engine lid cover

[ignatzcatz]

Problem with '86 SSE. Got the car back from the paintshop after a small job and the pull for the engine lid was only pulling fresh air. Anybody got any idea how to open the engine lid so I can effect necessary repairs

[Bill Douglas]

Umm, my SC's engine lid latch is a "fail open" mechanism. Meaning that if the wire breaks or falls out the latch is open. Have you tried a big shove, wiggle, lift, swearing?

[EC900]

If cable broken or came undone, try pressing the lid down and shift the lid to the right might free up the pawl that normally would retract to the left. You could also try to curl the lower end of the lid to get the pin to release if it was installed too low.
How are the gaps aligned will be telltale sign.

If cable isn’t broken then the pawl (catch) might obstructed and you’ll need to be creative in manipulating the lid.

[wazzz]

Registration looks British, so it may be RHD? In that case handle and cable would be on the right of vehicle and shifting the lid to free it up would have to be to the left instead of right as suggested above? Just a thought. Pic is not big enough to see on which side the catch is.

[JSV798]

Originally Posted by wazzz

Registration looks British, so it may be RHD? In that case handle and cable would be on the right of vehicle and shifting the lid to free it up would have to be to the left instead of right as suggested above? Just a thought. Pic is not big enough to see on which side the catch is.

The release handle is on the left on RHD cars. If it's pulling fresh air then I would expect the cable to come right out, otherwise it is still connected to the lock. It needs one person pulling on the handle and another working the lid.

Roy

[wazzz]

Ok thanks for the info.
Didn't know that the release handle is still on the left (passenger side) for RHD.

[proporsche]

the safety for the rear decklid works like this..remove the T handle and the cable should release the pressure on the latch.But..is your cable rusty? Any history of adjustment-which is very important.
Try it 1st (th handle)and report...

Ivan