My car is a late 2002 156 with facelifted interior. I'm getting problems that I suspect are caused by a break in the boot loom:
1) Central locking sometimes doesn't engage ... the locks pop open again!
2) The info display says that the boot is open, but it is firmly closed! When I operate the boot microswitch it sometimes works, but on some days it doesn't respond!
3) The alarm goes off randomly. The dashboard LED flashes seven times .... the manual says that is caused by the boot.
I've got a feeling that the loom has got a crack in it, somewhere near the flexible rubber "gaiter" or whatever it is! Or is it the microswitch? How difficult is it to replace the loom?
I think you're right. It could, however, be just that the microswitch needs cleaning. Test the wires from the catch with a multimeter - spray lots of electrical contact cleaner into the catch where the switch seems to be. There was a thread about this a couple of months back.
I have noticed on mine that the flexible rubber pipe for the cables tends to get trapped between the edge of the bootlid and the seal around the rear windscreen glass. I bet that will be the first place that wires break - seen it happen many times on old FIAT Tipos.
If mine needed fixing, I would buy a new flexible rubber pipe assuming that the current one has splits/tears (hopefully not TOO expensive, but won't be cheap) and then I would solder in some replacement wires - use a high-quality (many strand) flexible wire, and use heatshrink tubing over the solder joints. Make sure the joints are not in the part of the wiring that flexes - otherwise, they will just break again.
Changing the loom is probably a fairly big operation involving a strip of the rear lights and the boot lining, and I bet the loom will seem very expensive.
I disconnected/reconnected the loom, wiggled it around a bit, and it seems to be back to normal. I will definitely replace the loom in the near future .... it isn't worth this much hassle :lol:
I have developed the same problem on my 156. Have you managed to sort it? Is the microswitch within the boot catch as I haven't taken it apart yet (don't know what I'm looking for if I'm honest)?
I replaced the boot catch mechanism, and it seems to have gone away ....
Thanks to everyone who replied!
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