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Trunk Lid Not Closing


prix

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About a week ago, I went around to the trunk and noticed it was slightly ajar (very slight...from a distance you could not tell it was even open). II figured I had accidentally not pushed it closed the last time I was in there .Today, the thing won't close at all. I looked at the latch and fiddled with it...nothing seemed to work. I put the key in the trunk keyhole and turned that a few times. there was no movement in the latch when I did that. The trunk release on the dash has not worked for some time, but I have always been able to open the trunk using my key. Now it won't close at all. Sigh. My biggest concern ithat some unseen light is on that will drain the battery. But since the car started fine a week ago after the lid had been open all night, I'm thinking that it might just be OK. Any suggestions as to what I can do? I would rather not have iit open, of course, since the tool kit and other items in there are subject to theft. It's not easy to tell that the lid is ajar, but it certainly is.

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I just checked it again, to see if there was anything I missed. The metal u-shaped part of the trunk latch does not appear to be moving to catch the lid closed. So the latch mechanism is not doing a thing. I did find a bulb, and yes it was on. Took the cover off and unscrewed the bulb.I could see that that light was staying on even with the lid all the way down (by peering through a crack as I lowered it)...the good news is that I was able to set the security alarm, and even tho the trunk lid is open, it's not setting it off. Is there a fuse that controls the latch? I did try to remove the liner a few weeks ago, in an effort to replace a burnt out license plate bulb, but didn't want to force some apparent tabs on the side of the trunk lids. So I stopped. I wonder if that had anything to do with this malfunction.

I also found a trunk lid actuator motor online for several hundred. Say it isn't so...let this be somethin gsimple to fix.

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first you have to look and see what position the lock is in.

use your common sense here. see in the photo below, the top photo is the lock position...... the bottom photo is open.....

NOTE: pay attention. in the open position, you can push a round screwdriver shaft into the lock and it will snap closed and then it will look like the top photo.

IF-IF yours is not operating like this.... it needs replacing, I dont think you would be able to repair it.

I assume you would have already sprayed a lubricant into it......

post-5365-0-09286900-1330226396_thumb.jp

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Is there a fuse that controls the latch?

Yes, there is a fuse. The fuse for the trunk actuator is shared with the fuel door opener on the later models (not sure about 94's). Try pulling the fuel door switch in the cabin to see if it will open.

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When I popped the gas cap from the interior switch, pretty sure I saw the trunk lid jiggle a little and the fuel door open. Which points to the fuse being OK. The latch was still stuck in the 'open' position though. Inserted the key a few times in the trunk but it wouldn't turn. I may try again later...

Is there a fuse that controls the latch?

Yes, there is a fuse. The fuse for the trunk actuator is shared with the fuel door opener on the later models (not sure about 94's). Try pulling the fuel door switch in the cabin to see if it will open.

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It looks like the second photo (open). As you say, I can make it move to 'closed' by pressing on it, but the minute I let up, it goes right back to the open position, and of course the trunk won't close with it in that position. I saw a thread over on club lexus where someone had a similar problem and turned out it was a broken wire in the trunk wiring harness. If it's not that, then I need a new trunk latch. As I said, I did try to remove the trunk liner about a week ago, and though I did not use much force (at all), it's possible that even gentle pressure in a certain area coudl have broken a wire. I was trying to get in there to replace a burnt out license plate bulb. Should have left it alone!

first you have to look and see what position the lock is in.

use your common sense here. see in the photo below, the top photo is the lock position...... the bottom photo is open.....

NOTE: pay attention. in the open position, you can push a round screwdriver shaft into the lock and it will snap closed and then it will look like the top photo.

IF-IF yours is not operating like this.... it needs replacing, I dont think you would be able to repair it.

I assume you would have already sprayed a lubricant into it......

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It sounds like the fuse is ok. It may be your trunk wiring harness as these are known problem areas on the 90-94 LS400's. The harness is located in the left trunk hinge. You might do a little investigating to see if you can discover a broken or stretched wire.

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Yes, that's prob the next step. I was mistaken about being able to lock the car with the trunk ajar. Because I hadn't heard the alarm previously (when I Iocked it) I just assumed it did not go off. Wrong! Heard a familiar sound so went racing out...yes, it was the alarm. So need to get this fixed sooner rather than later. The trunk wiring harness can also cause weird dash light action (which is another very annoying problem I am dealing with), so maybe I will find a broken wire that will fix several problems in one go. One can dream.

It sounds like the fuse is ok. It may be your trunk wiring harness as these are known problem areas on the 90-94 LS400's. The harness is located in the left trunk hinge. You might do a little investigating to see if you can discover a broken or stretched wire.

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False. I don't have any (and did not know what to buy) so I put a little mineral oil on a napkin and daubed around it as best I could. Probably not the same thing. I have read that WD-40 can gum up locks. What else should I use?

I also looked at the wiring harness. That is no where near where I was pulling on the trunk liner, so I prob did not 'cause' this. I can see some of the black tape has unraveled in a couple of places on the harness..Probably the only way I could tell if any wires were damaged is I removed all the tape, right? IIf a lube doesn't work, then will have to take to someone to do that. That's above my skill set. Those wires carry a current, right?

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I bought a spray can of synthetic lube this afternoon and gave the latch a good soaking. I also moved the parts around using a pen...working them back and forth so the lube would get in there. So far,that has had no effect. The latch remains in the 'open' position (though I can manually move it to the 'closed' position).

What exactly triggers the latch to close? There is a top part and a bottom part to the latch. In the top part, I can see a c-shaped piece that should drop and hook around a small steel pin in the lower part (when the trunk lid is closed..it should 'catch'). That's what is not happening. The upper part of the lock apparently remains in the open position, even when I push down on the trunk.

I read that someone else fixed their trunk latch problem after repairing a broken wire in the trunk wiring harness. So that's the next thing to be looked at. The fuse for the fuel door/trunk os OK.

Anything else I should ask the mechanic to check out other than wiring harness? I would like to have a good idea going in of all possible causes. I do not plan to take it to a dealership. I will only do that as last resort.

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you should not have to tell the mechanic how to think or what to do, just tell him to fix it. If he cant, you have the wrong mechanic.

When I had my shop, I had 5 mechanics working for me... I would tell them the trunk would not latch... they would fix it and tell me what they did to repair it..(if it needed parts, I ordered them) that is how it should be done. so just relax, he is probably better than you think...

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  • 1 month later...

I was told that the wire coming from the wiring harness control s ONLY the opening of a trunk lid latch, but that the closing is completely mechanical. Is this true?

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  • 7 years later...

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