HELP - Key stuck in ignition barrel, boot won't open... bad battery connection suspected

makeshiftUK

makeshiftUK

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1,090
Please help... walked up to my QPV today, pressed unlock on the fob... usual sound and light flashing, and then noticed the motorised front drivers door handle wasn't working. Re-locked, un-locked, still nothing.

Opened the front drivers door with the manual handle release, then inserting the key into the ignition and I had the dash light up for a moment - and then die, with all gauge needles vibrating for a second or so close to their idle positions. I'm unable to free the key from the ignition barrel.


The battery isn't more than a few years old, regularly charged with a CTEK (fully charged only a week and a half ago), I suspect the connection has come loose... can't access the boot with the spare key, the boot microswitch is electrically powered, and putting the key into the boot lock just spins round and round with no resistance.

What can I do??
 
Last edited:
keith.willey1

keith.willey1

Junior Member
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safrane said:
Should be a little rubber bung under the key slot, in there is a button to release the key.
Click to expand...
This way of retrievong the key works, done it several times. The problem of unlocking the boot when the key isn't catching sounds strange. Usually it's a case of the key being very stiff to turn in the boot lock rather than spinning in the barrel. Hopefully weight on the boot helps?

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
 
makeshiftUK

makeshiftUK

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1,090
Thanks all... key safely retrieved from ignition barrel!

Tried holding down the boot lid and turning the key, but the key just keeps turning round and round in the barrel with no resistance...

Edit: Can't find a manual boot release in either the rear passenger or driver footwell.
 
Last edited:
safrane

safrane

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16,828
Reads like the rods have been disconnected in the boot lid?

There was a post on here where some one removed the cover plate to access the solenoid
 
makeshiftUK

makeshiftUK

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1,090
After much flapping, swearing and some DIY... the boot is open, and the battery is back on the CTEK. Here's what I did.

1) Partially remove the boot trim piece from its seated position... 5 screws from underneath:

87639

2) With the trim wiggled out (no need to unplug electrics), its clear to see that the locking barrel wasn't physically connected into the actuator:

87642

3) The other end of the locking actuator, is pictured. In a correct setup, this actuator would be 'seated' in a retaining clip, at the back of the locking mechanism in picture 2.
Pulling the cable in the direction of the red arrow, released the boot...

87643

Poor girl is now back on charge. I also found a rogue spring which I suspect needs refitting... I refitted the boot trim, and will leave the experts to do the rest.

87644

For the sake of ruling out suspect causes, surely its worth replacing the battery?
 
makeshiftUK

makeshiftUK

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1,090
Zep said:
Nice work. Yes, if it has been that flat, it will never get back to full health.
Click to expand...
Replacement 'EA1000 Exide Premium Car Battery 017TE' ordered just now from Tayna... the one its replacing is almost exactly 2 years old, and has only covered about 4k miles in that time albeit over many, many small journeys.
 
makeshiftUK

makeshiftUK

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1,090
Thanks, but I don't think I'm out of the woods just yet... disconnected the CTEK for today to lock up for the night (wish I had a garage), and when letting the boot drop it didn't electrically actuate to the closed position. All the door handle microswitches aren't working either.

I think I'll do a 30min battery reset tomorrow AM, and get the CTEK back on.
 
gb-gta

gb-gta

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1,138
makeshiftUK said:
Replacement 'EA1000 Exide Premium Car Battery 017TE' ordered just now from Tayna... the one its replacing is almost exactly 2 years old, and has only covered about 4k miles in that time albeit over many, many small journeys.
Click to expand...

Its your car getting grumpy with you because you aren’t driving it enough!
 
conaero

conaero

Forum Owner
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34,626
You need to reset the body computer.

lock

unlock

press and hold the boot button

see how you get in with that.
 
makeshiftUK

makeshiftUK

Member
Messages
1,090
conaero said:
You need to reset the body computer.

lock

unlock

press and hold the boot button

see how you get in with that.
Click to expand...
Thanks… presumably all done from the fob?

And should I try this first instead of disconnecting the battery?

EDIT, found the full reset procedure here and will give this a go: https://www.sportsmaserati.com/index.php?threads/boot-lock-issue.31205/
  1. Turn car off and close all the doors
  2. Open the trunk lid
  3. Manually switch the locking mechanism to its locked position
  4. With your right hand depress the spring (with black rubber) and hold down (body control computer now thinks the trunk is closed)
  5. While holding down the spring with your right hand, use your left hand to lock and arm the doors using the key fob
  6. Still holding the spring, unlock the doors using the key fob. You may need to lock/unlock a few times.
  7. Once you hear the trunk mechanism working, unlock all doors and close the trunk lid. The power pull down should now work.
  8. The trunk lid has now successfully been reprogrammed
 
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Alan Surrey

Alan Surrey

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993
Thanks Makeshift.
This kind of knowledge, experience, help and guidance is a great help and comfort to newcomers like myself!
 
makeshiftUK

makeshiftUK

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1,090
Tried the 8-step reset procedure, no joy. I noticed when locking the car, the lights flash about 7/8 times in rapid sequence, instead of the 2 normal flashes.

With a bit of juice now in the battery, I could insert the key into the ignition and retrieve it - parking brake failure proudly displayed on the dashboard.

In the meantime, I've had the battery on charge for 11-10 hours now, and its only illuminating 3 out of the 7 CTEK charging progress LEDs... normally by now it'd be on at least 4, or perhaps 6 LEDs lit. Duff battery or continuous drain from somewhere?

Not really sure what to do... I don't want my trunk lid left un-closed for another night for obvious reasons. Help...
 
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