Help me, my boot won't open!

[Dogran]

Hi, was wondering if anyone could help - Ive got a 2006 Octavia Elegance Estate and the boot has developed a fault and will now not open. When you press the release button (or the boot release on the remote) you can here the opening mechanism whirring as if its trying to open, but then nothing happens. All other aspects of the central locking seems to be working normally. Anyone any advice? I'm currently on holiday and am not relishing the thought of loading the car up via the rear seats!

[cheezemonkhai]

If you have your manual, there is an emergency release documented in there.

That should get it open, but then I think i might be a bit more concerned about getting it shut again if you have to drive back.

[FriendlyFire]

Hi, was wondering if anyone could help - Ive got a 2006 Octavia Elegance Estate and the boot has developed a fault and will now not open. When you press the release button (or the boot release on the remote) you can here the opening mechanism whirring as if its trying to open, but then nothing happens. All other aspects of the central locking seems to be working normally. Anyone any advice? I'm currently on holiday and am not relishing the thought of loading the car up via the rear seats!

Page 51 of your manual:

Emergency unlocking of the boot lid (Estate car)

If there is a fault in the central locking, you can open the boot lid

as follows:

– Fold the rear seats forwards ⇒ page 89.

– Open up the cover of the lock upwards ⇒ fig. 32.

– Move the operating lever with the aid of a narrow object

e.g. screwdriver up to the stop in the direction of arrow; the

boot lid is then unlocked.

– Open the boot lid/luggage compartment door from outside.

Fig 32 (can't post images) is a picture of a small flap of plastic on the inside of the boot, near the floor, in the centre of the lip of the boot opening.

It seems to hinge at the top and the lever moves from right to left

Added an image

Edited 19 February, 2010 by FriendlyFire

[Dogran]

Thanks guys, sounds like that should do the trick - I'll give it a try later. Not got my manual with me so the diagram was much appreciated! Hopefully this will turn ou to be a one off event...

[spiky]

I have the same problem - press the boot release button and the motor whirrs but the boot stays locked.

My Octavia is a hatchback (2005). I have clambered into the boot through the back seat and released the boot as described here and in the handbook.

Now I want to get at the locking motor. On the hatchback model the motor is in the body not in the hatch. It's covered by a large piece of plastic. I've removed the 2 nuts at the bottom edge (in the spare wheel well) but it still won't budge, and I can't see any other fixing.

Does anyone know how I can get that plastic cover off?

[antrich1968]

Bear in mind having opened the boot as described in the manual, and then packed it full of your holiday gear, you could end up blocking your access to the area needed to open it again. when you get home you may need to unload some gear with back seats down untill you can again access to the panel to open the boot !

[spiky]

Spiky, the panel is held on with clips that simply press down into the rear boot lip. Once the securing nuts are free in the spare wheel tray, the panel will lift straight up with a bit of gentle persuasion. There are metal clips that go into grooves on the underneath of the plastic, but trust me, it will come out quite easily -- don't be too afraid of giving it a good upwards tug to release them.

To replace, simply make sure all the clips are in place, and snap downwards with the palm of your hand.

Simples!

Mike

Hi Mike,

That did the trick.

I had tried heavier than gentle persuasion, but was wary of going harder because I've wrecked this kind of trim on a previous car.

But knowing that was the thing to do, and crucially which direction to pull in, got it off.

Thanks for that.

(Now I just need to figure out how to open the motor casing).

[spiky]

(Now I just need to figure out how to open the motor casing).

Got the motor unit open using a screwdriver as a chisel. The two halves were glued together.

I expected to find worn out gears, but there was no sign of wear; it looks as good as new.

It worked fine when I turned the gears by hand.

To see what was wrong, I had to reconnect it to the car with the translucent half of the casing off, shove a rod into the latch to make it think the boot was shut, and press the boot release button. The motor whirred but the gears did not turn. In other words the pinion has worked loose on the motor shaft. Time for a new motor.

[Dogran]

Thanks for all the replies. Just to update everyone, followed the instructions provided here and in the manual and opened the boot lid from the inside without problem. Could then see that the catch on the boot lid seemed very stiff - a quick spray of WD40 into the catch did the trick and loosened it up. Now everything works as it should, and I was able to load and unload the holiday gear without problem. Result!

[ccs-digital]

Just had exactly this issue whilst dropping a friend at the airport - boot opened fine while we loaded her stuff at home then refused to open when we got to arrivals drop off

Having removed said luggage by dropping the back seat, I followed the emergency opening procedure when I got back home and applied a liberal amount of good old WD40 to the lock mechanism. Pleased and relieved to report that it now seems to be working OK again.

Pretty sure I had given it a squirt last time I did the door locks and hinges, but maybe I didn't. Anyway note to self to do it more frequently.

At least she'll be impressed when I pick her up on Monday

[itoldhertobuyanoctavia]

Yes I can report that magic oil Whisky Delta Four Zero (available from me for £30 or any good DIY/Hardware shop for about £3.50) works like a dream. Fully working boot is available, I am available to do the magic fix for low rates (short mice)...

[bris1000]

Spiky, the panel is held on with clips that simply press down into the rear boot lip. Once the securing nuts are free in the spare wheel tray, the panel will lift straight up with a bit of gentle persuasion. There are metal clips that go into grooves on the underneath of the plastic, but trust me, it will come out quite easily -- don't be too afraid of giving it a good upwards tug to release them.

