Help, winter beater and issue

[harrisb]

Hey Guys,

Can't find any info on the www so I figured I would pose the question here. A month or so back I bought a 2000 alero as a winter car. The rear trunk key never worked but the automatic opener always worked fine.

Well, today the wife took my car to work and stopped to pick up groceries. When she arrived home the trunk will not open. I can hear the actuator clicking but it will not unlatch (no, it's not frozen, it's mild today).

Long story short, I have groceries sitting in my trunk that will eventually start to rot. The rear seats do fold down but the kicker is that the release for the seats is.....in the trunk. I've tried jamming my hand down the crease and even had my 5 year old give it a go with no luck. Figure I may have to remove the seats but have no idea how to go about this. Can't find a repair manual online either.

Anyone have any thoughts? Very shortly I will break out either a drill or screwdriver and remove the lock but I was sorta thinking of that as the last resort.

Helps boys (and girls)!

 

[newmexicoviper]

I would have already drilled that lock out.

 

[ntw0rk]

That sux!
I hope that you already got them out without destroying the lock.

If you didn't, did you try pushing down on the trunk lid while pushing the unlock button? Sometimes the trunk lid is pushing up on the latch, and prevents it from unhooking correctly.

Good luck!

 

[Prof]

Pushing down on the lid when someone hits the button would be my first thought too...and my second would be the drill!

Any chance you could call a dealer and get some input on the phone from a service adviser?

 

[SRT-IZ]

Drill...:rock: Key dont work on it anyway right? Then put one in that works!

 

[FATJACK]

Go to a locksmith, they can make a key work without damage to the car

 

[SANCHOBA]

yeah...locksmiths can do wonders,probably less expensive than replacing the lock.

 

[harrisb]

Thanks guys, I actually managed to take out my rear seat (pita) to access the trunk. Once I got it open I noticed that the lockout button had been set to on, a quick switch and now not only does the key work but so does the button. I'm considering this little beater lucky as the only thing that saved her from the drill was my wife when she saw me setting up My next option was to throw her in reverse and smash a snow bank at about 50 to see if I could loosen her up

 

[ntw0rk]

Glad you got it worked out! Sounds like you came out better for the ordeal after all!!!:rock::rock:

 

[Prof]

Good out come!

 

[Black1]

.... My next option was to throw her in reverse and smash a snow bank at about 50 to see if I could loosen her up

LOL! I like the way you think.... :rock:

 

[Bone]

Do you live near Derek? Maybe he could open it for you?