Had something really strange happen today.

I went to the store to put together a flat tire kit. Bought a tube of slime, cig air compressor, little flashlight, needlenose pliers, and a tire plug kit.

promptly and carefully put it in the passenger side storage compartment, and was very careful to make sure the little wiring harness was not disconnected or pinched.

Closed the trunk, and it would not open.

Scratched my head a while, used the manual release, and tried again. still would not open.

So I took all the stuff out, rchecked all the wires, good connection, packed it back up, and closed the trunk

Trunk still would not open.

So I figured I'd give up for today, try it when it was warmer.

Turned off the car. TRUNK UNLATCHED ITSELF!

Really scratching my head now. Since the trunk was open, I figured i'd take all the stuff out of the compartment, so I did. Closed the trunk.

Turned the car on, then off. TRUNK UNLATCHED ITSELF AGAIN!

Closed the trunk, drove home, and turned the car off. Trunk didn't unlatch.

So it seems everything is back to normal, with the exception that I still have not figured out if I can actuallt store anything in that little compartment without having trunk problems.

Did all this while the car was running (it was really cold out, 20 deg)

Anyone else have this experience?

I looked around in there, and there arem't any pinched, shorted, or disconnected wires.

?????

 

I had nearly the same experience including the un-latching on its own a couple weeks ago with 06 S JCW and FYI it was extremely cold.

Nonetheless I shared it with the dealer and they installed a new latch assembly and all has been fine so far.

All the best

Shadowman

 

Common problem. The electrical where the switch is gets wet. Dealer replaced mine under warranty. An individual had a fix on here by sealing all the wires and it never happened again.

 

Search on "boonk", you'll find my threads - I'm the one who waterproofed mine - and no recurrences. Bad design - there's a felt anti-rattle wrap that retains moisture, some bad gasketry, and a hatch design that catches water...

 

I had to get my boot handle replaced last year. It started acting up and not working once in a while, and then one day it started to fire rapidly for a couple of minutes, click click click....and then stopped working all together.

 

Here's DixonL2's original post -very informative!- that I used, and it worked.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.com...ighlight=boonk

Thank you, sir.

 

Update:

Took off the compartment cover today. felt the wires, and they felt a little damp. Then the trunk latch started going crazy.

Looks like it was some moisture. I'll take it to the dealer and have them look at it.

What exactally should I request they replace. I'm 4 Hrs round trip from them, and don't want to make more trips than necessary.

Thanks!

 

Have them replace the boot handle (that makes sure that you've got good wiring going in), then follow the post above and waterproof whatever you can. There may be a better way than I used, feel free to improvise.

If you want to delay that long dealer trip, remove the boot handle and dry it out really well, maybe waterproof it, that should take of things for a while. Just make sure the dealer is going to replace it - if you fix it before going then you're stuck if they say "couldn't replicate problem".

 

I had to make two trips to the dealer, at first they wanted to replace the handle with a chrome one since that is what they stocked. I didn't want chrome, so they told me that they would have to send one out to get painted Dark Silver and to come back in two weeks. But my dealer generally sucks, hopefully yours will be more helpful. So make sure they have one there in your body color if that is what you need.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I'll take it is and tell them what's up.

 

The dealer may be able to replace the working parts IN the boot handle. My dealer also replaced/repaired some gasket that was allowing water in (I believe the gasket around the rear wiper). Unfortunately, I still get more water draining when I open the hatch, which tells me there's water still getting trapped somewhere.