imtheking

2003 Sl500

Drive 15-20 feet, red error comes up "close boot lid". Trunk is shut and door locks etc all work so I can eliminate PSE pump.

What exactly is the "boot lid"? Is it a part of the actual locking unit? Does the entire thing need to be replaced?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/132753684222

For what it's worth, my car is rarely driven so I'm always getting "electric consumer offline" messages for the battery. Need to drive 15-20 minutes before the electronics come back online. I finally got around to hooking up a trickle charger yesterday. I was hoping this may be the issue with the boot lid not engaging since the comsumer battery controls 3847744 devices in the car

Dr. Plastic

The cover that pulls back inside the trunk?

imtheking

Not sure why that would cause an error unless you are trying to open the convertible top

MikeJ65

The boot is the trunk, boot lid = trunk lid. You probably have a leaking trunk latch actuator. The soft close will appear to work, but will release after a few seconds. Trunk will be latched on the first catch, but not properly pulled down. You should also have a red LED on the trunk release switch on the door.

imtheking

sigh- yes, I have a red light on the switch on the door

By actuator, do you mean the puck?

MikeJ65

The black puck is the release. What usually leaks is the control manifold which is the rectangular box part of the actuator and has 3 air/vacuum lines attached. See the sticky on trunk soft close.

A1EK

The pump actuator is very very common to fail. I have removed mine over 30 times fixing, glueing and replaced 3. There is an electrical connector with 2-3 pins that plugs into it, I had this issue with verdigris on the pins, cleaned them and all worked again.
This video I did will help explain if you have any air leaks\:

Tom Manning

Two short cuts to keep you going until you remove the lock and repair it: remove and replace F71 (20 A yellow in the cubby box). This will reset the pump for a time.

To close the boot, push down hard where the panel creases. Never slam the boot lid though.

imtheking

Thanks everyone- I'll give this a shot this weekend. Hopefully it warms up a bit here in DC

A1EK

Heres how to reset the trunk fuse if you are unsure: