coflynn »
The latch on my trunk recently started failing to latch. It turned my trunk into the ‘honour system’, so obviously I wanted to get that working again pronto!
I managed to without needing to buy any new parts, here’s a few hints if you run into this same problem:
Step 1: Remove interior trim on inside of trunk around latch. There is a bunch of snaps that just pull out with a little force.
Step 2: Undo the three bolts holding the latch in, the two nuts holding the lock in, and the wire harness.
Step 3: Now the fun: carefully drill out the two rivets:
Step 4: Also remove the two torx screws on the latch. Then pull apart the latch, take a look inside. In this case the plunger isn’t retracting – this is why the latch won’t latch. Under normal circumstances the plunger is in, applying voltage makes it come out. Removing voltage it should retract back in:
Step 5: The plunger just snaps out, this picture shows where it is held in. To fix it I just started to take the plunger itself apart… and it suddenly retracted into itself! After that it worked fine, so I Just put it all back together:
Step 6: Drill a hole all the way through the ‘rivets’ so you can put new rivets in. I used 12mm rivets… they were a little long when done so I hammered them down. Note that it’s really more like a bushing which is pressed at each end, but you can easily replace it with a rivet.
Step 7: Replace the latch back in the door. All done!
oragex »
Just found this repair DIY and I thought I’d put my opinion on this. I would strongly suggest not trying this repair, and getting instead a new or a used latch. The reason is the two rivets that have to be drilled or cut off and removed, keep the locking hook in place. These are rivets with a bushing – thicker in the middle and are made of strong metal. You will have to replace them with the exact same type and also have a press to secure them: only a specialized shop can do this. If these rivets are not replaced properly, the hook may become stuck and you will never be able to open the trunk again even with the key. These rivets must be drilled on both sides, not just from one side. It’s really a messy job.
Mine was full of white lithium grease that had gotten hard and preventing the mechanism from working properly in cold weather. Cleaned out the old grease, put a better synthetic+PTFE (superlube 21030) and not a spec of trouble with it since. I didn’t take the rivets out. I think I used either carb or brake parts cleaner in an aerosol can to dissolve/blast it out, then re greased it by just sort of packing it in. The range for this grease is 500F dropping point to -45F low temperature viscosity limit. I doubt I’ll ever have trouble with it again.
S60 2002 Trunk Latch – Info on Fixing
Last Updated on August 21, 2024
