Mrs Pounder's 2005 Nissan Micra. The hatchback was squeaking so I used a spot of VD40 on the struts. It was only a small amount. Up and down with the boot lid, no squeak. Closed boot lid. Now it will not open!
Anybody?
I'm generally a WD40 fan, but it might be the wrong product here; being a mineral oil, it *might* cause the strut seals to swell, although if the strut has mineral oil inside it the seals will probably be nitrile and thus oil resistant.
I think it is probably two independent problems. Or perhaps the squeak was in the hinges, not the struts, and because of wear on the pins/bushes the lid has not got itself into a bad geometry. You might try levering at the hinge end using a screwdriver with a bit of PVC tape to protect the paint.
Should have used WD40 instead :-)
On Tuesday 15 January 2013 17:29 Mr Pounder wrote in uk.d-i-y:
Wouldn't that make them itchy?
I am corrected.
{bastards}
{bastards}
After all that up and down up and down followed by some VD it may be poxied shut? Oh, and up and down followed by no squeak means you aren't a caring lover ;-)
On an unrelated note, I've just had to remove and re-lubricate a door lock on the camper van because it stopped working every time the temperature got down close to freezing. Didn't lock shut, it refused to latch at all. Don't know if there was water in the grease, or what. However a lot of WD40 followed by some cycle oil seems to have done the trick for the time being.
So one suggestion is to apply some heat to the area, with a fan heater, hot air gun or similar and see if that frees it off. If so, strip and relubricate (the lock!).
Cheers
Dave R
Define what you mean by 'will not open'. Lock turns and the lid starts to rise, but then the struts won't let it? Or what?
Indeed. Too vague to diagnose.
I'm sure I remember reading somewhere on the net about the perils of using WD40 on hydraulic rams or similar strut. It was posted by a sailor (Ellen McCarthy possibly) who had trouble with steering rams that seized after being treated with WD40.
Tim
One typo. I made one typo and this lot are all over me!
Button on key used. Lid does f*ck all. It is one of those silly electronic open door things.
Read my last posting. Central locking thingeee. Opening by pressing a button on a key. I'm so sorry I did not make myself clear enough.
Thanks for you input.
Just like a rash.
But you don't get many ovines at sea, do you?
Should have used SK70 obviously. ;-)
Tim
You don't have a separate release lever inside the car, by any chance?
What this comes down to is that the lock will not operate. I completely fail to see how the struts can affect the lock. Even if the struts are seized totally, you'd expect a bit of play, ie enough for the lock to operate.
If all else fails, drop the rear seats forward and crawl inside the boot to see what's wrong.
I had to look that up! :-)
Google found:
I saw a Lifestyles condom in the student center at my school, and it said " Lubricated with SK70."
and
SK 70 D. Preliminary Data. Features. ? Compact design. ? One screw mounting.
Strange bedfellows...
Temperatures have been below zero, do your windscreen washers work?
I ask because on my car the hatch lock and the washers share a fuse.
Water in washer bottle freezes, operate washers, pump struggles, stalls & blows fuse.
No washers. No hatchback access.
It is a known problem with the boot switch (try google or see
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