Power boot struggles to open on left side.
 

Hi all, my A8 has the power boot option and closes OK but has problems opening.

Press the keyfob button and the right hand side of the boot starts to lift but the left looks like its catching or something? If you give the left side a little help up by an inch or two it continues on opening by itself fine.

Just wondering if someone has seen this before and knows what to look for/replace or if I need to tear it apart myself and find out what's going wrong?

From experience, it just sounds like the motor is getting old and tired - a common problem.

Ah ok, do we know if it's an easy job to change and if there is an after market motor to buy or just to go direct with Audi?

It's also possible to take out the existing motor and take it apart, treat it to some violin rosin on the clutch wheel and then re-assemble and refit and then it should restore function back to working order for at least a couple of years +++
If you are coming to a local or national meet then either myself or maybe Audifin could show you how it's done +++

Changing the motor is an easy job... I'm a complete novice but managed to do mine in around 20 mins.

Looking back, I can't think why on earth it took that long!

Install upgraded boot motor.
Check boot struts most important, try getting them regassed
Check the two springs each side of boot as they give it a bit of a launch.

I had exactly this problem with mine recently. I suspect it's because of the cold.

I adjusted the little bumper things on either side of the boot lid trailing edge and it made the boot operate as per normal.

Mike

Try taking off your struts and see if they are about the same strength or swap them and see if problem is reversed.
Struts don't last forever

Even though I had adjusted the little rubber things on the boot lid and it allowed the power boot to work properly, I still decided to take the struts in for a regas.

The boot now basically springs up and is hard to close manually.
When motored down itself, it gently latches instead of thumping down the last couple of inches. It is like new.

But, I have replaced:

The lift motor - Metal body with 221nm
The soft close motor
The latch motor
The gas struts reconditioned
The hinges were done under warranty.

As an experiment, I am going to try my old boot motor (plastic body 162nm) and see if the gas struts can make it work as it struggled to open and couldn't even close the trunk properly.

Mike.

The correct gas pressure in the strut plays a major part in all this that is why it is different part number than non motor boot.
I retro fitted mine and did not work correctly until I regassed the struts to the correct pressure.
The strut man somehow knew the correct pressure.
Worked like a charm afterwards
Too much pressure and will struggle to close

Newbie alert: where can I get the struts re-gassed? What's the correct pressure?

I've fitted a new motor and it's working fine (actually, so did the old one!) but it does thunk closed rather than lowering gently.

Here in Australia it's quite common to get gas struts regassed especially for large toolboxes etc
Apparently in the USA it's not so common.
I don't know about in the uk.
I don't know the correct pressure.
The new correct Audi strut is not that expensive anyway I think

Would not the current strut have the pressure marked on it?

OK, I did a quick Google and it appears there is a company in the UK that can regas struts through the mail - SGS Engineering UK.

They just got back to me and said they can supply new struts for £41.14 for the pair, or regas mine for £29.16 (£9.50 per strut, £5.30 postage + VAT), which includes return postage. They have to inspect the struts to ascertain whether or not they can be regassed.

I'm tempted to have them regassed, so I know they'll be OEM struts.

They're based in Derby and they said they're happy for me to pop in if I'm in the area. Strangely enough, I may need to head that way for work in the next couple of months, so I may do the whole thing in person.

I think that will go a long to help solving your problem

If you're going to that effort, SGS do 'NitroLift' (nitrogen gas struts) which are around £35 if I remember correctly. Fitted some to my D2's boot and to the bonnet of another car and they perform well.

That's probably just a marketing, as far as I know most of the struts (if not all) will be filled with nitrogen as are gas filled shock absorbers because nitrogen molecules are fairly large so they escape less and nitrogen does not contain oxygen like air would so does not oxidise oil in the struts, on top of that it is cheap and abundant.

Hi mcs, if you end up with a spare lift motor I would perhaps be interested in buying it if you no longer want it, I already did the switch and wiring but was waiting for another one to come along at the right price after missing one for sale on here.

Yes the strut man when he did mine put them in a steel tube and pressurized it with nitrogen. I saw the nitrogen bottle connected to it.
It was a homemade setup. Steel tube with screw on cap.
Put struts in the tube pressurize and gas is forced past the o rings.
It is harder to reduce the pressure in the strut apparently

just bumping this thread. Did anyone at the end have their struts gassed? As my one closes fine but needs help lifting

Still on the to-do list for me.

My Boot Motor has decided to die! Good old Audi Aus wants $1,860.00(AUD $1,100GBP) for a new one(4E0827852H) :tuttut:
Anyone know where I can get one in the UK from a supplier that would ship to AUS. I have looked on EBay, but they tend to be just as old as mine?

