Trunk won't open. 88 w power release. Jumped the switch, won't open (Page 2/5)
Green Magic Man NOV 04, 10:28 AM
82: Yes you did say that. sorry about that. Should have re-read the thread.

So... I DID hook up a car battery that was fully charged with jumper cables to the wiring to the switch.
Nice spark when I touched the positive lead to the + jumper cable.
Relay loudly clicks, trunk solenoid loudly clicks. Same as before. Trunk will not actually open.

So... my best friend and co-driver drove 6 hours to go get this car with me. We both got about 5 hours of sleep the night before launching from a mid point in Vermont.
I was bone tired with work schedule and had very foggy memory.

But he remembers me cross examining the seller who stated he always has this car on a battery tender, partly for the trunk access issue.
And I said that's not good for my lifestyle (what the hell??) and after asking him several follow up questions, he said "Oh, that's easy, just use a very long screwdriver. You got a long screwdriver?"
And since my friend jogged my memory two days ago I DO remember him saying that. Neither of us recall which area / zone he was speaking.

On the back of this r-ebodied car there is what must be a metal trunk lid. Dead center of the trunk area just under this metal flat horizontal trunk decklid is a small half moon cutout in the fiberglass vertical body that meet the trunk lid overhang.
It's very slight, maybe 1/4" - 1/3" deep and about two inches width. I tried to fish something in there for a little bit but had no idea what's behind there or what I'm trying to access (aside from reading posts about drilling out trunk locks and manually turning the trunk release).

I also looked under the car on the passenger side at the rear and saw a bunch of stuff but not the starter or starter cable. That was just a quick look over to see where I may have to attach a battery charger soon.

ANY IDEAS where this long screwdriver might go? I should have taken a picture but I did not. It's a tight spot but I can get something small in there and wiggle it around.

-----warning semi rant follows.... (I do already love the little Fiero).

AND BY THE WAY... seriously WTF is up with the design?? What is the point? What cars out there ban you from under hood and battery access unless you have a fully charged battery to do an electronic release??
I suppose it's just me and my decades of driving maybe 200-300 cars maybe 500+ and I don't recall a car with this issue. Why not have a damn manual cable trunk release??

[This message has been edited by Green Magic Man (edited 11-04-2024).]

Patrick NOV 04, 11:49 AM

quote
Originally posted by Green Magic Man:

"Oh, that's easy, just use a very long screwdriver. You got a long screwdriver?"
And since my friend jogged my memory two days ago I DO remember him saying that. Neither of us recall which area / zone he was speaking.

On the back of this r-ebodied car there is what must be a metal trunk lid. Dead center of the trunk area just under this metal flat horizontal trunk decklid is a small half moon cutout in the fiberglass vertical body that meet the trunk lid overhang. It's very slight, maybe 1/4" - 1/3" deep and about two inches width. I tried to fish something in there for a little bit but had no idea what's behind there or what I'm trying to access (aside from reading posts about drilling out trunk locks and manually turning the trunk release).

ANY IDEAS where this long screwdriver might go? I should have taken a picture but I did not. It's a tight spot but I can get something small in there and wiggle it around.



Next time... take one.

Sounds to me like a long screwdriver can be used to twist the lock open in the same manner (without the pounding) that I described in this thread's second post.


quote
Originally posted by Green Magic Man:

-----warning semi rant follows.... (I do already love the little Fiero).

AND BY THE WAY... seriously WTF is up with the design?? What is the point? What cars out there ban you from under hood and battery access unless you have a fully charged battery to do an electronic release??
I suppose it's just me and my decades of driving maybe 200-300 cars maybe 500+ and I don't recall a car with this issue. Why not have a damn manual cable trunk release??



What? I hope you're not blaming Pontiac for the shortsightedness of whomever designed the rebody kit on your Fiero. As far as I know, all Fieros from the factory (including ones with electric trunk releases) had a trunk lock which could be manually unlocked and opened with a key.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 11-04-2024).]

cliffw NOV 04, 02:26 PM

quote
Originally posted by Green Magic Man:
Relay loudly clicks, trunk solenoid loudly clicks. Same as before. Trunk will not actually open.



