Just wanted to see if anybody else has encountered this problem and have any thoughts about preventing it happening again.
Anyway after a drive on Saturday I tried to open the engine cover and although sometimes it has taken a couple of goes at the lever to work it just didn’t want to know. Started investigating and tried taking the lever apart to pul the cable further and eventually it worked. Bearing in mind the time I’d taken to go through manuals and search forums etc the car had cooled down a lot. Once open I looked at the cable fitting at the engine end and tightened the cable which has a solderless nipple (oo err)but it struck me that if that gave way how could you get into the engine bay?
After a drive on Sunday (hot again) the problem came back but fortunately managed to open it for a while.
So a few thoughts… the heat makes the actual catch harder to operate? Doesn’t do much for the cable itself?
The end of the cable in the engine bay doesn’t have ferrule so I think it allows the outer cable to compress a bit over time taking up the operating range of the cable?
The catch itself needs lubricating so that it presents less of work for the cable? Will do this tonight and see what happens.
So two basic questions;
- Methods of improving the existing system?
- What would you do if the cable became detached or broke to get into the engine bay?
Cheers
Rob