Electrical Problem - Honda Accord

[piggzy]

Dunno if there are any car experts among us but I have a problem with my Honda Accord 2004 Tourer (Estate)
It is a 2.0 Petrol.

Couple of days ago boot stopped opening. Most fucking ridiculous design ever. All boot opening mechanisms are electronic including the handle on the exterior of the boot . The only way now to open boot is to climb through and use emergency boot opening handle hidden underneath a panel. Fucking idiot designers.

Anyway have checked fuses. The boot is one of them that would open from a button on keyfob itself and close itself if pressed again. This has never worked for me but wasnt bothered and just used exterior handle (button) on boot. This is what has stopped.

Disconnected/Reconnected battery. Boot opened once. Then dead again. The boot has its own fucking ECU which I managed to locate in trim in boot.

Just wondered if anyone had any advice where to start troubleshooting.

Fucking electronics on cars are getting stupid. Gonna buy an old 6 volt Beetle :-)

[pratman]

maybe check the wiring loom going through to the tailgate and remove the rubber cover and see if any wires have severed. I had this issue on my golf, but if you have a rear wiper try using that, if that doesnt work then they odds are the loom has some broken wires, some can be repaired which is a much cheaper option, if the loom needs replacing though thats a couple of hundred quid, but it may not be that just going off personal experience

[piggzy]

Rear wiper and lights all fine. Checked some wires but daylight was fading so need to check rest tomorrow. Thanks for advice.

[Over Carl]

Typical bootlid problems I've found in the past (non vehicle specific) often tend to be corroded earth points and/or broken wire(s) in the rubber flexible section between the bootlid and body of car.

That would be my first suggestion to hunt around.

If that doesn't yield any results, then next step means finding correct wiring diagrams and getting hold of a scan tool that can operate the boot lock/unlock function without using the normal buttons on car/remote and using the tool to operate the lock and use meter or even better oscilloscope to detect for the lock/unlock pulses at the connector to the lock. Also use the scan tool to verify if the module detects lock/unlock buttons being pressed. If no pulses then check wiring from lock to whatever module controls it shows virtually 0 ohms continuity end to end and no shorts to any other wires in that bundle or to earth or +12v. If you have got this far and still haven't found any problems you probably need to replace the control unit. If no signal from switch then check switch to control module instead of lock to control module.

Electronics in cars are a lot more complicated than years ago, but having all the luxuries we expect means a lot of functions are now run by networked computers rather than being simple mechanical systems or simple circuits that just need a switch to close to complete the circuit.

[Squizza]

Hey,

Why are boots on cars so difficult! Had an instance once where I pressed the Boot opening button on the keyfob, stupidly put the keys in the boot whilst I picked up a couple of bags/boxes and then closed the boot...
Keys were locked in the car and I had to call out a locksmith to open it. The spares were 250 miles away so we were stuck.

On a different car it did fail once and I had to repeat what you did. Problem I had is that there was not 60/40 split and I had a baby seat attached. Meant taking the baby seat out each time, pulling the back seat down and releasing the boot.
Turned out to be corrosion on the points and was soon fixed. Annoying though.

[doughboy]

Typical bootlid problems I've found in the past (non vehicle specific) often tend to be corroded earth points and/or broken wire(s) in the rubber flexible section between the bootlid and body of car.

I'd go with the bad earth too

Don't know if the info in this link is of any use to you.

http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/....asp?tid=23707

[piggzy]

Thanks for replies guys. I am seeing a lot of info saying ECU for tailgate (yes it has its own ECU) often get out of sync e.g. not knowing whether boot open or not.
Resetting this should fix e.t.c
I assume disconnecting battery for 20 mins should do a reset.
Tried this a few times now and every time I reconnect battery. Boot opens ONCE. Then all is dead again pmsl

Have tried reconnecting battery with boot in open state and closed. No difference still opens once. Do you reckon this points to goosed ECU or am I not resetting it properly.
As it opens albeit once this must surely rule out bad earth, switch, fuse & wiring. I assume it opens but is not getting info it has been closed again???

Confused as fuck. Why not have a mechanical handle on exterior of the boot for cunts sake. Managed to locate and remove ECU, checked all wiring and seemed fine.

Thanks again

[cosmicma]

if it's anything like the honda civic the boot opening problems are mostly related to the drivers door actuator it looks like that part controls the boot lock as well

[piggzy]

Will try checking that too thanks. Not had the time yet. Plan on having another look the end of the week.