If the trunk solenoid clicks that should mean its working. Something else is going on.


quote
Originally posted by Green Magic Man:
... he said "Oh, that's easy, just use a very long screwdriver. You got a long screwdriver?"
And since my friend jogged my memory two days ago I DO remember him saying that. Neither of us recall which area / zone he was speaking.



Did you loose all contact information ?


quote
Originally posted by Green Magic Man:
On the back of this r-ebodied car there is what must be a metal trunk lid. Dead center of the trunk area just under this metal flat horizontal trunk decklid is a small half moon cutout in the fiberglass vertical body that meet the trunk lid overhang.
It's very slight, maybe 1/4" - 1/3" deep and about two inches width. I tried to fish something in there for a little bit but had no idea what's behind there or what I'm trying to access (aside from reading posts about drilling out trunk locks and manually turning the trunk release)
ANY IDEAS where this long screwdriver might go?



I know exactly where it goes. The trunk key is connected to the release do hicky, which is connected to the actual trunk release latch. The do hicky is a flat piece of metal. When a lock is drilled out, a long Flat screw driver will reach the release latch.

The flat screwdriver needs to be oriented to match the opening on the release latch. The screwdriver edge should be vertical, aligning to the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock position. It takes some fishing to get it into the release latch. Once in, turn clockwise.


quote
Originally posted by Green Magic Man:
I should have taken a picture but I did not.



A picture of what ? A blank trunk lid ?

We would like to see pictures of your re-body.
IMSA GT NOV 04, 03:47 PM
If I'm not mistaken, the Mejer company did basically Mera style rebodies so your car is a 308 replica. That's the issue with most of the replies. We are familiar with the stock Fiero "break in" points but your decklid is different so I'm not sure how the lock solenoid even mounts.

[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 11-04-2024).]

Vintage-Nut NOV 04, 03:56 PM
Factory Trunk Latch Photo



[This message has been edited by Vintage-Nut (edited 11-04-2024).]

Green Magic Man NOV 04, 11:19 PM
Oh Geez. I think I have to embark on an apology tour here.
You're right - attack of the stupids. There would normally be a manual key lock there to open one's trunk. Correct, my bad, it's not Pontiac / GM fault.
If there's blame it would be the re-body design, but I will gladly spot them a pass on this since I love the re-body.

[This message has been edited by Green Magic Man (edited 11-04-2024).]

Green Magic Man NOV 05, 10:10 AM
ISMA GT: You're basically right on. George Fejer made re-bodied 308 kits called the Mirage and 328 kits called the Mirage II (by the was is the IMSA also a rebody / for the Fiero? mostly different front end?)

cliffw: Thank you SO much for your clarifying comments about screwdriver orientation. I chuckled when you wrote "I know exactly where it goes..." Sounds like you must have had this issue in the past too. I did not know it went in vertical and knowing to turn CC is priceless info. Thank you ! (I was merely waving a 8" or 10" wand back and forth like a magician - that would never have worked. Where is Harry Potter?)

Vintage Nut: Thanks SO much for the pictures - that makes it clearer how this all works.

I've got a fairly long screwdriver and may got get an even longer one at other place that's almost 2' long. How far in does this have to get in there to hit that turny thingie?

I've got the Mirage I kit - I have not found identifiers positively on the body - if there are any (I would guess something would be noted somewhere).
But the seller said it was made in "Barry" which I looked up to be "Barrie" Canada. Which is where Fejer worked from.
Also the headlight louvers match the Fejer kits which many / most do not - they have louvers that extend past the actual Fiero headlight pop up to be lengthwise longer than some of the other copies out there.
I found and saved a low resolution ad for his Mirage kits from back in the day. It's been very hard to glean almost any information on the Fejer Mirage - most of what little I found was posted up here long ago.
Green Magic Man NOV 05, 10:18 AM
Found this online for a 1986

So that's where I have to fish to?
Is that about 10-12" on a stock Fiero body?
Vintage-Nut NOV 05, 11:12 AM

quote
So that's where I have to fish to?



YES
Raydar NOV 05, 01:09 PM
From outside the car, I think the screwdriver will have to be turned clockwise. As the key would be.