2005 ford focus bonnet lock.

Afternoon.
Hope someone can help, the bonnet release on my ford focus isnt working . turn key left & I get no click then turn key right & bonnet doesnt release.
Is there any way that I can get into the engine or is it a trip to the ford dealer (at a huge cost I should think), I cant find anything in the handbook.
If there isnt anyway in what a p***poor design .

 

http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=566501#566501

 

i think its the same cr*p as fitted to my connect (bucket of horrors) put key in turn to 1st lock position applying a little pressure then wack the bonnet with your other hand. once open spray a can of WD40 into the stupid thing repeat this every month and you should be ok

 

Stuck lock, bonnet won’t open ,,,
You do not need to drill holes in the grill or pay ford £200+
DIY..How?
Look into the grill at the top you will find the bottom of 6 plastic revscrews, 4 you get two via the grill slots use a chisel and cut them off, Then one either end of the grill. Place the chisel between two plastic layers, gently lift , check and cut, one each end.
With a wiggle that’s the top loose, There are two clips holding the bottom in place Put your fingers through the bottom slot in the grill, push down clip and greatly pull the grill, do both sides, It won’t come right out but your aim to loosen it., The lock is held in place in a sleeve with a plastic clips each side, you have push the barrel with a suitable item, this is to push it out of the sleeve and out of its housing, It may need a tap!!
Gently wiggle and pull the grill off

Lock
The lock is a ‘lock barrel along a shaft to a white plastic coupling’ this fits in to the ‘bonnet lock’
The security is at the coupling to bonnet lock in the form of a cross shaped plastic key
The key is fitted and held in place in the coupling, and when installed it’s fitted in to the lock, and once it’s in the lock part it will not come out, so therefore any jolt, pull, movement dislodges the plastic key from the coupling side and due to its design it will not slot back in so the lock barrel just rotates
To open you have to apply pressure on the shaft towards the left and into the coupling and turn the key in the lock barrel at the same time in a aim to get the coupling to catch the plastic key (take a few minutes) but it opens in the end if this is the fault, (alternatively remove the two bolts that hold the bonnet catch to the bonnet)
Once bonnet open remove the bonnet lock mechanism, then with draw the lock barrel, shaft, coupling, By looking in side you will understand regarding the cross key
Anyway you need to remove one of the catches from the side of the plastic key This way it will fit back in to coupling.
Reassemble
This is a brief description But the cost to me was 45 minutes, £2 for a pack of plastic rivets / screws, and I cached my bumper with the chisel £5 for a touch up stick Total £7. Well worth the time and effort

 

I know this is an old post but I want to add some relevant info that will help others with this problem.

Firstly I found this post and I followed the instructions and I managed to open my bonnet.

To get the male and female sections of the star back together I removed the lock and the barrel and placed the cable into a vice. I lined up the stars and with a big push they clicked back together.

Be careful fitting it all back together as it doesn't take a great tug to pull it back out. But once the grill is screwed back on it will be secure.

 

Again this an old topic but after my experiences I think another update is required. I could not open my Focus bonnet. Tried the methods previously posted. After much work I found the problem was that the metal cross piece behind the keylock had come loose on the cable. To open the bonnet I followed the instructions posted by "philgc" and then I was able to get my hands over the top of the chassis section and after great deal of effort remove the two bolts one on either of the lock mechanism. With these reomoved the lock can be force appart from the cable release. This has to be done all by feel as there is no way that you can see the work area. The picture posted by "thatsitivehadenough" shows the front view, but the bolts that need to be removed are at 2o'clock and 9o'clock to the white cable support centre picture. the bolts are 10mm spanner size. You need to be good with your hands to reach them . Having now opened the bonnet the cable release can be withdrawn. I purchase a replacement parts from Ford for around £30. It comes in the form of a kit complete with all the part to rebuild the keylock barrel, but do not try unless you are a locksmith. Instead use the old keylock assembly. This can be removed by knocking out the long pin and drilling the two shorter retaining pins. The kit has new pins. Best of luck .

 

Firstly thanks to: verytediousjob,philgc and thatitivehadenough, together you have saved me some considerable cash!

I shall apologise in advance for the lack of technical insight that follows, I drive a desk for a living and there fore have no idea how to fix cars.

I have Ford Focus on a 56 plate, and had exactly this problem. Anyway if you have a long enough screwdriver you can apply the pressure against the coupling as direct by philgc from the outside of the vehicle. I did not have a ling enough screwdriver, however my wife had hung some net curtains over the bay window, the pole used to do this was exactly the right diameter to fit through the grill and, unbelievably strong enough to apply the pressure required. It took a few goes but I cracked it on the left turn of the key, here's is a tip, don't stop applying the pressure, turn the key to the right to free the bonnet. I was so blown away by my success that I stopped applying pressure and then had to try several more times before I could get the right turn to work.

