing it as i didn't have anything short enough to unscrew the two bolts holding it and so i had to unsecure the water reservoir to get it out the way...

Anyway the mechanism isn't working for sure. There's a catch in the bottom (where the cable is attached) that's supposed to lock when the bonnet is closed but that never locks in place. Sprayed the whole thing again with grime cleaner and then with lube but still no go. Guess the whole thing will have to be replaced... The cable moves alright with the pulling of the lever inside the cabin but the mechanism isn't "loading" in the first place.

Hope it's not hard to source out here.... :x
 
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