Hey guys, I accidentally locked my only key in the trunk. The switch on the dash hasn't worked since I bought the car. What is my best option here? I'm seem to recall having some luck prying one of the vents off on my old 84, I just don't want to damage the deck too bad.
You can't access the trunk lock through the engine vent. Probably the best, aside from a locksmith, is to take a small drill bit and drill into the key slot and pick out the springs and pins. I believe you drill at the top of the key slot. Then you can turn the cylinder with a screwdriver.
You might also try one other thing. Find a key that will insert into the lock. Take a set of jumper cables and clamp one cable to the key and go underneath and clamp the other end the engine. Try the trunk release to see if it releases.
There is also a method of applying power to the release button harness but I'm not familiar with which wires to use. Someone else might explain that method.
...take a small drill bit and drill into the key slot and pick out the springs and pins. I believe you drill at the top of the key slot. Then you can turn the cylinder with a screwdriver.
Years ago when I locked my keys in the trunk (while across the border a hundred miles from home), I didn't bother with a drill. I just hammered a slotted screwdriver (with a square shank) into the keyway, put a crescent wrench on the shank... and turned the screwdriver as if I was using a key. Popped right open. Yes, the lock cylinder was now toast... but I was very glad to get my keys out of the trunk!
Years ago when I locked my keys in the trunk (while across the border a hundred miles from home), I didn't bother with a drill. I just hammered a slotted screwdriver (with a square shank) into the keyway, put a crescent wrench on the shank... and turned the screwdriver as if I was using a key. Popped right open. Yes, the lock cylinder was now toast... but I was very glad to get my keys out of the trunk!
Bingo! I have done this in the JYs to access the engines for parts (Other people use a crow bar and destroy the lid, tail lights and rear bodywork.......)
I have done this in the JYs to access the engines for parts (Other people use a crow bar and destroy the lid, tail lights and rear bodywork.......)
That's exactly what I found done a few years to an '88 Fiero GT which had perfect tail lights... until some idiot broke them while trying to force the decklid open. I was choked.
I don't know what the previous owner did on my 86 but he boogered up the hole around the lock. Not bad, but the fiberglass is damaged all the way around.
TopNotch had once posted that he used the drill method I referred to on his 88 Coupe. Absolutely no damage to the decklid. I would imagine a drill bit about 1/8 would do the trick.
TopNotch had once posted that he used the drill method I referred to on his 88 Coupe. Absolutely no damage to the decklid.
Charlie, just in case you've misinterpreted what I posted... hammering the screwdriver into the keyway and forcibly turning the lock didn't damage the decklid at all.
Oh, no. I didn't misinterpret. I meant that the PO of my 86 did that. I know very well it can be done without damaging the deck lid. I've seen it done in the junk yard. I have no idea why he apparently pried around the edges of the lock. Maybe to pull the metal cap off the cylinder, I'm guessing.
If your car came with an inside trunk switch and it doesnt work you can still jumper it out and make it work. There is a relay under the dash that you can remove(it is probably pooched) and then feed 12 volts to the wire that goes to the trunk solinoid and the trunk will open if the wiring is still intact. Better than wrecking the lock and having to buy a new one.
To find the relay, take off the lower valance that covers the steering column.It is on the right side of the steering column. Remove the relay and run a jumper from the yellow wire to the black wire. If your switch is still good it should now operate the trunk latch. If the switch is bad, remove it and momentarily jump across the switch wires. If that still doesnt work, the trunk solinoid is not getting a good ground and your will have to butcher the lock to get in the trunk.this is the connector with a jumper installed:
[This message has been edited by wftb (edited 10-19-2019).]
wftb, if the problem is that there is no ground to the latch solenoid, one can be provided as I described by using a key inserted into the lock, attaching a jumper cable to it and the other end to the frame. My brother had a garbage bag get over the latch hook when he closed it. He didn't have a key for the trunk and the jumper cable method is what I used to make the system work.
Unless trunk solenoid or wire to it is dead... Access it See my Cave, Trunk Release at bottom.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
If you want to not destroy the lock cylinder, keep a good lock pick handy, and you can open any lock. Its just a simple matter of lifting the lock pins off of the notch and turning the cylinder. Look on You Tube here for instructions,. picking a trunk lock ------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
[This message has been edited by Dennis LaGrua (edited 10-20-2019).]
Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua: If you want to not destroy the lock cylinder, keep a good lock pick handy, and you can open any lock. Its just a simple matter of lifting the lock pins off of the notch and turning the cylinder. Look on You Tube here for instructions,.
Yes and not just old cars. Many cars are still easy to pick or bypass the locks. GM VATS/PassKey and others try to making starting a car w/o right keys "impossible" and most new methods fail too.
But...