Once the bonnet was free, I had to remove 4 tiny screws that hold in place a "piece of plastic" immediately above the grill, once I had removed that I had access to the coupling that can be seen in the picture above. I took my short screwdriver and pushed against the inner section, the piece of white plastic that immediately wraps the black barrel, and shoved it quite hard into the housing......CLICK! I guess I got lucky, because the lock started to work immediately after this.

Thanks again
Bonnetbodger

 

I've had that problem on my Connect van..but more seriously...

I can't open the doors on my gen6 Celica! Unlocked, but glued shut via the rubber seals on the windows, as the doors are frameless!

Tug away and break the glass?

 

Thanks for the easy to follow instructions.

I now have the bonnet open and can finally replace the fault bulb. However it looks the plastic white barrel is broken, so a visit to the Ford dealer to buy new parts.

Does any one know that I can just buy the white barrel or does it all come in kit form?

 

On a security note; isn't it the case that any Ford key operates the external pins in the lock, but doesn't open it, but it won't turn in the ignition at all..

So with the bonnet catch, any Ford key of the cylinder type 'could' be used, along with the method presented above, to open any Ford bonnet of that era, and thus enable an ECU swap, and thus be stolen?

Anyone with a Ford, try your key, in a friends car door/bonnet.

 

hi - great topic.

i am having problems attempting to get into / fix my ford focus MK1 2003 bonnet and after reading philg's method to get into the bonnet a few times over i went out to the drive to give it a go, and that's when i realised it wasn't applicable to my MK1 focus, only MK2 focus's from 2005 onwards it seems!

anyhow, i am trying to fix my 2003 focus now, and have created a topic to share my experience, hopefully it can be useful to anyone with a MK1 focus experiencing the same issues.
http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=254652

thanks

 

I have just had this problem on my 53reg Mondeo. Followed instructions, had to drill bolts out. Thankfully all that had to mine was a securing bolt missing so inside lock had dropped to one side. Fixed and put back together, locking barrel held in place with normal bolts, grill back in place and secured with cable ties.
Thank you to all of the above for you advice and info.

 

hi all, i've had the same problem with my ford focus and went to ford dealer who gave me the wrong part, when challenging them we find out that my car has been built to left hand drive specification and therefore a different bonnet locking mechanism has been used. Worth challenging this with the dealer before reverting to screwdrivers and drilling etc. hope this helps

 

#1 Similar problem with my 55plate focus - started with the need to replace the car horn but must have dislodged the white cross/key when delving down the front of the radiator between the grille and bonnet latch crossmember...

#2 With the bonnet closed ie locked! tried access from below via the gap between spoiler and radiator with the underpanel removed (ten star-drive screws later) could see and reach the white plastic collar but didnt have the touch to click the cross/key together...

#3 Having previously removed the four scrivets and the top plastic panel to access the car horn (see #1 above) only the two outer scrivets held the top of the grille and were easily cut with a spare hacksaw blade to allow the grille to be removed and lock barrel to be unclipped...

#4 The lock mechanism could then be unbolted with a spanner via the tiny gap between the lock crossmember and underside of the bonnet - fiddly but allows the lock/latch to be released and bonnet opened - and the cylinder/cable/white plastic collar to be slid back into the engine bay

#5 Although the assembly can be carefully fitted back together with the cross/key engaged it is really a very dodgy arrangement and a belt-and-braces fix is to assemble the cylinder/cable/collar/lock and ensuring all is functional (operate the lock release a few times with a screwdriver shaft clicked in place of the bonnet latchpost!) drill through the middle of the white plastic collar with a 2mm bit to suit a short pop-rivet and fix the outer plastic collar to the inner plastic insert such that the inner insert retains the cross/key connection together

#6 refit the grille, lock cylinder, top panel, etc and check latch release is fully functional (use screwdriver shaft clicked into the lock and operate with key a few times to test) and ensure well lubricated before closing the bonnet!!!

#7 The use of a pop rivet to fix the collar and insert together is suggested as this will be able to pass through the hole in the crossmember if the lock ever has to be removed and the cylinder/cable/white collar have to be pushed back into the engine bay (a self-tapping screw head will snag on the crossmember).

If you ever need to use this fix - good luck...

 

Hi all. My 07 ford focus bonnet release stopped working. I read a few others have had the same problem..so I followed some of the advice on removing the grille and latch which was perfect thanks..
But to get a more permanent repair I decided not to repair to standard as most advice suggests.. my thinking was if mine and lots of others have failed then the problem could re-appear at any moment...so
I removed the cable from the cross section metal end within the barrel end and also I removed all the plastic clip from the latch so I was just left with a cross section opening.. I replaced the cable with an 8mm steel round bar that I ground down flat to fit in the latch end and ground down round to accept the metal cross that fits in the barrel end.. I used liquid steel resign to ensure they held and had to bend the rod slightly to fit between the hight difference but once fitted I'm convinced this will last out the car... no lock change needed etc !.. I'd make the rods and ebay them if I felt there was enough call for them ? I used stainless for no other reason than it's what I had to hand..
I'm not a mechanic.. I only have basic tools but a fairly good vision of what's what..
Hope this helps