First Problem - Boot won't lock

[Dt99idr]

So, get the kids the wife and the picnic into the car ready for a lovely day at the beach. Shut the boot 'bounce'. Shut the boot again 'bounce' again.

Boot will not lock

I know the car is trying as the indicators flash when the boot goes down. but no noise of the latch engaging.
Have tried locking with the buttons on the key (nice that the car horn beeps if it doesn't think the doors are shut) to no avail.

Luckily everything gets transferred to the other car and wife and kids go off happy. I'm left with a car I can't lock and the local garage can't look at it until Monday at the earliest...

Anyone have any thoughts? I was looking for a maintenance hole (on past cars there's been something so you can manually unlock from the inside) but I can't see any access on the 5.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Do you have you keys in your pocket, as the boot lock will pickup that your keys are there, it is keyless entry…

 

[thefunkystoat]

Happened to me, but I'd forgotten that I'd left the spare key in a bag in the car. Took me ages to figure it out.

 

[Dt99idr]

Spare key in the house where it's always lived. I did have the main key in my pocket as per usual. But usual process is car locked, walk up to car open boot, shut boot, boot locks.
Currently I shut the boot, the boot does not lock. If I then get in the car, the car is telling me that the boot is not shut... I'm 99% sure I'm not doing anything silly with the keys.

 

[JonnyRed]

This has happened occasionally to me; when I close the boot sometimes the boot would 'latch', but not be fully closed so that if I try pulling it open it will move just a little bit, but not actually open unless you press the button on the boot. In this 'latch' state it will not lock. For me closing it quite hard seems to close it properly and then I can lock it.

 

[Alb]

I'm also getting the impression that it's a closing issue and not a locking one.
Is there a warning indicator that shows door/boot open?

 

[JonnyRed]

Yes it shows up on the dash like if a door is not quite closed properly, but I know I have driven off when one of the kids didn't close their door so I noticed that, but I can't remember if I have done the same with the boot.

 

[Dt99idr]

So the sensor in the lock knows that the door has been 'closed' as the rear indicator lights flash, however it also knows that the door isn't shut and shows up as such on the dash and by beeping when locking. I've tried pushing a pen through the latch and again the indicators flash so it's detecting the catch passing into the lock, but the latch is not either locking or latching (pen can move freely in and out of the lock.

 

[Kithmo]

The button on the hatch isn't stuck up is it ?

 

[Dt99idr]

So, just took the car out for a short up and down my road to see how much the door would open under breaking... not too bad breaking hard from low speed... had checked that it wouldn't lock before I left. Pulled back into the drive opened and closed boot. Didn't lock but no 'bounce. It was on the catch... opened and shut and I now have a working boot.
Slightly nervous I Don't understand why, but will see if holding the switch in replicates the problem.

Thanks for all your ideas...

 

[Kithmo]

Glad you got it sorted.

 

[Alb]

Perhaps the hard braking rattled things around a little.
The equivalent of hitting it with a hammer!

 

[Dt99idr]

The button on the hatch isn't stuck up is it ?

I Don't think this was it, shuting the boot holding the switch still locks the boot.

 

[Greendriver]

I used to tell people off for slamming the tailgate in my old car, now I have to slam it...

 

[Alb]

One of my pet hates but it is easy to misjudge if you aren't used to the car.

 

[Mr479]

Happens to me most times, just have to open and shut firmly from a close distance not fully open.

 

[JohnB]

I seem to have perfected the technique of closing the boot lid just enough to catch, but not enough to fully lock. Seems every time I put something in or get something out I need a double open/close operation. There's a word for people like me, and it's not very complimentary.

 

[RoadUser]

I'v had this has well, where unlike other cars I've had this sometimes takes a double take to register the close.

 

[Lovemyev]

Does this imply that the boot catch is slightly out of adjustment or the securing bolts are loose, allowing the base plate to shift ?.
If reopening the tail gate and slamming down a little harder mitigates the problem, then surely the latch needs adjustment by a few mm.
If the catch is too far back, then only slamming the tail gate will latch it correctly.
If the latch is not making the full latching process, it will put the warning light on the the dash panel.
Adjusting the tailgate should be a “Gravy” job for most Tech’s !.

 

[ensmith007]

Could be worse, we could be in the group of people that have a button to open and close their boots. Imagine that!