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Hood Latch Mystery


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Hi all,

I need help with my rx400h 2008.

I was out of the country for 6 months and the battery died in the car. Remote does not work and the keys don't work either. I haven't used the key in a long time so there is a chance that the cylinder in the door is rotten/broken, but I saw other people with this issue and I am inclined to believe that some look mechanism is blocking the door....

I called the local dealer and he said he can come around with a pump wedge but he might end up having to smash the window in. Well, thank you I am pretty sure I can smash in the window without professional assistance :) But before I do that, I wanted to explore other opportunities.

I want to open the trunk somehow so I can charge the auxiliary battery. According to this figure the bonnet has a hook that locks into this part: http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mVIqvnNZXVaGUWt892Bh5hQ.jpg

As you can see, other than the Bowden Cable, there is also an electric cable coming out of this unit. That cable is coming straight down under the bumper and ends in a connector which connects to nothing at all: http://s2.postimg.org/fpqlutaop/plug_nada.jpg (see below) The male part of the connector has no cables, it looks like it is merely a fixation point.

Mysterious, isn't it?
I have come up with two theories:
  • The cable is connected to a sensor that detects if the trunk is opened, but the feature is not implemented in this model
  • The cable connects to an electromagnet that opens the latch if the Bowden-cable is broken or disattached.

It would be untypical to have unimplemented features in a Lexus, so I think this is an emergency opening mechanism. I have to get a multimeter and measure the resistance. Or might as well just connect the battery charger and see what happens.

What do you guys think?

Oh, and can you confirm that you also have this weird dead plug attached to the water cooler right under the front bumper, in line with the lexus plate?

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"Oh, and can you confirm that you also have this weird dead plug attached
to the water cooler right under the front bumper, in line with the
lexus plate?"

Unless I'm mistaken, that is the outside temperature sensor and has nothing to do with the hood (trunk) latch. Hope this helps. Good luck in resolving the unlocking issue.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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