Bonnet and engine lid won't open.

[my996]

My remote unlocks the car just fine but I can't get the bonnet or the engine lid to open. They won't open from inside the car either when I try to use the levers at the drivers side door. The levers stay in the locked position. Any way to open them? BTW, my air bag light is on and I think that will likely have to be reset by the dealer. Is that right?

[Loren]

Probably a bad solenoid or broken wire. See the DIY to get in there here

The airbag light fault code should be read so you know what caused it. Anyone with Durametric Software, a PST2, or PIWIS tester can reset the airbag light (after the casue is fixed).

[mbrizard]

My remote unlocks the car just fine but I can't get the bonnet or the engine lid to open. They won't open from inside the car either when I try to use the levers at the drivers side door. The levers stay in the locked position. Any way to open them? BTW, my air bag light is on and I think that will likely have to be reset by the dealer. Is that right?

This lid can be opened manually by a cable that goes under the driver side rear brake lights. Check under this area.

[my996]

My remote unlocks the car just fine but I can't get the bonnet or the engine lid to open. They won't open from inside the car either when I try to use the levers at the drivers side door. The levers stay in the locked position. Any way to open them? BTW, my air bag light is on and I think that will likely have to be reset by the dealer. Is that right?

This lid can be opened manually by a cable that goes under the driver side rear brake lights. Check under this area.

Thanks for the responses.

Is this cable accessable from the outside and underneath the car? Do I need to take the rear bumper off? Or does the rear tail light have to come off? I'm not sure how I'll get the light off, if it needs to be taken off, without having access to the engine bay area first or am I missing something here?

[mbrizard]

I am not sure if you should remove the bumper but it should accessable from underneath the car look for steel cable end with a loop. The taillight cannot be removed. I have noticed this when I had to change my taillight and this cable should have been passed through a hole underneat the taillight.

[Kim]

My remote unlocks the car just fine but I can't get the bonnet or the engine lid to open. They won't open from inside the car either when I try to use the levers at the drivers side door. The levers stay in the locked position. Any way to open them? BTW, my air bag light is on and I think that will likely have to be reset by the dealer. Is that right?

This lid can be opened manually by a cable that goes under the driver side rear brake lights. Check under this area.

Thanks for the responses.

Is this cable accessable from the outside and underneath the car? Do I need to take the rear bumper off? Or does the rear tail light have to come off? I'm not sure how I'll get the light off, if it needs to be taken off, without having access to the engine bay area first or am I missing something here?

If your rear emergency cable is in the factory location, it can often be reached by gently prying up the tail light unit with something soft (spatula, paint stick, etc) and then inserting a thin probe a few inches to fish out the cable. After doing this once (and getting lucky), I rerouted the rear cable to under the car and used a tie rap to keep in in place there.

BTW: the front cable is even more difficult to reach in the forward end of the pax side front wheel well. I read (and followed) a tip years ago to reroute it forward in the fender (remove headlight unit for access), then down behind the front bumper. Tie a piece of fishing line to the loop at the end of the cable. Pull out the towing hole plug and attach the fishing line to the back of the plug. In the future, should the need arise, you can pop out the bumper plug, use the fishing line to pull out the cable, and pop your trunk open. Having done that, I now keep a valet key hidden inside my trunk .... and thereby have access to my car even if I left my keys in another city that morning. (ask me why I picked that example)