Having a pick and not being a locksmith can cause problems if cops sees you using or they search you etc. Is same problem having a "Slim Jim" and related tools to open a car on you or in a vehicle not being a Tow or Lock service company. Because in many areas they fall under "possession of burglary tools" and can get arrested just having them. Even if you win your case, you're out of a lot of money time and maybe out of a job too.
This is likely a part of why Bosnianbill says "Stay Safe, Stay Legal" at end of most of his videos.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua: If you want to not destroy the lock cylinder, keep a good lock pick handy, and you can open any lock. Its just a simple matter of lifting the lock pins off of the notch and turning the cylinder. Look on You Tube here for instructions,.
Yes and not just old cars. Many cars are still easy to pick or bypass the locks. GM VATS/PassKey and others try to making starting a car w/o right keys "impossible" and most new methods fail too.
But...
quote
Having a pick and not being a locksmith can cause problems if cops sees you using or they search you etc. Is same problem having a "Slim Jim" and related tools to open a car on you or in a vehicle not being a Tow or Lock service company. Because in many areas they fall under "possession of burglary tools" and can get arrested just having them. Even if you win your case, you're out of a lot of money time and maybe out of a job too.
This is likely a part of why Bosnianbill says "Stay Safe, Stay Legal" at end of most of his videos.
I doubt if you will get arrested for trying to open the lock on your own car.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
[This message has been edited by Dennis LaGrua (edited 10-21-2019).]
Do you have a remote trunk release switch of is this on of the rare cars w/o it? IUf yoiu have the switch an it's not operating, have you:
1) Checked the fuse? 2) Checked the wiring you can get to? 3) Checked the switch? 4) Checked the relay?
I had a problem where the trunk wouldn't release when I pushed the button. The fuse was good but as was the wiring. When I pulled the switch out, I found that the connector on the back of the switch had either been removed or had fallen off. I cleaned the terminals on the switch and in the connector as best I could, added a bit of dielectric grease and put the connector back on the switch. Pushed the button and bingo-bango, the trunk popped open.
If you have more than one Fiero, or keys from a previous one, or a local Fiero buddy with keys, IIRC there were only 4 key configurations used. You could get lucky ...
Hey guys, I accidentally locked my only key in the trunk. The switch on the dash hasn't worked since I bought the car. What is my best option here? I'm seem to recall having some luck prying one of the vents off on my old 84, I just don't want to damage the deck too bad.
And this reminds me of High School, when I took the red-hot daughter of the local newspaper's editor-in-chief down to the shore in South Jersey, promising six-ways-from-Sunday to bring her home by 9PM. When I locked the keys in the trunk at the beach, my short life passed before my eyes. (I think that might have been the end of our 'relationship.')
[This message has been edited by Notorio (edited 06-05-2021).]
And this reminds me of High School, when I took the red-hot daughter of the local newspaper's editor-in-chief down to the shore in South Jersey, promising six-ways-from-Sunday to bring her home by 9PM. When I locked the keys in the trunk at the beach, my short life passed before my eyes. (I think that might have been the end of our 'relationship.')
Being a South Jersey guy myself, have to ask what shore town & newspaper; Courier Post? Gloucester County Times? Have a lot of good memories of the shore & my Fieros. But, never did lock the keys in the trunk....thinking back, hmmm, almost as good as the old adage, we ran out of gas, guess we'll have to sleep on the dunes
Being a South Jersey guy myself, have to ask what shore town & newspaper; Courier Post? Gloucester County Times? Have a lot of good memories of the shore & my Fieros. But, never did lock the keys in the trunk....thinking back, hmmm, almost as good as the old adage, we ran out of gas, guess we'll have to sleep on the dunes
It's funny ... I also didn't look at the date of this post. Unfortunately it seems that many threads asking for help are never closed out by their authors' sharing the resolution of the crisis. Sigh.
The paper? We were actually from Central Jersey (Scotch Plains-Fanwood area) and the paper was the Courier News. We were eventually rescued by a friendly biker with a tool kit. He took the back seat out and reached into the trunk for the keys . Interestingly, this same car, a few years earlier, was driven into NYC by my brother where he and some friends went to a restaurant, not realizing when he parked the car along the curb that he left the keys in the ignition and the engine running. Hours later when they emerged from the restaurant, there was the car, still running, with a mob of on lookers gathered around it. I often wonder if that car is still on the road, continuing to live a charmed life. Many happy memories there.
The paper? We were actually from Central Jersey (Scotch Plains-Fanwood area) and the paper was the Courier News.
Been living in C-J / Flemington NJ for 40+ years myself. I passed the Courier News building on Rt 22 everyday on my way home from work since '89. It was torn down a few years ago.
. Interestingly, this same car, a few years earlier, was driven into NYC by my brother where he and some friends went to a restaurant, not realizing when he parked the car along the curb that he left the keys in the ignition and the engine running. Hours later when they emerged from the restaurant, there was the car, still running, with a mob of on lookers gathered around it. I often wonder if that car is still on the road, continuing to live a charmed life. Many happy memories there.
