[John H]

I just purchased this beautiful car. 2004 Arnage Turbo with only 11,000 miles on it. I already had the bonnet open a few times. Now it will only release on the driver's side. The passenger side stays down. There appears to be one latch on each side of the car behind the middle of the headlamps. Are there two cables or an inner/outer cable running to the interior latch? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Wraithman]

Go to the Bentley Heritage site for technical and parts locations. It's a valuable site to bookmark.

 

[John H]

Thank you. It is showing a centre cable and a cable from the release handle to the first latch. Bummer. Looks like the centre cable between the two latches snapped. Any ideas on how to get the bonnet open?

 

[Wraithman]

I wish I could help you further, but my specialty is SY series 1966-80, however, you may have access from below with a lift and using flashlite, mirror, etc to see what's going on.
You have nothing to lose.

 

[Grease Donkey]

If seldomly used and rarely greased the locking mechanism can get stuck. This symtom is more common than a snapped cable. I was able to release my hood by applying pressure from the top and wiggling the mechanism.

Good luck!

 

[umtaliman]

This is a bad problem with the Arnage, there is no easy way to access the cables or the locks with the hood closed. As Grease Donkey suggests, have someone inside the car pull on the release lever while you try moving the hood L/R and diagonally. The lock tongues are very sensitive and even with both cables good and tongues well lubricated the pins will not release if they are slightly misaligned. Once you get it open, if the cables and locks are working normally, adjust the pins so that they enter the locks exactly at the center point. You are lucky the driver's side id free, this is where the emergency latch is located. Worst case, pull on the hood, release the latch and get your hand on the center cable lying on top of the fan shroud. If the cable has snapped at the driver's end, pull off the sheath and then pull on the cable to release. If it snapped at the passenger side you have a big problem.

 

[John H]

I finally gave up on it and took the car to an expert. After arriving at Classic Motor Inc. in Van Nuys CA, Fadi (who I now call the Bentley Whisperer...) had the hood open in minutes. He went under the dash on the left side, pulled the release. The hood only popped on the left again. He then leaned under and did something else and the right side popped! He said it was some override trick he has learned. I was so pleased with that, that I had him do all of the service work needed on the car. That included: adjusting the hood cables and lubricating the latches, rear air spheres, replace hydraulic fluid, and full oil/filter service. I get the car back tomorrow. It's so awesome, because I was about to sell the car as-is.

 

[Wraithman]

I believe there was a factory bulletin regarding stronger replacement springs to cure this problem. There was a recent discussion on the RROC Forum.

 

[David Watts]

John,
Fadi is the best! I bought a car from him a year ago. We agreed on a repair before delivery that ended up being a MAJOR repair. He took care of everything without a question. You have to love a seller who calls you two days after the car has left his place, long after he has the money, just to be sure the trucker is staying in touch with you and coordinating delivery.