That’s exactly the problem I’m having! I’m 50 year old women that can still fix my own stuff - thanks to videos like yours - easy, demonstrative & it works - amazing thanks!
Thanks so much for this! I could find loads of videos about what to do when you couldn’t pop the bonnet, but yours was the only one about the secondary latch! Had it open in seconds after days of frustration.
You're welcome, I had the same experience when my bonnet was stuck. I was searching for a video to fix it but they were all about the primary catch. When I eventually figured out the solution I thought I should post a video so there would be one for other people to find. I'm really glad it has been helpful to you and others, thanks for the message
OMG! IT WORKED! I can't thank you enough for posting this! My MK6 2009 VW Rabbit hood was stuck in a partial open position just like yours. Making it worse, my battery was dead and I couldn't get to the battery with the hood stuck part way. I used the shaft of a screwdriver to push that safety latch hard to the left as you illustrated and it worked! My husband was amazed when I told him I got it open. I was worried I wouldn't be strong enough to move the latch. It took some "elbow grease" but I was able to manage. One note, that I used my flashlight under the shaft of the screwdriver as a little bit of leverage. Thanks again! The battery clamps are charging away now, and tomorrow I will follow your advice and work on cleaning up and loosening the mechanism. Thanks, again!
Hi Kathleen, I'm so pleased this was helpful for you, thanks for letting me know :) I forgot to say on the video, when you lubricate the mechanism, I strongly recommend that you lubricate the primary locking mechanism too. Although this wasn't the mechanism that failed for us, it may help to ensure that it doesn't become a problem in future. If the primary lock becomes stuck it would be much harder to fix. I added a load of grease to it and then pulled the lever inside the car a few times to move the mechanism and work it in. I hope that makes sense Tom
Perfect if your hood/bonnet opens when you "pop the hood" from inside the car, but when you get out of the car and feel with your fingers for that lever that is supposed to let you lift open the hood/bonnet all the way, that lever does nothing. So your hood stays stuck just at about an inch open. You can push it closed again, you can "pop" it again from inside the car. In front of the car you can get your fingers under the hood like you normally do to lift the hood. You can feel the "safety catch release" lever you always use to lift the hood, but now pressing that lever does not let you lift the hood. This video was a lifesaver for me!!
Mateeeee you are a life saver!! 95 miles from home on 24% phone battery with the engine oil light on. My Car is now happy and topped up! Though I think I used too much brute force and bent the lever 🤣
Yeah I think I used too much force in the video too, when I watch it back i can see that the lever arm moved across pretty quickly and I just didn't realise. When I put the phone down to push harder with the screwdriver it had already moved across so I didn't need any of the extra force! Thanks for the comment, glad it helped you out
Thank you!! I had the mechanism replaced about 2 years ago cos of this problem. But I think this was the issue all along as my bonnet is stuck again!! This has helped a tonne!!
Tom "saved" me, too!. I was so relieved I was able to do this myself all through the one inch opening in my partway open hood. I didn't need to remove any parts of my bumper (oh no!), drill holes in my VW emblem (egads!), or get under my car (ughh!) - I was so horrified at all those options that I saw in other videos LoL!.
@@kathyk413 Ha! You sound like me. I watched a few other videos before I watched this one and I was bummed. There was no way in the world I was drilling holes or getting under the hood. I did have to purchase WD-40, but that’s a nice thing to have around the house and my 18 year old son helped me with the screwdriver part. I was so tickled to be able to do this myself.
It worked for me. It was a godsend too because I couldn't check or change my oil, and finally, I couldn't get in to charge a dead battery. The situation was horrible. This video helped me understand that lever you press up under the hood to lift your hood is part of a mechanism that pushes aside a piece of hook shaped steel that prevents you from opening your hood. Pressing up on the lever shoud normally move the steel hook away from where it is "caught" (for safety reasons - so your hood doesn't accidentally fly open on the road) and letyou lift the hood. Now I know the reason this mechanism stops working is because the whole thing gets so gunked up with grime and dirt, that it does not move freely anymore. I had to force it to break free of the gunk and get it to move. You just exert leftward force on the hook with a sturdy piece of metal like the shaft of a strong screwdriver, pushing with steady force sideways until it budges and moves to the LEFT. Cleaned and dosed with WD-40 to get it moving freely again.
So mines the opposite. The latch part holds, but the actual latch mechanism not doing its job. When i put the bonnet down it goes down, but just springs back up while the latch bit is holding (left with a gap between the grill+bonnet) Ive tried moving the actual mechanism, up/down/to the left+right to see if the catch from the bonnet goes in properly. Still no luck, reckon it needs a new mechanism altogether?
