280TE Jammed Boot

[kramix]

Hi,

Just brought a 1984 W123 without an MOT. Aim to take her to Central Asia around Easter time, about 4,000 miles, for charity. Loads of things to fix, heres another one:

After slamming the boot shut it now seems reluctant to open again. Tried opening with the central locking (still works!), boot lock and the pull thingie in the book - think thats what its for anyway. Just wont open at all!

Either do the fix myself or get someone in, dont want to be ripped off! Any help would be great! Need a quick and cheap fix.

 

[andy_k]

if you are sure that the door is not locked independently of the central locking (it's a multi function key) you should take the trim off the inside of the boot door (you can do it without doing any permanent visible damage to the panel) undo the lift handle and surround then lift the trim upwards - it should come away but may need a little gentle persuasion (and maybe ripping of an internal fabric trim) to get the bottom free - that all depends on how well the last person who took it apart put it back together

once you are in there you'll be able to get at the lock mechanism and release it manually.

My guess would be that somebody has disconnected the inner handle as a means of child proofing that door lock - even on the seven seaters that's the only option if you want child proofing on the W123s and W124s (we even have a receipt from the dealers where the previous owner of our car had this "mod" carried out).

Once you've got the rear door open you'll need to repair the fabric strip on the bottom of the door trim and remember in future not to slam the rear door

HTH

Andy