Brera Spider boot release not working

[Helmerson]

Hi folks,

My Brera Spider slowly got worse and worse in reliably opening the boot with the key fob. Now I am at a point where I can only use the emergency cable behind the passenger seat.

When pressing the key fob for opening the boot, there is the sound of a relay clicking on and then off with a duration of a second or so. The clicking sound seems to come from somewhere behind the fuse panel next to the steering column. At the same time the hazard lights blink on and off once or twice.

I took the boot lock solenoid out and applied 12 volts from my battery charger (the solenoid coil has around 10 ohms resistance, so approx. 1.2 amps current draw) and it works fine, with lots of power to move the unlock strike. However, the plus wire (red) leading to the boot lock solenoid does not receive a power signal from the car. I am suspecting the relay which clicks may not properly close its contacts anymore. Anyone know where precisely it hides and if this is a likely fault?

All fuses check out fine, it's basically a situation where the car's logic is activating the relay but no power goes back to the solenoid. The microswitch inside the lock is not to blame either, it correctly shows on the instrument panel when the boot is open and the light in the boot works as expected as well. Any ideas?

[Citroënbender]

A while back, you could get cheap torrents of questionable legality, out of the Eastern Bloc with the factory service data for your nominated model.  These included almost all the circuits; you might find this stuff informative/handy.

If the lights are flashing and relay clicking, it means the transponder is driving the body computer correctly, which is powering the relay coil.  Possibly the current supply to the solenoid (as switched by said relay) has popped its fuse.