SL/R231: Sl550 trunk won’t latch consistently
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2025
Posts: 12
Likes: 2
2013 SL550
Sl550 trunk won’t latch consistently
I have a problem where my 2013 sl550 trunk won’t latch consistently. It goes up, stays open fine but when I try to close it it closes fine but then pops open again. It will sometimes do this 10 or more times before it will latch. I’m not positive on this but it seems to mostly do this when I have stuff in the trunk, but there doesn’t look like there’s anything in the way which would prevent it from latching. Any ideas?
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2021
Posts: 25
Likes: 15
From: York,PA
2013 Sl550, 2012 CTS-V coupe, 2015 Grand Cherokee, 2014 Ram 2500
Trunk won’t latch
I had the identical problem which mostly manifested as the weather got colder. Turned out to be the lock mechanism. There is a micro switch inside. The latch tells the car when the trunk is closed. That microswitch has lubricant which overtime and particularly when colder turns very thick, preventing the micro switch from operating properly. I replaced the latch mechanism and has not had another problem in two years. It was not a difficult replacement, took less than an hour and a half. Part was readily available online. I do not unfortunately have a record of the part number. Good luck.
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2025
Posts: 12
Likes: 2
2013 SL550
Thank you for the quick response. Im going to play around with it today to see if it only does it when the trunk is full. If it does it when the trunk is empty, I’ll replace the latch mechanism as you suggested. FYI: I live in a very temperate climate, never gets below 45 F nor above 80 F.
