Stuck Toyota Corolla trunk

live4theking

Old Man with a Hat
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I know that many of us drive cars other than Mopars for our dd's. My wife has asked me numerous times to lub the trunk lock. I've done it and it never seemed to help. Today I sent my 7 yr old in to get the key so I could move the car. My wife gave him something to put in the trunk.

You can see where this is going can't you.

So he comes out and sticks the key in and turns it to the left instead of the right. The trunk doesn't open and the key came out. They boys tell me, but I cannot get the key to budge either way. On top of this I go to pop the trunk from inside and it won't release from there wither. Yeah gotta be kidding right.

I sprayed it up with some PB Blaster and tried nothing. I had other things to do so I left it. So, I figure that I've got a junk lock cylinder, but how do you replace that when you cannot get in the trunk. Youtube to the rescue, a guy shows how to manually release the seat backs from the backseat instead of from inside the trunk, but wait the next video is about a stuck trunk.

There is a valet mode on Toyota trunks. The lock is stuck in valet mode, not broken. Back to the garage I go. After spraying more PB Blaster in the lock it still won't turn. I grabbed a can of Brake Cleaner spray and I filled the lock full of that. After fidgeting with the lock some more after the brake cleaner it snaps free with a loud thunk. I lubed it up with some PB Blaster and the lock is turning smoother than it ever has in the 5 or 6 years that we have had the car.

Two lessons from today's experience. 1) If you turn the trunk key to the left and remove the key on a Toyota you just put it into valet mode which means the inside release will not work. 2) For a really tight moving lock maybe some brake cleaner will remove the gunk that is in the lock so that it will be freed up and move better. It was a desperate move on my part.

I hope this helps some one.
 
My 2 cents. Good Job!!! I had a 98 Dodge Ram that the latches on the tailgate were screwed up. They wouldn't engage and I worked on it for a while before I gave up and replaced them. After replacing them I cleaned them up. Being cheap, I put them back in and put the new ones on the shelf. After the first winter, the latches corroded up. I would recommend spraying the truck lock with WD and/or Garage Door grease to protect it from corrosion after you've cleaned all the old grease off it.
 
A sprayable graphite based or white lithium is we we use to lube locks down here in FL, not sure how the white lith would handle the cold up there, but you want something that is going to stay on the tumblers.
 
This is what you want to use. Basically powdered graphite in an oily base that you squirt in the lock.

https://www.amazon.com/American-Gre...92212&keywords=lockeze&qid=1578329700&sr=8-32

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My 2005 Scion is now a b.o.a.t. has 160k miles and started going bad last October and it's time for me to off load it...
 
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