I/S Trunk - Access to locking mechanism

[bassman]

To access the locking mechanism on an I/S trunk do you have to seperate the inner and outer shell of the bottom half of the trunk?  Can this be done without removing the rubber weather trunk seal ?  Had the trunk painted and I just removed the lid from the trunk and it's hardware along with the mounting rails.  It appears the painter seperated the two shells for painting and now the locking mechanism doesn't work.  The lid won't close completely and lock due (I suspect) to the lock latch being in the closed position. The release on the bottom of the trunk doesn't work either.  I also installed a new rubber weather seal with lots of 3M Black Super Weatherstrip Adhesive (shmoooied it up real good!) and fear I'll need to buy a new one if I have to remove this one.  Arrrggghhhh !!!   Any thoughts / ideas on how to fix this latch / lock?

TIA !!!

[BonS]

I don't know what might be buggered up with you latch but I do know that you have to remove the weather strip to get at about half of the screws that hold the inner shell to the outer shell. When I disassembled my trunk I did see the latch mechanism and the only way to get at it is to remove the inner shell. You should be able to release the latch turning the latch key to the left, counterclockwise. Have you tried that?

[Steve K (IA)]

Yes, try the key before digging any further.

[bassman]

Tried the key again and it moves about 90* to the right and returns to the original position by a spring....it moves a little less than 90* to the left but nothing happens.  There is a brass or metal looking piece of metal about 1/8" thick blocking the elongated "D" shaped hook on the top lid from closing completely.  This is the piece that appears to have a "J" style latch on it (trying to see it thru the hole anyway) that holds the "D" hook in place when the lid is closed.  I tried to turn the key and move this latch with a screwdriver but no luck.  Guess the next move is to take it all apart and see if somethings is disconnected inside.  The under box release does not work either....when the latech is pulled to the open position it stays there and does not automatically spring back into place (assuming it's suppose to work like that).  I've never had or used an I/S trunk before so not familiar with exactly how it operates.   

[BonS]

Yes, the lever underneath the trunk is spring loaded and will return to its rest position after you let it go. When you rotate the key to the position that is spring loaded the is the "unlatch" position. The other direction is the "lock" position. The J-hook piece of metal that you see when looking at the latch mechanism should be moveable with a screwdriver. The D-shaped part on the lid simply presses down on the J-hook and the J-hook rotates the J into position to capture the lid catch. A screwdriver easily presses the J-hook and it will rotate and latch into position. Rotating the key will cause the J-hook to spring back out of the way allowing the lid to be raised. I'd leave the lid up and again use the screwdriver to press straight down on the J-hook. If it won't rotate then the latch mechanism is sprung somehow.

[Kingbee]

I'm almost ready to swap the trunk locks in my "project".  Is it possible to release & remove the lock cylinder through the tail light holes, or am I going to have to remove both the inner liners?

[BonS]

I don't know what it takes to remove a lock cylinder. Thinking back to when I pulled my liner, I don't think you get much access to the lock mechanism through the taillight holes.  The four screws for the taillights reveal the light housings and ~maybe~ the wiring harness but it has a strain relief attachment between the shell and liner. I didn't find removing and reinstalling the liner to be much of a chore though. I'd rather do that than remove/reinstall the gas tank sometimes!

[Momz]

Having had to disassemble my trunk, I found that there are no real short-cuts.

If the latching/locking mechanisms are not working, then it must be due to an assembly issue. It is not hard to troubleshoot the lock mechanism, but you will have to completely disassemble the trunk.

Hint: Use a digital camera to keep track of where all those fasteners go

Good luck