Hi, I've not had this problem but if it is stuck in the open position then presumably the cable is intact and the internal locking mechanism is just stiff. I would recommend spraying lots of lubricant eg WD40 into the main mechanism, then try to get it moving by pressing something down into the mechanism or repeatedly closing the bonnet. If it's just stiff then it may loosen up and release. I'd try to do it without removing the mechanism first as it would be far easier. If you need to remove the main locking mechanism you'll need torx screwdrivers. There'll be videos on RUclips to try and explain this I'm sure. Good luck
@@Tom_1138 Thanks. Yea ive seen the videos, ive actually had the mechanism out to spray it. However now for some reason i have the exact opposite problem, not shutting lol! The actually latch bit in the middle moves when pushed manually, aswell as coming back up when i pull the bonnet release handle...im stumped! 🤨
Hi, does anybody know where I can find the exact same hood strut like on this vehicle? I got a Golf MK6 TSI 122 PH Highline and have the same hood strut which differs from other Golf 6 models.
That’s exactly the problem I’m having! I’m 50 year old women that can still fix my own stuff - thanks to videos like yours - easy, demonstrative & it works - amazing thanks!
Nice one Sharon, I'm really glad it helped you 🙂
The lesson hear is maintain your car before you get corrosion problems,thank you for this very useful info most appreciated
Thanks so much for this! I could find loads of videos about what to do when you couldn’t pop the bonnet, but yours was the only one about the secondary latch! Had it open in seconds after days of frustration.
You're welcome, I had the same experience when my bonnet was stuck. I was searching for a video to fix it but they were all about the primary catch. When I eventually figured out the solution I thought I should post a video so there would be one for other people to find. I'm really glad it has been helpful to you and others, thanks for the message
OMG! IT WORKED! I can't thank you enough for posting this! My MK6 2009 VW Rabbit hood was stuck in a partial open position just like yours. Making it worse, my battery was dead and I couldn't get to the battery with the hood stuck part way. I used the shaft of a screwdriver to push that safety latch hard to the left as you illustrated and it worked! My husband was amazed when I told him I got it open. I was worried I wouldn't be strong enough to move the latch. It took some "elbow grease" but I was able to manage. One note, that I used my flashlight under the shaft of the screwdriver as a little bit of leverage. Thanks again! The battery clamps are charging away now, and tomorrow I will follow your advice and work on cleaning up and loosening the mechanism.
Thanks, again!
Hi Kathleen, I'm so pleased this was helpful for you, thanks for letting me know :)
I forgot to say on the video, when you lubricate the mechanism, I strongly recommend that you lubricate the primary locking mechanism too. Although this wasn't the mechanism that failed for us, it may help to ensure that it doesn't become a problem in future. If the primary lock becomes stuck it would be much harder to fix. I added a load of grease to it and then pulled the lever inside the car a few times to move the mechanism and work it in. I hope that makes sense
Tom
Perfect if your hood/bonnet opens when you "pop the hood" from inside the car, but when you get out of the car and feel with your fingers for that lever that is supposed to let you lift open the hood/bonnet all the way, that lever does nothing. So your hood stays stuck just at about an inch open. You can push it closed again, you can "pop" it again from inside the car. In front of the car you can get your fingers under the hood like you normally do to lift the hood. You can feel the "safety catch release" lever you always use to lift the hood, but now pressing that lever does not let you lift the hood. This video was a lifesaver for me!!
Mateeeee you are a life saver!!
95 miles from home on 24% phone battery with the engine oil light on.
My Car is now happy and topped up!
Though I think I used too much brute force and bent the lever 🤣
Yeah I think I used too much force in the video too, when I watch it back i can see that the lever arm moved across pretty quickly and I just didn't realise. When I put the phone down to push harder with the screwdriver it had already moved across so I didn't need any of the extra force!
Thanks for the comment, glad it helped you out
Dzisiaj skorzystałam z twojego filmu. Zadziałało i nie musiałam jechać do warsztatu😊
Thanks mate, saved me a trip to the garage!
Thanks, 2012 VW GTI, primary latch release okay, secondary not so. Used screwdriver and push latch to side and it released it. Appreciate the info.
Thank you so much for this clip. I'm feeling very empowered with fixing this problem myself. Clear and easy instructions. 🙏
Great video mate, same issue with my Golf Plus, thanks to you, I know now what to do! Appreciate your time and the sharing! 😎👍🙏
Perfect. Managed to open the bonnet within seconds. WD40 followed by some light oil and its like new. Thank you.
Thanks a lot! Simple solution and saved me time and money of having to bring it somewhere
Thanks for posting this! I'm a car idiot and this intermittent issue had been causing me stress, wish I'd seen your video years ago!
