Problem with the bonnet catch - 2003 Toledo 20VT Sport

[Scuzi]

I've been having problems with my bonnet catch.
When I pull the bonnet release in the footwell, the bonnet pops up slightly and a plastic lever shoots out from the grille. As I'm sure you know, to lift the bonnet you pull on this plastic lever which releases the catch and lets you open the bonnet. Recently when doing a random oil and fluid check, I pulled the bonnet release in the footwell but the plastic lever didn't shoot out from the grill. The only way I can open the bonnet now is to squeeze my hand into the gap and fiddle about until I can lift the catch which can take a bit of time, especially with my chubby fingers!
Here's some pics:

The red arrow is pointing to the plastic lever which shoots out when the bonnet release is pulled. This lever is subsequently pulled while lifting the bonnet to release the bonnet catch.

Here's a view from the top. I've played around with the mechanism but even when I try to manually push the lever out it just doesn't look like it goes. It should move out about two inches but I can't figure out what is blocking it.
The blue arrow is pointing to where the plastic lever connects to the catch mechanism and the red arrow indicates the direction in which the lever is supposed to shoot out.

The car is a 2003 Seat Toledo 20VT Sport. Any ideas on how I can get this fixed? The car is still under warranty but I don't fancy having to leave it in for a day when the problem is something simple I could fix myself.

Thanks!

 

[Saul]

the lever has probably dropped out of its runner

needs the grille to come off though which can be fiddly

 

[andycupra]

on my old one the spring had come off its holder so it didnt push the lever out.

 

[SHADY-NINJA]

Toledo 1.8 20vt

SCUZI
I want to ask what your fuel economy is like and performance.
The reason im asking is that im on the verge of buing one.

 

[SHADY-NINJA]

I've been having problems with my bonnet catch.
When I pull the bonnet release in the footwell, the bonnet pops up slightly and a plastic lever shoots out from the grille. As I'm sure you know, to lift the bonnet you pull on this plastic lever which releases the catch and lets you open the bonnet. Recently when doing a random oil and fluid check, I pulled the bonnet release in the footwell but the plastic lever didn't shoot out from the grill. The only way I can open the bonnet now is to squeeze my hand into the gap and fiddle about until I can lift the catch which can take a bit of time, especially with my chubby fingers!
Here's some pics:

The red arrow is pointing to the plastic lever which shoots out when the bonnet release is pulled. This lever is subsequently pulled while lifting the bonnet to release the bonnet catch.

Here's a view from the top. I've played around with the mechanism but even when I try to manually push the lever out it just doesn't look like it goes. It should move out about two inches but I can't figure out what is blocking it.
The blue arrow is pointing to where the plastic lever connects to the catch mechanism and the red arrow indicates the direction in which the lever is supposed to shoot out.

The car is a 2003 Seat Toledo 20VT Sport. Any ideas on how I can get this fixed? The car is still under warranty but I don't fancy having to leave it in for a day when the problem is something simple I could fix myself.

Thanks!

About your bonnet catch.
If you dont want to go to the dealers a new one will cost you £27 plus another £15 for another cable.
Plus labour.
Dont cut corners with DIY on this car for safety reasons( THE BONNET COULD SLAM BACK ON TO YOUR WIND SCREEN DO ALOT MORE DAMAGE TO YOUR CAR).
If i were you I WOULD book it in and get the work done under warrantee.

 

[GrayT]

Funny, I had the very same issue yesterday. I'll have to investigate some of the replies.

 

[Scuzi]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll have a look tomorrow to see if the spring has popped off or if it has popped out of position. Failing that I'll bring it to the dealer. It's under warranty until September so hopefully it will be covered under that!

SCUZI
I want to ask what your fuel economy is like and performance.
The reason im asking is that im on the verge of buing one.

Fuel economy isn't that bad actually. On a long motorway run sitting at 80 I can manage an average of ~38-39mpg but around town it's mostly in the mid 20's, usually anything from 22-28mpg. More recently I've been using the car only for short journeys to work with the air con on full blast and the trip computer is showing an average of 20.5mpg which is quite poor but on those journeys it has hardly had time to warm up.
I've got a pipercross cone filter on it which probably doesn't help the economy much so add 1-2mpg for a standard filter I'd say.

