The secret of the A5/MkV trunk release that does not close when cold

hutchman

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Location
Virginia
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI Pkg 1, 5 Spd, Graphite Blue / 2002 Jetta GLS, Black w/tan leather
Tonight I fixed the trunk which probably still will not get me any points with my wife ;).

I've heard of others replacing their latch or having the dealer do it under warranty. We have almost 80k so no warranty.

I'm not quite convinced the latch was the problem. I compared the new one to the old one and they appeared to look and work the same. The new one was silver on the metal parts instead of black and the part the cables hooked to was white instead of the original which was black.

To get the liner off:

There are 4 Phillip screws just below the emergency handle that have to come out.

Pull off the plastic cover that is on the latch. It pulls straight down.

After that you can pull straight toward you the liner and the clips will come out. Some may fly off so be careful and don't go too crazy.

There is a plastic cover over the right half of the latch. Just pull it to the right and it will come off.

Unplug the electrical harness on the left.

A 10mm socket gets the two nuts off that hold the latch on.

Pull the cables out of the slot that holds the jacket of the cable first and then you can slide the little cam end off the latch.

The install of the new one is just the reverse.

Now I really think the problem is the post in the bottom the latch catches on. I suspected that it was adjustable and it turns out that it moves quite a bit left/right, up/down.

To get to it you unscrew the two plastic nuts down around where the jack is near the floor. Straight blade for this.

Next pull the rubber seal back and start lifting straight up on the plastic part that runs over the top of the carpet where the two rubber bumpers of trunk lid rest when closed.

Lift straight up to undo 4 plastic clips which are on the top edge of the plastic part you are pulling straight up on.

Once you have this part out you can get to the two T40 bolts.

Loosen both and slide it up toward the top almost the highest position which should be good.

If you mess around and get the trunk to shut good at this point, when you put it back together it won't shut right because the rubber bumpers of the trunk lid will rest on the plastic that wasn't there when you were adjusting!!!

One technique is to get it shutting easy and then move it up about the width of the plastic (1/8" maybe) so when it is put back together it should be just right.

Put it back together is the reverse. Make sure the 4 clips go in right or you'll make the height of the plastic higher than it was meant to which will get in the way of the rubber bumpers = doesn't shut good!

One of my clips was messed up and not in all the way which may have been part of my problem.

I'll clean up my old part and lube it up with some silicone or white lithium grease and keep it as a spare if this happens again but I think it might be the striker adjustment rather than the latch.

Enjoy trying this before you try the latch replacement so you keep some hard earned dollars someone else is going to try and take away if you know what I mean.

If you do want the latch, the SKU at Impex is 542791 and the part number for 1st VW parts is
4F5827505D. I got mine from Impex due to needing it fast.

Sorry, no pictures as I did it in the dark.

Hope this helps someone.
 
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