Trunk Opening Problems
#16
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: TX
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I am really not trying to get in a pissing match with you... and I wish I had video. I will try my best to describe what I saw.
When I actuate the key there is no clunk or noise other than the motor running. What I saw when I had the trunk open was this...
this is a drawing of the latch and I show the orientation to the bar at the bottom...
The little thing that looks like the Millennium Falcon would rotate the opening up and down. If the opening pointed down it would lock over the bar at the bottom then rotate back up and "seat the trunk down".
The problem is mine is always like this...
The opening is never down. It gets close as in the first picture but it's never really down to release the trunk. If I pull up on the trunk enough to extend the shocks as in I feel like I am about to rip the trunk off the car the wheels are coming off the ground, when I actuate the key and the motor turns the opening down just enough I force the trunk to open.
Once it;'s open I can stick a screwdriver in as if the bar was there. With the screwdriver in place the falcon has something to bite on as if it were the bar at the bottom. Then when I turn the key the falcon spins and if I work the screwdriver up and down a small plastic piece will drop down and the Falcon will open all the way to the bottom, stop the go right back where it was as in fully closed. If I time it just right I can yank out the screwdriver and close the trunk and hold it down while the Falcon bites on the real bar and holds the trunk closed. I've done this 6 times maybe.
The bottom line here is at least on my car if the motor does not spin there is no way to open the trunk.
I am sure there are details I left out of my drawings but it was really just to get you a point of reference.
When I actuate the key there is no clunk or noise other than the motor running. What I saw when I had the trunk open was this...
this is a drawing of the latch and I show the orientation to the bar at the bottom...
The little thing that looks like the Millennium Falcon would rotate the opening up and down. If the opening pointed down it would lock over the bar at the bottom then rotate back up and "seat the trunk down".
The problem is mine is always like this...
The opening is never down. It gets close as in the first picture but it's never really down to release the trunk. If I pull up on the trunk enough to extend the shocks as in I feel like I am about to rip the trunk off the car the wheels are coming off the ground, when I actuate the key and the motor turns the opening down just enough I force the trunk to open.
Once it;'s open I can stick a screwdriver in as if the bar was there. With the screwdriver in place the falcon has something to bite on as if it were the bar at the bottom. Then when I turn the key the falcon spins and if I work the screwdriver up and down a small plastic piece will drop down and the Falcon will open all the way to the bottom, stop the go right back where it was as in fully closed. If I time it just right I can yank out the screwdriver and close the trunk and hold it down while the Falcon bites on the real bar and holds the trunk closed. I've done this 6 times maybe.
The bottom line here is at least on my car if the motor does not spin there is no way to open the trunk.
I am sure there are details I left out of my drawings but it was really just to get you a point of reference.
#17
I have no intention of irritating you. Please pardon my intrusion.
#18
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: TX
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'm not irritated... I was hoping you had some insight. Hell I wish you lived in Houston so I could show you or you could show me! I'm just super frustrated with my once glorious flagship car that I thought would be awesome for a couple a hundred thousand miles and started going all crappy right as the warranty ran out.
#19
I went out and looked at mine again. Sounds like your trunk is not released. The release occurs near the end of the manual key travel so perhaps you have not turned your key enough. Of course you don't want to damage it but maybe some more force on the manual key while some downward pressure on the trunk lid. When the trunk is released with the manual key it is purely a mechanical operation and the part that grabs the bar just falls away.
#21
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: TX
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Follow up ... still not fixed but it's better!
I tried jmcraney's advice and attempted to open with the manual key again to no avail. When I was doing this I noticed the motor was not making any noise at all. So I reset the lock again with the battery trick. This allowed the motor to move but I still could not get in to the trunk. After 5 attempts the motor stopped working and I had to reset it again. After a couple more attempts I was able to force the trunk open!
Now the interesting parts:
I took everything loose and pulled the mechanism down where I could work on it. Right off the bat I could there was an issue. The mechanism apparently is supposed to spin clockwise to a point and stop. The on the next push it is supposed to go the other direction. My mechanism would spin all the way until it was bound up and just could no physically move any more, there was no limiting factor here. I would have to help it unspool after this with a screw driver and some force. Furthermore as I activated the mechanism I could see jmcraney was correct in that the mechanical key should have worked and it does work when the mechanism is in the right orientation, unfortunately it takes about 4-6 motor cycles to end up in the right orientation and if the trunk is closed there is almost no way to get it to cycle around to correct spot.
All of this being said... I could not figure out what was broken, nothing looked worn out or bent. I need a part diagram to compare it to so I can determine the busted or worn out part. I think if I had had a diagram or exploded view I would have been able to determine the problem but trying to reverse engineer it proved to be to hard.
The aftermath, I was able to get it in a position where I can open and close the trunk with the manual key. I have used the lockout button to insure the motor does not activate until I can take it back apart. Also when I put it all back together after everything was buttoned up I found a small piece of metal that looks like the metal rocker on a limit switch. If I can find a diagram somewhere I will go back i and try and figure out where this came from.
I tried jmcraney's advice and attempted to open with the manual key again to no avail. When I was doing this I noticed the motor was not making any noise at all. So I reset the lock again with the battery trick. This allowed the motor to move but I still could not get in to the trunk. After 5 attempts the motor stopped working and I had to reset it again. After a couple more attempts I was able to force the trunk open!
Now the interesting parts:
I took everything loose and pulled the mechanism down where I could work on it. Right off the bat I could there was an issue. The mechanism apparently is supposed to spin clockwise to a point and stop. The on the next push it is supposed to go the other direction. My mechanism would spin all the way until it was bound up and just could no physically move any more, there was no limiting factor here. I would have to help it unspool after this with a screw driver and some force. Furthermore as I activated the mechanism I could see jmcraney was correct in that the mechanical key should have worked and it does work when the mechanism is in the right orientation, unfortunately it takes about 4-6 motor cycles to end up in the right orientation and if the trunk is closed there is almost no way to get it to cycle around to correct spot.
All of this being said... I could not figure out what was broken, nothing looked worn out or bent. I need a part diagram to compare it to so I can determine the busted or worn out part. I think if I had had a diagram or exploded view I would have been able to determine the problem but trying to reverse engineer it proved to be to hard.
The aftermath, I was able to get it in a position where I can open and close the trunk with the manual key. I have used the lockout button to insure the motor does not activate until I can take it back apart. Also when I put it all back together after everything was buttoned up I found a small piece of metal that looks like the metal rocker on a limit switch. If I can find a diagram somewhere I will go back i and try and figure out where this came from.
#22
Sounds as if its time to visit the dealership unless you want to continue opening it manually or make things worse. I had the same issue ($1000 to repair) but it was covered under my extended warranty, thank goodness.
#23
It's hard to explain, but if you remove the latch from the car and then the two philips screw that is holding the center mechanism in place, you'll see what i'm talking about. The plastic piece is about the size of a nickel that rotates, and the "metal" contact gets jacked up overtime because it rotates back and forth.
In my case, I source the part online and swap it out myself of much less than what the dealer wanted. Took about half an hour to replace. There is an updated part number for the luggage door closer 6465050040
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
omniskye
GS - 3rd Gen (2006-2011)
16
09-28-08 05:21 PM