You talked me into it you silver tongued devil... where, how, cost... lol
The P38 boot release button does not give a lot of trouble, the main problem is the spring rusting away. But if they do fail, mine became increasingly intermittiant over a period of months, a replacement is expensive. Annoyingly, although there are 2 micro switches, there is only one actuator so only one can be used. Bear in mind that a dodgy micro switch in the drivers door lock can give the same symptoms, I tested the boot switch with an ohm meter, it read around 5 ohms instead of zero. I also checked the locks worked by shorting the 2 pins in the connector, once I was sure it was the boot switch, I replaced it as described below.
I have replaced the button with the following part now available from Farnell :- 76-9116/439088, this is a black one but other colours are available. It is water and ice proof and is rated for -40C to +80C.
It is necessary to remove the trim for access, 3 quarter turn plastic fastners under the spring loaded plastic trim flap.
Then it's 2 screws and the connector to remove the button assembly.
With the button assembly out, from the back a twist is needed to release the inner part making sure you push the locking tang clear.
You now have the empty plastic mounting tube.
Now for the new switch. Leave the backing nut in place and solder wires to the 2 outer tags, it is now ready to put into the mounting tube.
The switch is a loose (but not too loose) fit in the tube, drop it into place and you can see that it looks pretty near a perfect fit. (see photo's)
Now you have to fix the switch in place, I used a hot glue gun as the glue stays soft long enough to postion the switch exactly and it sets quickly enough that you are not standing there all day. Use plenty of glue. The hot glue has the advantage that it can be melted out if the need arises.
You can now refit the assembly to the car and connect to the wiring loom. I had a spare connector for this, or you can cut the connectro off and solder the wires together. Protect the joints with heat shrink tube if possible, or insulate carefully with tape.
Check it works, refit the trim, job done.