To replace, simply make sure all the clips are in place, and snap downwards with the palm of your hand.

Simples!

Mike

On my Octavia Elegance Estate there are three nuts to remove first (not two as mentioned elsewhere in this thread). You probably need to take out the spare wheel to access the one in the centre. This releases the bottom edge of the plastic cover which hides the lock and motor unit. To lift off the plastic panel completely I wasn't sure whether to lever it off by lifting the bottom upwards (standing outside the back of the car)or lift directly upwards. In the end I did the latter and this worked Ok but you do need to take care as one of the plastic housings which holds the metal clip did break whilst doing this. Once it was off I could see the catch which locks into the boot door was sticking and a bit of WD40 on this did the trick. Thanks for all the info. Bris1000.

[vwcoder]

In case anyone reads this again, I would definitely recommend doing the manual unlock everyone has been talking about and then giving a good dose of WD40 as said above. The mechanism had just got a bit dry in the summer sun and was back up and running 100% after a quick squirt

Edited 1 August, 2013 by vwcoder

[oliver1987]

Read the forum and WD-40 didn't do the trick for me. The luggage lid is still not opening normally, but i can open it from my car key (luggage lid button). This pretty much solves the problem with opening the boot, but leaves me questioning if the switch on the outer side of the boot lid might be broken?

Does anyone have experience how to make sure if the switch is broken or what else might be worth checking up on?

 

This forum has been a lot of help with my car (2005 skoda octacvia estate 4x4 1.9tdi).

[skodadibs]

Thank you for the instructions on releasing the lock. My estate has the raised floor kit which also had to be removed before accessing the manual release.

 

The lock had been greased during the car's service only a couple of days before the failure and having tried to exercise it manually seems fine. The motor doesn't whirr though whether the boot switch is pressed (which clicks) or the car key, so most likely it (the motor) has failed.

[SkodaHZD]

Hey guys. I've just had this problem. The actuator wasn't moving the leaver to press the release button. Over time looks like it had moved and rain spots had gotten to it so there was a tiny bit of surface corrosion on the bare metal. I removed the trim, made a Minute adjustments and a quick spray of WD40 on the lever mechanism's hinge that is moved by the actuator, Good as new!!!

Hope this helps and saves a few pennys

[hedgeville]

Hi just bought a Skoda Oct mk2 estate 2010 with a boot that won't open. The only way to open the boot is to use the remote when the car is switched off. When operating the remote the boot lock motor appears to whirr and it pops open. The rubberised handle does nothing. Having stripped the handle it look like some water has got in corrosion on the connector, corrosion one the aluminum handle once rubber removed,corrosion on the metal steel cover on inside of rubber handle. All cleaned up and reassembled but still fails respond.

Anyone got any thoughts on what next?

As motor sounds that it works....

Is the micro switch push to make or break?

Should their be a voltage over the connector?

This seems the most frustrating item to test upside down in the freezing cold...

Any advice appreciated.

[cappucino5]

My 2009 skoda octavia has also developed boot fault with whirring / clicking noises but not opening.  Only seems to happening in very warm or very cold weather though - perhaps electronics or can anyone recommend checks that I should be doing?

thanks!

[booner]

same problem here, is there anyone out there who has a notion on the likely cause of this, i can hear the lock mechanism whirring when i press the remote, but no response when i press the "pad" to open, thank you

[booner]

this website is a "kip" 

[Sebastian6600]

Hi to everyone!

I have a similar issue on my '06 Octavia. Since Yesterday I can open the boot only using the remote key button but today for one time the outside boot switch work!

In the past the switch always work (a strange behavior was that if the motor is on and you don't open the driver's door the boot will not open from outside, it's normal?).

With this problem occur another strange thing that never happen! If I unlock the car with the remote key and go inside, put the key inside the lock, the car will auto-lock after 10sec.The central button don't works neither pulling the handle of the door. The only way is to take out the key from the lock and use the remote button OR unlock the steering lock system.

[nwholloway]

I came across this topic when looking for help when my tailgate would not open, and I thought I'd share my findings.

 

My car is a 2012 MK2 Octavia Estate, and the tailgate would not open with either the release on the tailgate, or the button on the key fob.  No whirring, no nothing.  I ended up removing the lower trim around the to expose the solenoid motor, unplugging the connector and testing it with a multi-meter.  I was getting the expected pulse of 12V when the button or fob were operated, so the problem was a dead motor.

 

My investigations revealed that where the MK1 has a Skoda part number for the motor and is available separately, the MK2 does not.  I decided to play it safe, and bought a new old-stock replacement part 1Z9 827 511C.  That is fitted and I can open my tailgate again.

 

Having fixed the problem, it was time to take a look at the broken part.  I think it is feasible to replace the motor, despite not being listed as a part by Skoda.  The motor is a generic Hella part, and appears in many eBay listings for around £10.  As you can see from the photo the motor is attached from the rear using plastite screws with torx heads.  The saddle used to operate the cam just clips on/off.  So replacement would be unbolt the assembly, remove the old motor, transfer the saddle, and reassemble with a new motor.

 

Nick

[Liger1956]

I have a 2012 Mk 2 Octavia Estate as well so this is useful information, thank you.

I will bookmark it in ,my brain, for future reference although as my brain is quite old it does have tendancy to forget things!