Ford S-Max boot catch warning says its open when it's not, but i can’t open the boot now

May be a faulty lock or possibly the wiring at top of car into tailgate is damaged / broken . You will have to go in through the back to get access to boot , remove boot trim , manually open and check for cause of fault .

Thank you, it has only started happening since this hot weather

I may have misread your post and assumed you could not get boot opened as opposed to it being shut when checked . Try opening it and reshutting it when it happens again and see if it clears the fault

You are correct I can not open the boot,
The alarm is saying the boot is open but when when I try to open the boot with the fob it wont open. Only the indicator lights flash only the dashboard.

Couple of same solutions as possible cause here ( someone forgot to put off caps lock )


Ford Model: S-MAX

HELLO, SUCCESS, I HAVE SOLVED MY TAILGATE PROBLEM, IT WAS A STICKY CATCH!!. I HAD TO CLIMB INTO THE BOOT, AND REMOVE THE TAILGATES INNER PANEL. TO THE RIGHT AND LEFT THERE IS 2 SMALL PULL OUT PANELS IN THE TAILGATE MAIN PANEL , REMOVE THEM, THEY ARE SHAPED LIKE KIDNEYS. NOW YOU HAVE TO USE A LITTLE FORCE, NOT TO MUCH, GRIP THE PANEL ON ONE SIDE WHERE YOU TAKEN OUT ONE OF THE SMALL KIDNEY SHAPE PANELS, AND PULL SHARPLY. IT SHOULD COME AWAY. NOW KEEP PULLING UNTIL YOU REMOVE THE WHOLE PANEL. MOVE THIS OUT OF THE WAY. NOW GET SOMEONE TO PRESS THE FOB ON THE KEY TO OPEN THE BOOT AND AT THE SAME TIME TRY TO OPEN THE BOOT PHYSICALLY. WITH YOU INSIDE THE BOOT BANGING WITH THE PALM OF YOUR HAND AGAINST WHERE THE CATCH IS AND HOPEFULLY IT WILL OPEN. WHEN OPENED GET SOME, WD-40 OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT AND SPRAY CATCH UNTIL IT WORKS FREELY AGAIN, JOB DONE, THANK GOD! :D

And


Well, that was easy! I didn't even have to remove the plastic panel.

From inside the boot you can just see enough of the latch to poke around with a screwdriver while pressing the release button on the remote. This resulted in a satisfying click and the tailgate released.

Few squirts of Teflon lube and the jobs-a-goodun!

Same has happened to me on a number of times. I used to bump the car down a curb which then released the catch but it failed to do that on the last ocassion so like the rest of you I dived in the back and smacked the lock with a blunt object and 'hey presto' the boot opened. I used motorcyle chain wax and it has been great ever since. It must just get dry and dusty in the lock and jam. I did call Ford and they wanted £100+ to fix it!!

Thank you, I will try today and get back to you and let you know the outcome

Well it worked, we got it through the boot from inside, we used a screw driver as described as above, the alarm has not stopped so we can over ride it until we can get it fixed but at least I can open the boot now. We have put grease on now, it doesn’t open 1st time we press the fob, it may do it either third or second time but it does it if the boot is open.

Thanks for updating the forum . Only thing is grease is not good on lock , far better soaking with WD 40 or something similar

Thanks for updating the forum . Only thing is grease is not good on lock , far better soaking with WD 40 or something similar

It was short lived it's back to square one again
Will get wd40 tomorrow

Alas we has to get an auto electrician out and get climb in and take the interior off to get the boot open and the fault actually lay with faulty wiring which went around the boot, the windscreen wiper stopped working aswell.
All fixed soldered together for £60 on my drive. Good as new now alarm going off, boot opens. Thanks

That was suggested as a possible cause in my first reply to you . Glad you got it fixed .

Yes thank you, I tried the other options as suggested but to no avail but at least this page helped me try them. Thank you