I am having the same issue on my 2005. I thought it was just the cold and was going to see if it continues after it warms up here. Its been in the teens the last couple weeks. I will be anxious to see how you fix this issue.

 

My trunk would not close either, took it into the stealership (still under warranty) and they said the latch was faulty and needed to be replaced. It has worked fine ever since. I was able to get it to close by using the key in the trunk, might want to try that.

 

Yup, inner lock was for sure broken. The official part number is "6" on this diagram:
http://www.parts.com/oemcatalog/inde...layCatalogid=0

Total came to $46.54 which is great, especially because the stealership told me it would cost about $180.00 to fix.

The tricky part is finding all the screws on the trunk liner. I posted the diagram from the repair manual in a previous post. Be advised the two screws on the diagram that are at each side (left/right) are not the pointy push button things (i say this because I almost unscrewed them). They are hard to find because, and I love Audi for this, they have felt glued to the screw head to match the inner lining so as to not be unsightly. The screw that holds the emergency release handle on requires a torx screw driver (a small allen wrench may work) and is underneath the glow in the dark handle cover which just pops off. Once all the screws are out you have to get your hand behind the liner to pry it off. It is in place by several clips which hold it pretty tight (almost to the point where you might question if you got all the screws out).

All in all this literally took 15 minutes to fix, and I am a novice car guy.

 

good job and thanks for the update.

 

A couple of weeks ago I had this problem, closed the trunk and did not notice anything wrong until I was driving and noticed the trunk open light was on. For me it ended up being a problem with the emergency hand latch inside the trunk. After I disconnected the rod that attaches it to the lock it worked fine. Though I still haven't fixed completely, so make sure you don't lock yourself in my trunk.

 

Hi s31523,

I could not find the part for my 1998 A4. Which part is it? Please help.

http://www.parts.com/oemcatalog/inde...layCatalogid=0 ?

 

Brilliant! I have a 2004 A8L with the trunk latch issue. I tried WD40 and that helped short term. I just put the trunk in the down position and manually locked it with the key and now it's working as usual. Thank you for all your posts, I love my Audi but this was driving me crazy!

 

I spoke with Audi, when I had my car in for an oil change, and they acknowledged that cold weather is the primary reason for the trunk light to fail. I've had the A6 for 5 years, and suddenly the trunk would not latch, and since the system reads the trunk as open the alarm won't arm.

Audi is gracious enough to offer 10% on the $350.00 charge! Their rationale is "you have only been to the dealer three times" so as a result I'm being penalized for not giving the Audi dealer network, enough money to justify fair treatment.

 

I thought it might be helpful to add my own experience with pictures.

In UK we call it the tailgate, the back door on the Avant. It would not latch shut, however hard I banged, while the other 4 doors worked fine on central locking.

The whole trim under the window, the width of the car, from the lower plastic frame to the bottom of the door, can be prised off as one piece. It's fastened with nasty spring clips that you push back afterwards. Watch out for the wire to the small inset light that comes on as you open. If you can't unplug it (I couldn't) be prepared to prop up the large trim piece.

You have to remove this whole piece of trim to change a fog lamp bulb.

What seems to have failed is the actuator (part no. 4B9962115B) on the right (in the picture) of the lid that's connected to the lock by a long rod. In my case it had failed in the "open" position (see 3rd picture), not allowing the lock to latch when the door was closed. Compare my pic with a replacement and you'll see the actuator arm should be more extended.

I disconnected the long rod (at the bottom of the 1st pic) which then allowed the lock to work normally. I think the actuator's function is to allow separate unlocking of the door. As I don't use that function, disconnecting it was a free repair!

See this with pictures on YouTube: <http://youtu.be/lXJAQQCmXhc>

 

I have had this same problem with my 2004 A8 4.0TDI.
I have the European version of this car, which has a boot instead of a trunk.
I closed the lid, and locked it using the key in the keyhole
then opened it and it has worked fine since.
The problem has been intermittent, and I do feel that it has not gone away as yet.