I had disconnected the battery before closing the decklid. I then found that I could not open the trunk. You can read about the situation in my post ”My cat’s road to wellness”. I had reached the point that I would have to drill a hole to access the latch mechanism. This was very easy to do. I laid down some blue painters tape to protect the paint. I drew a line straight down from the keyhole. I then measured up 2 ˝ inches and drilled a 5/16 ths. hole. I then stuck a thin screwdriver in and lifted and pried up. In less than thirty seconds I heard the latch “click” and opened the lid.

Okay one problem solved, but I had to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. I wish my camera worked as some pictures might make things clearer. To clarify, there are two different mechanisms, The trunk lock with the release handle and the actual latch which holds the lid closed. These are connected by a linkage rod. I removed the plastic cover so I could see the lock mechanism. With the trunk open I looked into the latch mechanism as I snapped the latch shut and manipulated the screw driver. I could see that it was lifting the release arm. When I moved the release lever at the lock I could see that it moved the linkage rod, but not enough to cause the mechanism to unlatch. There is a little arm attached to the end of the lock cylinder assembly that is supposed to turn and pull the linkage rod. This is held on by a C clip and there is a certain amount of free play as the lock cylinder turns via the outside release lever. I found that there was too much freeplay. I removed the c clip and arm and saw that there was an oblong hole (kind of looks like a race track!) that fits on the end of the lock/lever assembly. In the middle of each side there is a tiny projection, a little bump. I guessed that these little “bumps” had worn down over the years and required too much rotation to pull the linkage adequately. I needed to build up these bumps, but how? I decided I could use a punch to “peen” the area of the “bumps”. I struck several dimples in the metal behind the “bumps” and this caused the oblong opening to tighten up a bit. I had to “work” it on as it was now a tighter fit on the end of the cylinder assembly. This worked out well. Actually too well. I found that it was possible to open the trunk even with it “locked”. To regain a little freeplay I unlocked the trunk and fully pulled up on the release lever with a little “grunt” I did this a few times and the lock was back in business. I had removed the latch to inspect it, I should have used a marker to “outline” the washers of the bolts holding it on. It would have made realignment easier.

The funny thing is that this just happened at the same time I had used the power locks. It was just a coincidence. This problem has held me up for almost a week

 

Not sure if you know...but the lock has three positions. manual open, lock and remote control. I don't have my car here to tell you which way to turn the key to get which option. Someone here will know or its in the handbook.

 

I can't believe that was the problem! I literally just addressed this same issue on my Shooting Brake project and had the exact same symptoms as you.

What I did to take up the slack was shorten the linkage rod.

Glad it's solved.

 

I had first drilled a new hole in the latch release arm but that didn't work. Then I worked on the little lever. There is just no other way to access the latch. Even if you could remove the backseat of a coupe there is the fuel tank and spare tire in the way. I imagine that the factory designed the latch to be accessed through a drilled hole, since the works of the latch are exposed to the rear. I had just read your shooting brake post where you describe how the previous owner had tried to pry the passenger door open with a crow bar in frustration. I wasn't at that point! But it did motivate me to just drill the hole. Again thanks to all.

 

My trunk does not work the way the book says it should. If I lock my trunk, I have to unlock the drivers door to unlock the trunk. So, I just never lock the trunk because I am afraid I won't able to unlock. None of my locks work the way the book says it will. British electronics...go figure! I just leave the trunk unlocked all the time.
...Jimmy

 

If unlocking the drivers door unlocks the trunk the you have it set for central locking/unlocking. Put in the key turn left then center it. What does the trunk handle do. If it still unlocks with the drivers door turn to the right and back to the center it should stay unlocked. as l have said...it is a 3 position lock...

 

Turn left and back to center does nothing. Turning right and back to center locks trunk and the only way to unlock (believe me I have tried everything) is to unlock the drivers door. If the drivers door is already unlocked then I have to lock it and then unlock it to unlock the trunk. By the the way the gas cap doesn't do anything, although the book says it should. Why did they make this so complicated? Is there away to make the trunk work with a just key, and lose the electrical mechanism?
...Jimmy

 

Sensible idea, you certainly can, but I have no idea if it will upset something else on a facelift. Just remove the lock cover on the boot lid and unplug the wires and tape them off. Or follow the wires along the boot lid inside to where the loom plug is. Tape everything off, obviously.


Then, try the lock with the key only, WITHOUT shutting the bootlid (you may have to set the lock pushing it with a screwdriver to mimic the bodywork fixing it clicks on when shut) and see how it works.
Greg

 

Am I understanding what the original problem really was?
You disconnected the battery and, with th battery disconnected you locked the trunk?
if it was as simple as that, why didn't you just connect a 12 volt supply to the firewall studs and then hit the remote to unlock it? It's all connected together so it doesn't matter where the 12 volts are located, heck, I jump star my car from the front studs all the time.

Or was the problem something different?

Cheers,

 

If you read my other post, my cat's road to wellness, I wrote a detailed account of the problem. The whole issue with the power lock and the battery disconnect was actually just a coincidence. The real problem was with the linkage having too much play which resulted in the release lever not having enough travel to disengage the actual latch. In other words I could activate the power lock, and unlock the trunk lock with the key, but I still couldn't open the trunk due to the linkage problem. The only way to open the trunk was to drill the access hole.

 

Got it, thanks Rivguy

Cheers

 

I’m just trouble shooting an issue opening my ‘94 boot (trunk?). Does anyone know if a post that explains his the boot should actually work when working properly?

It sounds like there are 3 key positions?