Boot won't open

[Dischordant]

Hi all - have access to car but boot won't open. When I press the switch I can hear the door control unit trying to open the boot but there is no sound from the boot itself.

I've tried to access the cable to manually open the boot but couldn't find it for the life of me. =(

What should I try next or any tips - direct message if need be =)

Cheers!

Darren

[glow worm]

Can't really help , but only give advice to others .... find it before you really need it

[Dischordant]

Guess I'll go hunting again! - is the cable quite long such that it would dangle along the bottom/in finger reach or can I expect to need something to hook it with?

[nrick]

have a good fish around, it isn't obvious if it has been used before, if you know what I mean. Try both holes and dig about. It may be removed if the car has had a bump in the past, mine was

[Dischordant]

If it has been removed - do I need to take it to a garage? Any idea what they will do to fix it?

[MartH70]

The cable only operates the solenoid, so if you know where that is maybe you could override it. Just checked on our release and its cable tied in place, if yours isn't then it could be any where. If it will help I could pm you some photos?

[Dischordant]

photos would be great thank you - I've heard it is a bare metal wire but I can't see anything of that description

[Dischordant]

Thank you both - finally found it and got the boot open (my fingers are scratched to hell) - now to work out why the button isn't working!

[Dischordant]

Hmm - loosened screws holding boot latch and seems to be happily working now - did them back up - all fine..not sure what occurred =/

I have now put the release somewhere I can access in under 30minutes!

[nawarne]

Dischordant said:

Hmm - loosened screws holding boot latch and seems to be happily working now - did them back up - all fine..not sure what occurred =/

I have now put the release somewhere I can access in under 30minutes!

- - - Think I've replied to similar Q's before.

OK, you've sussed how and where the emergency access is.
I would go on to give the latch and solenoid mechanism some maintenance.

Remove the 100mm (?) rubber bung from the inner skin of the boot. Feel under the carpet in this area for 2 off roofing type bolts with a 10/12mm pan head. Carefully slit the carpet to allow access with a large bladed screwdriver to the pan head. With one hand supporting the solenoid mechanism, unscrew both bolts, thereby allowing the solenoid and mount plate to be eased through the aperture covered by the rubber bung.

With the solenoid ass'y 'out in the open' lubricate the cranks and cables as best you can. Pay particular attention to the 'bowden' type cables to the latch and the emergency release...it's these that get 'crusty' with age. Also pull the electrical wires through and clean up the 2-pin connector in the loom.

The actual latch would also benefit from some oil into the mechanism too! the latch can be dis-mounted with the 2 off allen countersunk head bolts to allow access to the Bowden cable connection.

Nick

[Dischordant]

Thanks Nick will do =)

[8ball_Rob]

Just to add to Nick's comment, another place to check if this happens again is the connection to the passenger's door/window control unit, under the centre console.

My boot release mechanism has been unresponsive twice in the last week, and on both occasions the solenoid, switch and cable all tested fine. It appears that my problem was a dodgy connection at the 24-pin plug to the door ECU, which was quickly sorted with a few sprays of contact cleaner into the female connector.

The solutions suggested by Nick are probably the much more likely fixes in most cases. I think my problem is down to an intermittent fault either in the door ECU itself or the power supply, which is causing the plug to overheat and the pins to oxidize. Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone else experiences a similar fault in future

[so called]

Only just seen your thread.
I had a problem trying to find my emergency cable once.
Eventually found high up and bucked up on something. Guessed at the time my Tuscan had done some serious side ways movements for the cable to have swung up so hi.
Suspicions were later confirmed when I crashed and wrote it off. Found lots of body filler on the off side rear wing where it had obviously been hit at some point.