Two weeks in and first problem - boot soft closure failure

[Liquid]

Hi all

I noticed the boot of the Z was ajar yesterday. I mentioned it to the wife who then said she an issue this week whereby the car gave her an open boot warning. She opened and shut it and it was fine. The next day it happened again and then she forgot :roll:
I've investigated it this afternoon after reviewing the thread from flybobbie where he found broken/chafed wires but I have different symptoms.

I stripped everything out to check the wiring etc and everything looks brand new. Actuation from the fob and from the boot latch are all fine but the motors that actuate the soft closure are inoperable. I checked that they were getting power (which they are) and there are no signs of blockage.
After faffing with the latches and opening from the fob and the boot latch, they sprung into life and appeared to go through a synchronisation cycle; fully and partially opening and closing before coming to a stop. I managed to repeat this several times in an effort to refit everything and maybe get it to run whilst the boot was shut. Of course, now everything is fitted, I can't get it to run again.

Clearly, they are getting power and are not seized but outside of that, I'm stumped. Naturally, the warning keeps appearing and she has lost the use of the roof which is really winding her up given the weather.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Smartbear]

Hi all

I noticed the boot of the Z was ajar yesterday. I mentioned it to the wife who then said she an issue this week whereby the car gave her an open boot warning. She opened and shut it and it was fine. The next day it happened again and then she forgot :roll:
I've investigated it this afternoon after reviewing the thread from flybobbie where he found broken/chafed wires but I have different symptoms.

I stripped everything out to check the wiring etc and everything looks brand new. Actuation from the fob and from the boot latch are all fine but the motors that actuate the soft closure are inoperable. I checked that they were getting power (which they are) and there are no signs of blockage.
After faffing with the latches and opening from the fob and the boot latch, they sprung into life and appeared to go through a synchronisation cycle; fully and partially opening and closing before coming to a stop. I managed to repeat this several times in an effort to refit everything and maybe get it to run whilst the boot was shut. Of course, now everything is fitted, I can't get it to run again.

Clearly, they are getting power and are not seized but outside of that, I'm stumped. Naturally, the warning keeps appearing and she has lost the use of the roof which is really winding her up given the weather.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I don’t think the boot would go through a synchronisation cycle, it sounds more like the usual broken wires symptoms to me?
Rob

 

[Liquid]

The wiring all looks in great shape. The activation of the motors each time appeared to be identical so figured there was some degree of initialisation happening.

I’ll strip it all out again and go through it with a fine toothed comb. After trying to find more information, the likelihood is that there is a break in the ut clearly it will be small and tough to find.

 

[Anonymous]

I assume you are doing this with the engine running?

Have you lubed the hinges etc?

 

[Liquid]

Extra lesson learned for this one.

On checking the wiring, I assumed that everything was fine as it looked fine. Clearly, there was a break in the wiring only found under VERY close scrutiny. See that tiny loss of material on the blue sheath? That was one of them. I found two in total.

The plastic covers for the microswitches have an unyielding collar that secures the cable. I’ve left this unlocked to prevent it creating a hinge point.
The wiring used for these looks is very thin and might give way in the future but at least I know what’s up so will upgrade all wiring if it happens again.

 

[Big mike]

Regarding the roof there are several on here that can help maybe relocate the pump to the boot
I had mine done last year by ducklakeview in Warrington no problems since
Good luck

 

[srhutch]

Regarding the roof there are several on here that can help maybe relocate the pump to the boot
I had mine done last year by ducklakeview in Warrington no problems since
Good luck

Not for E89 though. :wink:

 

[maxman]

Extra lesson learned for this one.

On checking the wiring, I assumed that everything was fine as it looked fine. Clearly, there was a break in the wiring only found under VERY close scrutiny. See that tiny loss of material on the blue sheath? That was one of them. I found two in total.

The plastic covers for the microswitches have an unyielding collar that secures the cable. I’ve left this unlocked to prevent it creating a hinge point.
The wiring used for these looks is very thin and might give way in the future but at least I know what’s up so will upgrade all wiring if it happens again.

Did you do the repair at the point where the boot is open to receive the roof?
Good work finding that

 

[Smartbear]

Extra lesson learned for this one.

On checking the wiring, I assumed that everything was fine as it looked fine. Clearly, there was a break in the wiring only found under VERY close scrutiny. See that tiny loss of material on the blue sheath? That was one of them. I found two in total.

The plastic covers for the microswitches have an unyielding collar that secures the cable. I’ve left this unlocked to prevent it creating a hinge point.
The wiring used for these looks is very thin and might give way in the future but at least I know what’s up so will upgrade all wiring if it happens again.

Well done for finding the issue
Rob

 

[Liquid]

Did you do the repair at the point where the boot is open to receive the roof?
Good work finding that

Not sure if I understand what you mean but the boot was open in the normal way to gain access to the motors and solenoid.

Cheers. It was easy to overlook. On stripping the sheaths back to repair the wiring, I was amazed at how fine the copper strands are. I’ve not seen anything like it on a car before.