How about this site:

http://www.carparts-pros.com/index.php

German site, but will ship to Australia. 774 euro (£659 / AUS$1,072) including shipping. You can always email them first to confirm details.

Probably other sites as well, but I've dealt with these ones myself.

Thanks mate, I'll check them out

On a slightly related note, I discovered today that if you hold down the boot lid button on the key, whilst the lid is on its way up, it will go back down again.
I'll get my coat.

Yep, I have that as well.
Mine also opens when I'm putting my keys in a pocket, but I think that is a finger problem.
Could you pass me my coat while your there? :D

Did anyone ever gas their struts? Mine seems to close OK but will not lift up when the button is pressed. I'm assuming it's the struts and not the motor?

I retrofitted mine and it struggled to open the first few inches and would shut back down unless helped manually. I found on a US forum that adusting the bolts in the corners would help it pop up - they are on the hinge brackes out on their own and the heads are under plastic caps. When unscrewed they seem to press on part of the hinge and do incerase the pop-up but it does't look like that is what they are meant to be for.

There are the Audi parts...
12 4E0 827 551 A gas filled strut 2 PR-4E2,4E4 manual
(12) 4E0 827 551 C gas filled strut left 1 PR-4E7,4E9 power
(12) 4E0 827 552 C gas filled strut right 1 PR-4E7,4E9 power
I have the 551A at the moment but will be getting the 551C 552C equivalents from SGS, they are about £38 with postage.

I have contacted SGS, about the difference, it seems the more powerful one is 390Newtons at the top which might make it hard to close?
I'm not sure which to go for...
"Thanks for your enquiry.

GSC2546 is the strut recommended for replacement at 265N.

Both struts are equal in length but the GSC2861 has more force at the very top 390N.

It will not make it pop at the bottom any faster, once the strut is nearly at the top will be the most force.

New gas struts are available at a cost of £38.74 for the pair delivered (£13.49 per strut plus £5.30carriage and VAT), are covered by a two-year guarantee and are available on next day delivery to mainland UK.

If you would like to place an order or have any questions please give us a call on 01332 576 850

Kind regards,

Nick
SGS Engineering"

Interesting. The Audi ones are showing @ £38 each so half price from SGS. Your question about the higher 390N strut is a good one and I hope someone can answer it to help me decide too :)

I have ordered GSC2546 so will post back with the results in a week or so. It's a shame these will be black and the Audi ones stainless finish but hey ho.

Perhaps you should’ve mentioned a group buy Snap as I think loads are after them??

I'll try them first, I did get some from them for my Passat bonnet years ago and TBH was not 100% happy as when I opened the bonnet, it would shoot up really fast and bang hard on the end-stop and a bit ugly too..

Fair enough. Are the stealer parts silver?

My Audi parts are silver and the SGS are black but they look OK on the car.
However they haven't made a scrap of difference to the boot not opening without a little help.
What I will try next is removing some of the heavy stuff out of the toolbox on the underside of boot lid.
Maybe I will stow these in the spare wheel.
Attachment 19358

Apologies All, I have not been concentrating on the forum for a few days.
The answer to this is the round black bumpers under the lip of the boot lid.
There are two of them and what is needed is the spring loaded ones that are adjustable. I did a short note on these a couple of years back and where in Germany I purchased them.
These are spring loaded and you can adjust them to vary the pressure released when the boot is opened. Too far out and the lid will not lock, it just reopens. Not far enough and the lid will not open.
Just correct and the boot will jerk open a inch and then carry on driven by the motor. The first movement can be a loud click.
Hope that makes some sense.
I've been plagued the last couple of hot weather days with it sticking. Resolved it by adjusting the bumpers out a couple of turns.

Yes I have the spring laoded ones but forgot about those will have a check of them. Thank you.

I stumbled across a YouTube video yesterday and that is exactly what they were doing. Didn't understand what they were saying, as it was in German, but the part number is 4F5827249B.

Found only one listing on eBay (link), but the illustration isn't very good. An image search on the part number shows it as the one with the adjustable damper.

Here's a video in english that explains it. Will try this over the weekend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um70zvNEtIw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWJ67pcFCHw

I wonder if they can be turned without removing the trim

Yes, they can be.
They are screwed into the metal and poke through the hole in the trim.
You can then screw? the outer body uo/down by hand. It is trial and error.


You have to release the centre pin before adjusting because the spring loaded pin is what does the work.
I didn't understand this bit and thought that I had wasted my time and money until a clever young smartass pointed it out to me.
I only remembered about the adjustment when reading this thread last night, so went out and tried it. Eureka it worked.


It does make the release a bit noisy late at night, but it works.



Good luck with it.

Thanks. I don't understand your comment about releasing the centre pin?