hey all,

when I press the lock button to lock the car, it locks all doors except for the trunk...

you can open it but the alarm will go off, so I guess it thinks it's acutally locked but not? Could it be the actuator that controls the lock for the trunk?

thanks!

 

i had the same issue, replaced actuator and everythings fine now.

 

any idea how much that costs? out of warranty

 

sorry...mine was warranteed.

 

darn...hope it's not too much, but I have a feeling it's gonna cost a few hundred

I hope it's just the lock sticking but it doesn't look like it

 

I just had mine replaced out of warranty...it was different door though...not the rear hatch...seems like all actuators have this problem...

The actuator is about $90...and expect $250 in labor...they have rip the door trim to get to it...

Good luck..

 

damn.

BUT, some good news hopefully. I crawled into the trunk and shut the door behind me so I could see what was going on :p

the actuator is actually working, I just don't think it's catching the lock. If I manually lock it from the inside and unlock the car with the remote (using either unlock button twice or trunk unlock button) it will unlock the trunk. It just won't lock it. I can feel the actuator working, it seems like it's slipping when trying to catch it into the lock position...so maybe the whole thing doesn't need replacing, possibly just something came loose?

 

GDawg, youre right its just not catching if the actuator is working. its a DIY job. pull the trunk end apart and youll see it, pretty obvious.

 

is it hard? I'm thinking of taking the door panel apart and taking a look...something easily that can be screwed up?

thanks man, you've been a great help

 

its pretty easy...take it slow and just remember the order of how you pulled it apart. dont worry, not many parts involved. try it, youll figure it out. if you need help, let us know.

no problem, thats what a forum is for, right? to help each other out. (except the few that come here to **** and moan about how they hate the ml...then why are they even here?)

 

hehe, cool.

i'll give it a shot tomorrow when there's sunlight (dark day today )

i'll be back if i have questions, for sure

 

good luck.

 

I see two screws, one on each side where the plastic splits into two pieces and thats where the screws are. I don't see any others, so I'm assuming the rest of the panel is held by clips?

any danger of snapping those clips?

 

be gentle on the clips...they will break. if they do break, no big deal dealer has cheap replacements.

 

had the same problem. i took the panel off and looked at the lock inside. theres a pin in there that holds the pull that u can open from the inside. the pin slide out of place. i put the pin back in place and put some grease on it n its fine now.

 

did you take the panel off while the trunk door was open, so you'd be looking up when doing it? or did you take the entire trunk door off then work on it?

i haven't had time to try yet, I think I will this weekend when I'm free, thanks for the help man.

 

i took the panel off...not the trunk door itself lol . thats some crazy **** to do that. yeah i took the panel off. then i would sit on the edge of the trunk. pull the door down and work from there. or u can close the trunk and work from there. either way u can do. bring a flashlight with u.

 

alright, thanks man. This is a weekend job

I'll probably have more questions when I'm doing it, haha, maybe I'll bring my laptop and use my wireless to post questions while working ^_^

 

i had the same problem, finds out that the wire for the trunk door light was loose... used electric tape and now the trunk door can be locked.

 

Lower liftgate trim removal. Remove the two push pins where the upper and lower L\G trims meet by the glass, remove the chissem cover over the third brake light,remove the small phillips screw at the inside handle, open both compartment doors remove the first aid kit, remove three T30 screws,remove two black push pins by pushing the center up all the way into the L\G , remove the two big push pins that are the same color as your trim,sometimes it is easier to cut these out, then pull out at the top to get it away from the glass and start from one side and pull down on the trim while you have one hand over the latch cover, when the trim falls down the cover will fall and you can catch it. That is the instructions for a 2000 and up the older ones are only two or three of the steps I just gave. The door panel is removed by removing the cover over the pull handle,and the SRS tab, then remove the three phillips screws,if the front door remove the delta cover thats the front part with the little speaker in it, start on one side and pull out all the way around to remove the panel. Then unplug the light on the bottom of the panel, the handle cable" and lock cable on the back door", replace any broken clips and reinstall all in reverse order make sure it is seated good at the top first. Autogunner.