2005 S40 trunk will not open

[cljimmy72]

My wife's 2005 S40 Volvo (70,000 miles) is having issues with the trunk. It will not open either with the remote or with the release under the trunk lid. Fold down the rear seat and you can release the cable and gain access to the trunk. I understand some of these S40's have had screws come loose in the keyless entry unit causing issues. Do you feel this is our problem?

[chengny]

Just had this brought to my attention by my wife (the night before she was going to pick up her parents - and their luggage- at Logan airport). The trunk would not open from the fob and it wouldn't open by turning the key to the electric open position. Please forgive my lack of terminology- I rarely have to work on this vehicle.

The only way I could open it was by turning the key counter-clockwise (I think) to the direct manual position. And this method only worked after several attempts.

When I finally opened it, my first reaction was to slam it shut again and try to open it normally. Bad move. Still had to revert to the manual position and yank the heck out of the handle for awhile to reopen it.

Long story short, lack of PM. This area (the trunk latch) seems to be a catch-all for whatever runs down the back of the trunk lid. She had some road dust, pine needles, leaf fragments, etc. packed in that depression.

A soft nylon brush and several applications of WD-40 did the trick and it currently operates as intended by all methods.