Exactly my problem. Going back out to sort it now. Thank you so much.
Thank you!! I had the mechanism replaced about 2 years ago cos of this problem. But I think this was the issue all along as my bonnet is stuck again!! This has helped a tonne!!
Your video solved my problem instantly. Thanks for posting it. Great work!
Really glad it helped, thanks for posting 🙂👍
Thanks Tom your tip worked a treat on my Golf 👍
You're welcome, glad it helped you 🙂
Thankyou from a MK5 GTI owner !
I appreciate this a lot, had to change the lights on my sisters lights and the bonnet won't open.. Only if I watched your video a lot earlier
You're welcome, really glad it helped!
Good job - best pragmatic Video on the issue - thank you.
This worked a treat, thank you! 🙌
Thank you. Exactly what I needed. Bonnet open now.
Thank you so much, instructions very easy to understand and it worked a treat
Legend!! Going to try this tomorrow.
Nice one, hope it works for you
Thanks for posting this. I can now open my bonnet. 😀
Nice one 🙂
Thank you so much, just used this and it worked perfectly!
You're welcome. Really glad it helped
This is what RUclips is for imo 👍
Thanks for tip! Worked a treat!
It worked! It worked!
Tom "saved" me, too!. I was so relieved I was able to do this myself all through the one inch opening in my partway open hood. I didn't need to remove any parts of my bumper (oh no!), drill holes in my VW emblem (egads!), or get under my car (ughh!) - I was so horrified at all those options that I saw in other videos LoL!.
@@kathyk413 Ha! You sound like me. I watched a few other videos before I watched this one and I was bummed. There was no way in the world I was drilling holes or getting under the hood. I did have to purchase WD-40, but that’s a nice thing to have around the house and my 18 year old son helped me with the screwdriver part. I was so tickled to be able to do this myself.
Thank You , great tutotial:)
Thanks bro
Thanks. Looks like the problem I have. Trying this...thanks.
Did you manage to fix it? This is literally the same problem I'm having right now
Yes, I just added a load of grease to the mechanism and now it moves nice and freely
It worked for me. It was a godsend too because I couldn't check or change my oil, and finally, I couldn't get in to charge a dead battery. The situation was horrible.
This video helped me understand that lever you press up under the hood to lift your hood is part of a mechanism that pushes aside a piece of hook shaped steel that prevents you from opening your hood. Pressing up on the lever shoud normally move the steel hook away from where it is "caught" (for safety reasons - so your hood doesn't accidentally fly open on the road) and letyou lift the hood. Now I know the reason this mechanism stops working is because the whole thing gets so gunked up with grime and dirt, that it does not move freely anymore. I had to force it to break free of the gunk and get it to move. You just exert leftward force on the hook with a sturdy piece of metal like the shaft of a strong screwdriver, pushing with steady force sideways until it budges and moves to the LEFT. Cleaned and dosed with WD-40 to get it moving freely again.
So mines the opposite. The latch part holds, but the actual latch mechanism not doing its job. When i put the bonnet down it goes down, but just springs back up while the latch bit is holding (left with a gap between the grill+bonnet) Ive tried moving the actual mechanism, up/down/to the left+right to see if the catch from the bonnet goes in properly. Still no luck, reckon it needs a new mechanism altogether?
Hi, I've not had this problem but if it is stuck in the open position then presumably the cable is intact and the internal locking mechanism is just stiff.
I would recommend spraying lots of lubricant eg WD40 into the main mechanism, then try to get it moving by pressing something down into the mechanism or repeatedly closing the bonnet.
If it's just stiff then it may loosen up and release. I'd try to do it without removing the mechanism first as it would be far easier. If you need to remove the main locking mechanism you'll need torx screwdrivers. There'll be videos on RUclips to try and explain this I'm sure.
Good luck
@@Tom_1138 Thanks. Yea ive seen the videos, ive actually had the mechanism out to spray it. However now for some reason i have the exact opposite problem, not shutting lol! The actually latch bit in the middle moves when pushed manually, aswell as coming back up when i pull the bonnet release handle...im stumped! 🤨
Great video. thanks :-)
Mate thank you needed that advice (y)
Hi, does anybody know where I can find the exact same hood strut like on this vehicle?
I got a Golf MK6 TSI 122 PH Highline and have the same hood strut which differs from other Golf 6 models.
Great video 😂
worst design, im on my 3rd bonnet release and its stuck again....about to go just install some bonnet pins
helpful.
You beauty
mmmm at the end of your video it's still stuck...
but thanks..
Thanks it works