The car is standard apart from the Pipercross cone filter. The filter makes the throttle noticeably more responsive but I don't know about any power increase, I haven't noticed any. I'm going to a RR day with another forum I post on (OcUK) in July so I'll post my results from that when I get them. I'm chuffed with the performance of this car. I think the book 0-60 is about 7.5 seconds which isn't too shabby. It's a great Q car, often showing up people who try it on thinking it's a bog standard TDi
I bought it last year with 2000 miles on the clock for half of its list price. It has just over 17k on it now and I've had no problems apart from the bonnet catch. The 20VT sport's are great value considering a few hundred quid can have them pushing out over 210bhp.

Here's some pics of mine taken not long after I bought it.

 

[Scuzi]

I got the problem sorted! I had a hoke about with it today and found that the pivot bolt beside the spring on the lever was very stiff due to road dirt clogging it up. A few quirts of WD40 and a bit of a wiggle and it was sorted

 

[KTF]

Sorry for bumping such an old thread but I am having exactly the same problem on my 2003 TDI and cant for the life of me work out which part I need to pull/push/lift in order to release the safety catch and open the bonnet

Can anyone give me any pointers?

 

[andycupra]

look at post #5 , just above the red arrow and to the right of the blue arrow is the mechanism that needs to operate. There is a silver bit on the top right of this, try and find this, get a finger behind it and pull it towards you. Should open then.

Id also suggest lubricating the mechanism well, lots of people have issues this time of year, one because this is when people open the bonnet and 2 due to salt.

 

[KTF]

Thanks So I put my finger behind the flat piece of metal (to the left of what looks like a spring with a 'lump' on the top left corner) and pull that forward to release it?

I couldn't work out what the black lever was doing as it seemed to swing up from underneath and push into the mechanism.

I will go and give it a try once the hail has stopped!

 

[Slimy]

I gave mine a good squirt with WD40, then scrubbed in some thin oil with a toothbrush. The whole thing gets so crudded up that you actually need to clean it rather than just lube it. I basically did the same as I do with my bike chain, WD40 to clean it then oil to lube it!

 

[GrayT]

I echo what Slimy and Andycupra say. Classic time of year for this to happen. I clean mine periodically and as Slimy says just lubing isn't enough - get all the muck out first with the help of WD40.

 

[KTF]

Just an update. After liberal amounts of WD40 and opening and closing it several times I finally got the catch to work and the bonnet open.

Looking at the locking mechanism is was totally dry so no wonder it wasn't working properly! Its all been cleaned down and greased now so no more problems.

 

[ricothedrummer]

Yea, I had this problem on my Tolly and used abit of WD40 and then some good thick grease. I found that the bonnet clip was quite dry also. So I lubed it up and now works perfect !

 

[offitmassive]

Im bumping an old thread but the piece which should be where the red arrow is, whats it called as all i can find is the lever which sits in the drivers footwell...

 

[TRobbo12]

i have this exact problem.. except my bonnet is shut! how do i lift it?? cheers

 

[Ictoanuk]

Pull the lever in the footwell then try to tease the black plastic lever in the grill out so that you can pull it to open the bonnet. When open spend a bit of time cleaning and oiling the whole mechanism. It probably is very dry and rusty, causing it to stick. If this doesn't work then there must either be a broken bit or something has detached itself.

 

[TRobbo12]

The little leaved in the grill does pull out but is loose. So I'm thinking its not attached to what ever it is suppose to be inside the mechanism. Also when I pull the leaver in the footwell the bonnet doesn't pop up as easy as it should, I have to pull the corner or the bonnet to even pop it up.
Does anyone know where the grill leaver should be connected to??
Thanks

 

[Marv-95]

HELP PLEASE!!!! My bonnet is stuck the handle pops but the pully thing in the grill doesnt realease any thing.

I have taken the grill off and the 3x screws holding the mechanism down and now i can lift the bonnet but the catch is still clasped around the U of the bonnet and I can't release it.

Any ideas how to release the mechanism please.

Thanks
Mark