C5X - Boot door lock jammed

[Charles1]

Today, I pressed the button to close the boot, and it seems a box probably obstructed the complete closing. The boot then reversed. I moved the box and tried closing it again, but it appears that the metal latch remained in the closed position, so now I can't close the boot.

I tried using the small lock on the boot lock mechanism, but it seems to have no effect. Since the service can only schedule me in on Wednesday, and I can't drive with the boot like this, I attempted to disassemble the latch myself, but to no avail. As time went on, I dismantled the latch more and more, but it's still stuck. It seems like the latch can only be moved by the electric motor?

Does anyone have any ideas on how to unblock the latch before my service appointment?

[GiveMeABreak]

Have you used the locking button in the car dash? try pressing that to lock and unlock the vehicle and see if that releases the latch.

Details of the 4 methods are in the manual:

Also, try using a screwdriver in the slot and flick to the left (or try the right if that fails, then see if you can move the latch):

[Charles1]

Yes, but it's not working. Just two beeps. Tried with the engine on and off. Tried to release the lock by moving the small notch/lever with nothing happening. When the boot door closes (when its working properly) there is some kind of electric motor sound which seems to either close the latch or something else, but not sure if there is a manual override to start it. I pushed randomly a small screwdriver in the latch mechanism and it started that same electric motor but with no change, as it is trying to lock already locked latch.

[GiveMeABreak]

Ok, so I think you're snookered until it can be looked at professionally - it may need a new lock if it has been damaged or jammed in this position.

For now, I'm not sure there's much else you can do, so maybe you can latch it down internally by trying to hook a securing rope through the hole in the latch and secure it to one of the boot securing lashing rings as a temporary measure.

[Charles1]

I managed to get it running.

I noticed when I fiddled with some internal lock parts the electric actuator started to work for a few seconds. It seems that it releases the lock holding the latch. I marked the actuator lock in the image. When you apply force on that part, it starts running, and you can move the lock in those few seconds so I was able to release it. The same actuator sound appears when the boot lid is closing it grabs the fixed metal part of the lock attached to the lower boot which pulls the lid downwards a bit with a much higher force.

After I released the lock I pushed the lid downwards to lock it and hoped I could open it. It worked. Not sure how would the service guys be able open the lid if the lock was jammed in that position, and that small release mechanism does not seem to be working, at least not when the lid is opened. Maybe the pure pressure would make it work in the closed position holding to the metal fixed part.

Anyways, thanks for the help - I will go to the dealer on Wed anyway hoping they will replace the mangled lock at their expense.

[GiveMeABreak]

Thanks for the update. Glad you haven't had to hold it all together with string and glue!

[Sloppysod]

Yes thanks for the information, hopefully i will never have to use it.
But, i would have thought that the anti-pinch system would have sensed the box and stopped the boot from closing!

[Charles1]

It did sense the box and stopped, but it probably glitched. Maybe it was only a few mm from completely closing, and the glitch was that the latch closed although it didn't grab the metal U profile anchor at the boot bottom.
What happened then is the electric actuator in the lock closed the metal latch and blocked it, so I was unable to re-open the latch in order to close the boot lid. That small release mechanism seems not to be working on its own if the boot is opened, and the latch is in the closed position - maybe it requires some kind of pre-tension or a magnet sensor for the actuator to start working.

So the process seems to be:
1. boot lid closing
2. when it reaches the closed position the lock latch latches on to the anchor
3. the electric actuator in the locks starts rotating and pushes on the latch and it squeezes the anchor with a great force - like a pliers - pressing the boot few mm more

After that if you try to open the lid from the boot using that small release mechanism it would probably work because of the tesnion or the magnets, but in my case, there was no tension or the magnets so it was stuck in the locked position

[Charles1]

Citroën has still been unable to provide the replacement part since July. There have been multiple emails exchanged with the national importer, but every month the response is the same: the part is unavailable, though it's on the priority list. I'm afraid to imagine what would happen if the part were essential for the car to run.

[Sloppysod]

I've heard a couple of people waiting a couple of months for accident repair parts, but nowhere near 6 months, that's terrible!
hopefully they will be here soon.

[Charles1]

The spare part arrived and was replaced yesterday. They mentioned that the seven-month waiting time was unusual. However, I'm still concerned about whether this was an isolated incident, as the part was a boot lock mechanism, perhaps a rare spare part that seldom needs replacing. If it takes this long for a non-essential part, I worry about what would happen if a critical component, like a headlight, engine part, or essential electronics, needed replacement.