Annoying bonnet not shutting!

[Beige Belgian]

I am having real problems getting my bonnet to shut. It won't shut and have tried attacking it from lots of different angles. The catch is still there and the catch opens still by pushing the knob inside. Should the thick wire attached to the knob, which twists round next to the catch point upwards? Is this getting in the way when shutting? Is it too stiff?

Have spent probably an hour over the last few evenings trying to shut it, using 2 men at times! Its so annoying. How can it not shut! Has anyone else had difficulty shutting the R4 GTL bonnet before? If so how was it solved?

Does anybody have a picture of what it should look like?

cheers

 

[malcolm]

Attached a photo of a bonnet catch in fine fettle. The spring can fall off the clip sometimes. I've fixed them by bending the end of the spring sideways at it's base (towards the left of the car looking forward) or by bending the retaining flap in a little if the spring slips off it. The spring is pressed down by the bonnet on closing and acts as a spring release to help pop the bonnet back open.

Faining thet there is adjustment in the catch - loosen the 3 nuts to move it up a little - might help.

 

[claude van rouge]

We had the same problem with our R4 and when the clip was re-engaged it was still difficult to shut - a liberal smearing of vaseline over the catch soon had it fettled.

Chris

 

[Martin Hall]

I spent most of a day trying to get one to work I even tried a whole new assembly of a different car that worked fine on the donor car
It is all down to how far the bar goes down into the latch
There is adjustment on the screw fixings but not much.
In the end I gave up and hoped the Controle Techneque guy wouldnt notice when taking the car for CT (MOT)
He did notice and when I asked if it was a problem He said "NON" as the bonnet opens away from the cabin of the car He said unless I intended to drive backwards at 100km an hour The bonnet could never come up so no problem just an advise note
So I have not bothered I did buy some of those little strap things Like used on rally cars but have never bothered to fit them

I guess things may be different in the UK

The real problem is if your bonnet is stuck down and will not release I had a F6 van that I had to prise the bonnet up with a crowbar with of course the resulting damage to bonnet and bulkhead

 

[Beige Belgian]

Thanks for picture and response. Studied picture and looked at my catch, everything seemed okay! Tried vaseline and still wouldn't go down. I took the bracket off for closer scrutiny but still all seemed fine. Just about to give up when gave it one last go, and wiggled it side to side and it went in!