Vlad-II

Basically it's been so ridiculously cold out here in New York for this time of year and I'm wondering if it destroyed my trunk latch mechanism?

I made the unfortunate mistake of washing my car this morning and since after washing it I noticed that when the latch is extremely cold or i guess "frozen," it will remain unlatched and my trunk can't close. This happened early this afternoon. So I had some tape and I taped it shut. I was ready to bring the car to the dealer the next morning. But on my way hone I noticed the trunk had closed. I guess the car warmed up enough for it to "relatch" and close. So I leave the car out in the cold for 2 hours and I opened the trunk, to no suprise, I noticed that it wouldn't close again. So instead of taping it again and making the car look ugly and tacky (not to mention risking all of my important college papers should the tape fail and my trunk pops open in the highway lol) I have "exhale" my warm breath on to it in effort for it to close. And it remarkably worked and it relatched and now it's closed.

Is this a temporary thing or could it be permanently damaged? I find it appalling that cold weather would prevent my trunk from closing. I did schedule an appointment for the stealer to check it out. Since roadside assistance was a waste of 2 hours lol. My car is out of warranty as it is a 2002 C240 with 74000+ miles.

Anyway its a pretty weird issue I really don't want to shell out money for this because I am saving to get my lower control arms changed and that costs enough already.

I believe it's the cold weather and ice that may have got into the latch mechanism from te car wash but I could be wrong.

Any ideas?

fookoo303

if you think its frozen in an open state then try taking a heat gun or a blow drier on it to melt the ice.

Vlad-II

So far the action of exhaling on it with my warm breath worked. I'm hoping that may have fixed it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Because I honestly don't have the money to fix the trunk which would probably cost an arm and a leg at the stealership. Especially when the car has lower control arms that need changing.

ontmiss

spray some WD40 inside and you will be good after next wash

SunnyRayToronto

Spraying a lubricant is a good idea,... since it'll basically block out the water (which is forming the ice). But I would suggest spraying Silicone Lubricant instead of WD40 since WD40 has a cleaning agent that deteriorate the rubber and plastic pieces.

Glyn M Ruck

+1 and silicone will solidify at a lower temperature than WD40.

Silicone is not a great lubricant but will be good for this problem.

Precision German engineering

Vlad-II

Thanks for all the advice guys! I'll definitely give it a try.

OneOfaKindTrini

Hmm. I am in NYC myself in queens actually I haven't had this issue.

Vlad-II

Looks like it corrected itself turns out water seeped into the mechanism because this morning I noticed it was dripping and moist. It was above freezing today lol. So if this ever happens to anyone simple exhale your warm breath on to it and it will unfreeze lol. Assuming it's cold out. Of course if it's blazing hot, then you know it's another issue.

pcy

MB technology has come to this.... you have to blow on the trunk latch to get it working on a cold day....

potmat

-22C in Toronto today, just had this happen to my wife while she was out. Yesterday my trunk lid "tongue" (thing that pops out of the grill) broke due to the cold/ice. I guess it never gets quite this cold in Germany.