Hi All,

First off, thanks for any and all help on this.

Problem is with my dads mondeo estate (58 reg) in that the boot wont stay shut, this has only started to happen since the snow, so my first thought was that some moisture has gotten somewhere, but would like someone elses opinion on the issue, so a quick run down of the issue, unlock the car, boot stays shut for about a minute then unlocks/opens, shut it again and a minute later its open again, you can here the switch/relay thing trying to open the lock even with it open.

So i'm now thinking it could perhaps be the switch, which if it is, is it an easy replacement or something for the garage to look at?

Thanks again

Does sound like moisture has got at the boot switch. Not sure how you get at it, but I suspect you need to remove the panel from inside the boot door, remove the switch and clean and dry it with copious amounts of WD40 before refitting.

Does sound like moisture has got at the boot switch. Not sure how you get at it, but I suspect you need to remove the panel from inside the boot door, remove the switch and clean and dry it with copious amounts of WD40 before refitting.

Do not under any circumstances put WD40 on it! Unless, that is, you want a completely stuffed switch/wiring.

WD40 is evil stuff and I wish folks would stop spraying it about willy nilly. If it gets into electrical circuits it will just sit there and attract dirt. It is NOT a lubricant (it lubricates very briefly on application, but that's it). It's a penetrant, and will penetrate into soldered joints/PCBs and break them apart, causing complete failure. Spraying the damn stuff all over everything might 'cure' it in the short term, but I guarantee that whatever it 'cures', will come back 10x worse before very long.

For cleaning electrical switches you want Servisol Super 10 switch cleaner. It cleans and evaporates away fairly quickly and is made for the job.

Use WD40 for penetrating rusted bolts etc - nothing else. I don't care what they claim it does - I've seen the damage it causes through the misconception that it's a one-can-fixes-all solution - it really isn't.

If you want to lubricate around electrical stuff, use heat-resistant PTFE spray lubricant, or a light oil for strictly mechanical stuff.

[edit] By the way - the self-opening boot is a common problem on the Mondeo. The cold weather is most likely just a coincidence. Your only real options are to just disconnect the switch in the boot (which is what most folk do), or replace the switch with a new one if you like the thought of folk being able to open your boot when you're sat at traffic lights.

Edited January 28, 201313 yr by jeebowhite
Removed some minor swearing reference

thanks for the replies, will have a go at getting the back panel off and disconnecting the switch, then depending on how dad wants it see about getting hold of a new switch,