help, trunk latch stuck shut, no access through battery compartment
 

My trunk latch is stuck shut. The cable for the gas/trunk latch is disconnected BC it broke last year, so only key in lock opens trunk. Well now it won't open for some reason. I thought I could get access by removing the rear seat and taking out the battery, but there is nothing behind the battery but the metal box it sits in. I have tried to remove the metal battery box itself but cannot figure out how to get it free. No internet instructions that I can find!

So I have disassembled my car, and still no hope of getting into the trunk. Any suggestions?

Honda dealer was useless and wanted $$$ 100's without saying how they would go about getting it open.

Re: help, trunk latch stuck shut, no access through battery compartment
 

You are so screwed. I cannot think of a way of doing this that isn't a total PITA.

Try lubricating the lock really well, put the key in and jiggle it around. It could just be a stuck lock problem. (Pray that this is the reason!)


There is a remote chance that your release cable is broken by the driver. If you disassemble the channels on the left side of the car you might be able to reach it and yank it with a pair of pliers. Obviously it won't work if the cable is broken or disconnected at the latch.

There is a path into the trunk, but unless you possess a very bright trained snake it isn't going to easy to exploit it. Remove the back seat cushions. There is a small gap between the battery box and the side of the car. Just a couple of inches, but it goes into the trunk. The path isn't open though because some of the plastic trunk lining is in the way. If you stick a broom handle or something like that through there you can probably pop the plastic rivets out of their seats and move the plastic out of the way. After that you need an inspection scope and some wire. Feed the tube of the scope through the hole and get it to the point where it looks up towards the emergency in trunk release latch. Then get some wire, fish it around until it grabs the release, and pull.

I don't recall how the tail lights work on this car. If there is a big hole behind them then you could smash out one tail light, reach in through the hole, and pull the release. That might not be too expensive if you can find a replacement light at a junk yard. However, there may not be such a hole, some cars have them, and others only have tiny openings the screws and wires pass through, and it would not be fun working through one of those.

Re: help, trunk latch stuck shut, no access through battery compartment
 

I would call AAA and have them send someone out. If I didn't have a membership I would find a buddy with them. They would send out a locksmith to pick it for free. Nobody ever uses the locksmith benefit. I have used it to help friends a couple of times.

Re: help, trunk latch stuck shut, no access through battery compartment
 

still have not got into the trunk.

I tried a locksmith, they said call honda. It isn't the lock, the lock turns, and you can hear the latch almost release... but not fully. I asked the locksmith why no one has ever made a tool like a slim jim for a trunk latch... well, bc no one except hybrids like ours will ever have this problem! Most cars' seats go down, and even when they don't., taking out the seat is no big deal. Stupid honda, should have warned owners that a broken wire in the drivers seat latch means the beginning of the end.

Car is still sitting and I think next i will try smashing out a tail light. :confused:

I disconnected the wire for the release latch last year at the trunk end, bc it kept sticking open. Never thought key would stop working. I think actually that something is jammed in the latch itself, bc key turns and you can hear movement. I've tried 100's of times over the days to get the key to release the latch... it won't

Re: help, trunk latch stuck shut, no access through battery compartment
 

Be sure to check a manual carefully before doing that. As I said before, some cars have a big hole behind the tail lights, others don't. If you smash a tail light and only get access to 3 1/4" screw holes and one 1/2" wiring hole it isn't going to be easy to reach the emergency release with a coat hanger or other similar tool. (Possible, just not easy.) In fact, double check which way the release goes in the manual, so that you are working from the side where you can pull on the release. Pushing that release to open is going to be really hard.

Re: help, trunk latch stuck shut, no access through battery compartment
 

I took a good look at the inside of the trunk on my 2003. The way the trunk release works is that there is the cable from next to the driver which ends in a ball which pulls the lever that opens the trunk. The key is located under the passenger side trunk lid taillight. That works by moving a linkage which also pulls that cable (at a point very near to the latch) which moves the ball which pulls the lever which opens the trunk. I think what probably happened is that because the driver's side of the cable was loose there was slack in the cable, so the cable fell out of its groove in the lever. Now when you turn the key it most likely still moves the cable, but the ball isn't up against the lever anymore, so nothing happens.

If it were me I would break the taillight on the trunk lid just above the place where the key goes in. There are two holes where the bulbs go through which are about 2" square each. There is no plastic behind them, so once you break the light apart (carefully, so that you can shove the intact bulbs into the trunk and you don't crack the light next to it) you will be able to put a mirror in one hole and a wire in the other. I don't know how big the holes are on the other tail light on that side, but they probably are not much bigger, and you would have to push the trunk liner out of the way. Once you hook the emergency release pull it towards you and the trunk should open.

If you can borrow some variant of one of these:

http://www.milwaukeetool.com/instrum...ection/2313-21

it might be a big help. You could thread that in through one hole, positioning it with one coat hangar to look in the right direction, then fish for the emergency release with another coat hangar.

Have the replacement trunk release cable on hand when you do this!

Re: help, trunk latch stuck shut, no access through battery compartment
 

I can work on the trunk but when it comes to working on lock assembly, i would prefer contacting an expert who offers emergency lockout services. They can fix the problem easily at a reasonable cost.

Re: help, trunk latch stuck shut, no access through battery compartment
 

The thread is 7 years old. I bet he figured out a solution by now.