LorinserCLK430

Ok, so I was about to go away for Labor Day Weekend. I put my luggage in the trunk of my 02 CLK 430 and I shut it. I drove to my girlfriend's house to pick her up and when I went to put her things in the trunk, it wouldn't open. The light on the trunk button in the center consol is constantly on and the remote trunk button on the key will not work.

Now I've read that others have had this problem so I tried to use thier solutions. Then I ran into my real problem: for some odd reason, the mechanical key does not fit into the trunk's lock tumbler! It fits perfectly into the door lock, but will not go more than 1/4 the way into the trunk lock. All of my things are in the trunk and my vacation has been put on hold.

I called road side assistance and they came out but still could not open the trunk. The dipsh*t even bent my key trying to jam it into the trunk lock. He was then trying to work through the small hole underneath the plastic where the first aid kit goes. Because of the size of the hole and the luggage in the trunk, he couldn't manage to engage the rear seat release nor the trunk lock. He told me that he will come back tomorrow and make the hole bigger (I guess by damaging the speaker deck lid) which I don't want to do but it seems I have no choice.

I cannot figure out why the key doesn't fit into the trunk. Anyway, does anyone know of any other options to open the trunk or release the rear seats? I'm about to call a locksmith to see if they can open the trunk. This sucks. I know I can fix the problem if I could get into the trunk at all, but I can't. It has ruined my hole weekend.

ThrillKill

Sux.
Firstly, the key will eventually fit but get that tow truck driving ape away from yout ride.Alot of people(including myself) have had trouble with the trunk lock tumbler since we never use the key and it just seizes up. Try some graphite or lock EZ and let it soak in for a few minutes. If worse comes to worse, rather than the 1st aid kit hole, you can lower the back seat armrest and kick out that plastic thing behind it. I took mine out and left it out for that very reason.
btw, I'm willing to bet your luggave got caught up on the grey trunk sensor pin and thjat is what's keeping it from opening. Good luck.

ClkE20

Yeah the light is on because the car thinks that your trunk is open already thats why you cant open it. Your switch is either faulty or got caught on something as thrill said. Stick a yardstick throught the first aid port and flick the trunk switch button. if you cant reach it turn on your lights without the engine running till the battery drains it will reset the switch along with everything else. Jump the car by using that box under the hood for positive and ground the negative to the chassis . Press trunk button on key the voila open sesame. Have done it at least 20 times since owning the car

LorinserCLK430

Well the locksmith got the key to work, after about 45 mins of trying but the red light is still on. I'm going to go back a few months and search the threads to see how to solve the problem. It already set me back $100 for the locksmith to do what he did. It was jammed pretty bad, he picked a lot of stuff out of the lock and actually thought that someone had put somethig (glue or something) in the lock. At least I can get in the trunk now. Hopefully I can get this problem fixed myself. Thanks for the help

Whodat

That sounds familiar. I have a cab and the (bad) lock actually stopped the soft top from working. Same thing, the remote key nor the true key could open it. My shop had to, get ready for this, break out one of my tailights to get my trunk to open. After they got it open, i had them change the lock out. No problems since.

LorinserCLK430

Yea, whats weird for me is that the light on the switch at the center consol is still permanantly on but the trunk works fine now. Friday night, I couldn't get it to work for the past two days but today it decided to start working.

Whodat

20 times!?!?!?! Yikes!

I bet (some) of these problems are a defective trunk lock (not in all cases maybe). The lock not sending the computer the correct information, which may have something to do with a contact inside the trunk lock. Mine would work sporadically until that lock was changed out. *sigh* Yet another electrical gizmo gone bad....
CPS, MAF, window regulators, instrument clusters, trunk locks...is there any end?

lowphat

I get the same problem with my trunk every once in a while - and you're right, it's so frustrating when the thing won't open! My little red light has been on constantly for almost two years now, irritating me to no end... (the *uckin little red light works GREAT and I'm sure it will NEVER need replacement but the trunk mechanism sucks). Only thing is that my little red light issue started at the same time as my alarm got on this "low volume constant chirp" kick that I took it to the dealer for and all they did was disconnect the siren, blaming my aftermarket ICE for the problem... even though my ICE had been in the car without causing any problems for two years prior to the *uckin' little red light thing (sorry.....) - anyway, keep us posted if you find a solution to the little *ucking red light (sorry...)

Whodat

I bet there is nothing wrong with that toggle switch. My money says it's inside the trunk lock mechanism. Again, it's sending 'bad' information to the main computer (probably a 'trunk open' signal), therefore the light stays on. I'm guessing here but that has been my experience. Again, I have a 'vert so I needed that trunk mechanism to send the proper signal to the soft top's computer for the top to go down, which wasn't happening.
Has anybody that has this problem had their whip hooked up to a STAR diagnostic computer?

ataie

red light is on always (car off or on), truck will ONLY open using the crappy little key. Mechanic thinks the lock itself is bad - dealer wants over $200 for the lock. called several junk yards and no one has the lock -

Whodat

Defective trunk lock. Change it. Approx. $200-$300 sounds about right. An indy shop can order it.

Whodat

Read post #3 on this thread:

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=161187

Hope it helps....

bs00clk

Are you sure about that Whodat? Per the dealer this has to be special ordered as it has to be cut to match your key...

Whodat

My independent shop ordered mine. And probably from the dealer at that. They told me I have to go to the dealership to get a key for the trunk. It's worked with the remote and the center console flawlessly so getting a key hasn't been a priority yet.

And now that you mention it, I'm going to revisit this issue with them tomorrow. Thanks!

928Benz

I've got the same problem. Does this sound right? a little over $300 for the lock. And another $700 for labor to drill it ot and replace. This is at a NY MB dealership. Thanks.

00 CLK430

SaintMiles

Yeah pay 1000 bucks to get the lock fixed.
Don't be rediculous, now.

If you ever have problems with a lock on your car, CALL A LOCKSMITH, not a tow truck dip****. Why do you think he drives a towtruck. (If any of you are an intelligent towtruck driver, you know what I mean. No appologies here.)

As for the lock replacement, stop at all the bodyshops in your area and find out what they'll do it for. Ask the locksmith shops too. You can probably get a lock for much less than 300(and even if you can't,save the labor) and bring it to the shop with a reasonable labor cost.

bobbyjo9

[QUOTE=SaintMiles;2915924]Yeah pay 1000 bucks to get the lock fixed.
Don't be rediculous, now.

****. Why do you think he drives a towtruck. (If any of you are an intelligent towtruck driver, you know what I mean. No appologies here.)

Hmmm why don't you enlighten us with your wealth of knowledge on why he does? May want to keep that little diddy to yourself when you need that roadside assistance. No appology needed