When I was sorting my electrical issues I had to undo bonnet mechanisms etc, and forgot to put one of them back together properly. We were lucky, the other one wasn't connected and the nose was off so we were able to disconnect the bonnet at the front - and really wrench the cable to pop open the bonnet.
Made me think - years down the line, what happens if a cable snaps? I can't see any way in without cutting the bonnet where the pieces the connectors latch onto are, and remove. Anyone know of any other way into the bonnet?

 

I do not have a solution to your problem, but perhaps an idea that will help.
On TR6 cars, this was a big issue as the hood cable was prone to breakage.
Owners drilled a very small hole in the cowl on the passenger side above the foot rest, and fed a thin wire through to the hood (bonnet) latch.
Not the most convenient, but in a pinch, you could access and pull the wire from the passenger side to open the hood.
Lots of info about this by searching on "The Triumph Experince" website.
Bob

 

That is very interesting, thank you. I might deploy some similar safety fall back like that some day...something to think about.

 

What an aircraft operator would do is inspect and then lubricate or replace the cable on a periodic bassis.

 

In all the cars I have owned (in my younger days older used cars that I drove into the ground), or anyone I have known who owns cars, this has never been a problem and every one of them had a passenger compartment release latch with cable. Talk about preparing for the most obscure of issues! Only reason you had the issue this time was because of a maintenance error.

 

Climate can be a big player as well.

Temperature drop causing condensation to freeze raises the force required to move.
Combine this with temperature drop making steel brittle and you can have it go Snnnaaaaap.

 

LOL, another reason I am happy to be southern born and raised!

 

This has happend to me on an older 90s car.

The solution was remove the front grill and reach up and pull the latches

 

Except these latches are at the opposite end, by the windshield. And while “obscure” it does happen, in fact I recall a situation a few years ago at a dealer service attempting to solve this very same failure.

 

Good point, having them on the firewall side adds a different dimension.

 

But there are too many ;what if's' in the ownership of any car, think range anxiety in an electric

I prefer to just keep it well maintained and enjoy driving it

 

Plug in hybrid.

 

The issue with this failure is you cannot physically solve it without breaking something major, everything else you can access with the right tools.
The fact that it does happen as you say confirms to me i should create some sort of back up - actually wouldn't be too difficult.

 

I haven’t gone to have a look but perhaps from underneath through the wheel liner?

 

That's what I was thinking...some sort of rip cord or chain on each side zip tied in to the wheel arch to keep it from rattling around.
The mechanism itself is so simple, just need something to pull it as a backup