bonnet popping open over the bumps...!

[OLD_Gav P]

Hello 912 regulars..

Anyone seen this one before - the bonnet pops open when driving over speed bumps etc. Pretty anoying. I thought maybe was due to a worn latch mech, but replacing this hasnt helped.

I' m now thinking it may be to do with the way in which the usual spare wheel well rot has been " repaired" at some point in the past.... a replacement tortion bar mounting panel/boot floor panel has been added, but possibly not the best bit of welding I' ve seen. Maybe a general lack of rigidity in the front is causing some flex and the bonnet is popping as a result? Looks like I may have to spark up the Mig sooner than I;d hoped....

Any experience of similar stuff anyone??

Cheers for now,
Gav P

 

[Guest]

I had the same problem! but in the rear!!!!

The deck lid would pop open over humps. I found it to be the two round rubber adjusters. I had set them to high which forced it to pop out.

I' m sure this is the same for the front. Check them. you can easily adjust them by screwing them in and out.

David

 

[Evil J Guano]

Welcome !
Hmm thats a weird one...

Couple of things...
Is it popping out all together? i.e. you can then just pull it open?
or is it like you just released it from inside? and still retained by the clasp?

Maybe only needs adjusting

Once mine was too taught and it did a similar thing, kind of like a ' hair trigger' .

If its popping open completely that sounds pretty dangerous!

Just be careful you don' t slack off too much and you can' t open it at all!

 

[OLD_Gav P]

Mmm.. I' ll check out the rubber stops, but if that was the cause in your case then Im thinking that In mine it may be more to do with the new bonnet seal I fitted a couple of months back. That made it necessary to use a bit of force to get the lid to click home...

Gavin - which adjustment are you referring to - the cable clamp screw in the mech? Currently I have it set up so that, when the bonnet is open, the moving latch is taking up as much of the aperture as poss. Is that the best setup do you reckon?

Cheers,
Gav

 

[OLD_Gav P]

..oh and by the way, it only pops up to the safey latch... as when you pop it manually. Would be a pretty " exciting" driving experience if it went all the way up....

 

[Guest]

it is quite easy i fixed toms 66

on the front latch thats on the bonnet just unscrew it a bit then tighten up the locknut it will be a trial and error to get it spot on[]

 

[Evil J Guano]

Yes the cable clamp...
I can' t check mine at the moment as my car is ' away' . Maybe someone could give you an idea or photo. The quickest I can look is the weekend[]
If you put new seals in as well, maybe its a combination of factors.

 

[Evil J Guano]

is this a Forum or a chat room?[][][]

 

[Helen Goff]

whats the diffrence?[:-]

 

[Guest]

[]

 

[912UK]

Right guys you are going to laugh. I have covered 59 miles so far in my car and the bonnet has poopped up ohooo about 20 times.............

Now it' s stuck in completey and there is now way I can get it open just like when I bought the car. Trouble is alll the stuff I have for sale on Ebay is in the trunk and the other half is not coming back to Southampton until the weekend so she can help me You pull luv I will lift.

Sounds funny but this popping of the bonnet while going over not just speedbumps but just bumps for me is really P*&%^%g me off.

It I am sure has something to do with the adjustment. I have as my bonnet is not 100% straight shimmed one side to aline the latch up straight this worked fine but only popped when driving. So I have been playing with it just now and now it' s totaly stuck. Come in poured a glass of wine come to look at the site and could not believe what you guys are talking about so I am in the same boat as GavP PLEASE HELP.....

Drives great luv ing every mile.........

M

 

[Ian Gunney]

I didn' t realise how common a complaint this was - I too had this when my car was put back together. We simply played around with the adjustment until it was OK, but it took a number of attempts and a lot of swearing when driving around and seeing the bonnet moving up and down on the safety catch!

 

[bullett_uk]

Guess what me too!

Actually been meaning to post this for a while but you know how it is! It was fine for ages then after a journey started to pop every 5 minutes (to the safty latch) can' t really say when it does it, not obviously over bumps or at a certain speed and when it is fully closed I can' t lift it with my fingers even pulling quite hard.

However, went to the R19 meet at the weekend and it was fine so I am kind of stumped as to what caused it!

 

[912UK]

This sounds silly but when my tank was out of the car I got in the trunk and got the other half to shut the bonnet so i could work out how it all works. But she closed it and shopping!!!!

no , but I had a good look at it the trouble is you can' t really see alot as there is a big bit of metal covering the latch. My bonnet has been bashed at some time and it is out of shape it' s the onlt thing I would like to replace. So I have noticed that when the latch comes down itgoes in to the hole at a slight angle . So I shimmed it on one side to make it square again this worked. But it only pops up when you drive now. ALOT!!

Now it' s stuck in and I can' t get it open!!

I will have look into it more. I feel ok about the safety side of it as the safety latch is a big afair and really holds the bonnet but still it is one to look out for.

[&:][&:][&:][&:][&:][&:][&:]

M

 

[912UK]

Just had a thought after reading Chickybok post.

All you guys who have bonnets poping . i ask this question.

DO you have the two rubber bump stops inserted into the bonnet. these are located at the front of the bonnet underneath on the left and on the right. They are adjustable.

let me know. I know I have not got any in mine.

My line of thought is if you don' t have them in place then this will alow the bonnet to move when going over a bump. When they are in place the catch will lock the bonnet but the correctly adjusted rubber bump stops will hold it firm in place and will not alow the bonnet to more so much.

After that the latch could need a clean up. Eg the front edge with a file to remove 30 years of wear.

Let me know ,so we can see if we all have had this poping and most of us don' t have the rubber bump stops then this looks to be the prob.


Mark

 

[Evil J Guano]

Just goes to show all those problems we were too ashamed to ask about turns out everyone has them!... Now about my piles...
[]

 

[Ian Gunney]

Yes,

mine has the two rubber stops - it is certainly worth getting it fixed - if mine hadn' t been fixed I' d have been getting out every 2 minutes when I was in Ireland last year as the roads were awful.

That reminds me of another benefit of 912 motoring - my car was one of the few on the trip that wasn' t in too much danger of grounding out, unlike some of its younger brothers....

 

[Evil J Guano]

Yes I have the two stops too...
When Sportwagen re-sprayed my bonnet after the film company trashed it, they adjusted it perfectly, new stops and all.
Maybe I should get Bruce to do a Masterclass at AJP in September.

 

[OLD_Gav P]

If I remember correctly, my stops are not even touching the latch panel, what with the seal lip/seal pushing the bonnet out slightly.... probably has the same effect as having your stops out too far, as it were. So I' ll check out that lip later.

But hey, at least I have my stops!!

 

[Guest]

Arrrrgh

These are the stops I was talking about in the first reply post.

So we have gone around in circles and included Gavin' s Piles.....NICE

LOL

David