Boot won't close

The boot of my Saab 9-3 won't close and I can't figure out what it could be. The lock mechanism appears to be working - I can close it while the boot is open, and it unlocks with the remote, but it won't click into place when I'm closing it.

Is there anything I should be looking for?

Eric Cartman

Deleted User wrote: »

The boot of my Saab 9-3 won't close and I can't figure out what it could be. The lock mechanism appears to be working - I can close it while the boot is open, and it unlocks with the remote, but it won't click into place when I'm closing it.

Is there anything I should be looking for?

could be in need of grease or the boot lock actuator is sticking open , try manually locking / unlocking it with the key in the barrell on the boot a few times , if its doing this ok then id say its the actuator, if this is hard to do and you really have to force it , could be a wd40 and grease job

johnayo

Check first to see if the lock mechanism is in the locked position. If it is, then as you try to close it all you will get is a banging sound.
Take a look at this YouTube clip. It should be similar and give you an idea what you should be seeing.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zuxNEpDq8EQ

Thanks for the replies.

There's no manual key unfortunately, and it's not stuck in the lock position. I just can't figure out what it could be.

Eric Cartman

Deleted User wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

There's no manual key unfortunately, and it's not stuck in the lock position. I just can't figure out what it could be.

try removing the carpet / plastic on the underside of the boot lid and looking where the actuator is , see if theres any cable / bar disconnected and see how much you can move the actuator by hand.

johnayo

Get a screwdriver and push the lock into the locked position. It should snap into position. If this happens, make sure it will stay in that position. If it doesn't then most likely the lock or actuator faulty. You should also make sure that the lock is meeting the striker on the panel.

Eric Cartman

Eric Cartman wrote: »

try removing the carpet / plastic on the underside of the boot lid and looking where the actuator is , see if theres any cable / bar disconnected and see how much you can move the actuator by hand.

Ok, have had a look, doesn't seem to be anything out of place. I took pics, will post them now in a sec.

johnayo wrote: »

Get a screwdriver and push the lock into the locked position. It should snap into position. If this happens, make sure it will stay in that position. If it doesn't then most likely the lock or actuator faulty.

Yeh I did this earlier, no issues whatsoever, and it unlocks when I open the boot using the remote

You should also make sure that the lock is meeting the striker on the panel.

This is what I reckon the problem is, but obviously can't see once the boot is closed that far.

Nothing seems to be misaligned, and nothing is blocking it at all. So weird.

mickdw

The latch may have moved a few mm meaning its not closing far enough to lock

All the components seem to be actually functioning fine. I've been inside the boot and the only conclusion I can come to is that the either the lock, or the boot itself, has been knocked off line and aren't meeting quite where they should be thereby not pushing the lock closed. I can't think what would have caused it though. Would this be something that would be easily resolved?

mickdw

whoopsadaisydoodles wrote: »

All the components seem to be actually functioning fine. I've been inside the boot and the only conclusion I can come to is that the either the lock, or the boot itself, has been knocked off line and aren't meeting quite where they should be thereby not pushing the lock closed. I can't think what would have caused it though. Would this be something that would be easily resolved?

Is there trim covering the lock and the area where it latches?
You would need to get a good look at this and you might then see if something has moved. Its not unheard of for something to have moved due to the way the boot slams closed.

Well. I brought the car down to a panel beater guy I know, he took off the bumper and said there's no doubt, someone went into the back of me, not while I was in the car obviously. He did a bit work on it and it's now fixed \o/

So some fecker obviously gave me a whack in a car park or something. Now to be fair to them, there's no mark, so I'll keep believing that the world is wonderful and assume that they did actually get out and check.

Thanks for the help lads.

MugMugs

Quite uncool

Worth tracing steps and seeing if there's any CCTV footage?

I use my car an awful lot, but don't really remember the last time I used the boot, possibly christmas, so couldn't be sure of when it might have happened. I always reverse into parking spaces so it would be somewhere that spaces are back to back - which in fairness, doesn't narrow it down much!

biko

Deleted User wrote: »

Well. I brought the car down to a panel beater guy I know, he took off the bumper and said there's no doubt, someone went into the back of me, not while I was in the car obviously. He did a bit work on it and it's now fixed \o/

So some fecker obviously gave me a whack in a car park or something. Now to be fair to them, there's no mark, so I'll keep believing that the world is wonderful and assume that they did actually get out and check.

Thanks for the help lads.

Exactly the same thing happened to an old Toyota of mine parked in a public road space.
Wrecked my head as the bumper didn't have a mark on it, wasn't until I noticed that the alignment was slightly off I figured it out.
A panel beater fixed for for the price of a pint with a block and a sledge hammer from the inside

biko

biko wrote: »

A panel beater fixed for for the price of a pint with a block and a sledge hammer from the inside

It cost me the price of a few pints, 4 to be exact, which I was delighted with. Someone else would have had it in for the day and charged me a small fortune.

johnayo

Deleted User wrote: »

It cost me the price of a few pints, 4 to be exact, which I was delighted with. Someone else would have had it in for the day and charged me a small fortune.

Glad to hear your sorted.