Sounds like it could of been installed wrong, it could of been fooled with too.

 

Check the trunk latch. It could be stuck or out of alignment. Or the pull rod is sticking when the lock is rotated.

 

Can you open the trunk? If you remove the key in the horizontal position you can not use the trunk release by the driver's seat. If you remove the key in the vertical position then you can use the release lever.

My trunk lock is always finicky especially when it gets colder out for some reason. The key won't turn. Sometimes removing the key and turning it 180° helps. Sometimes moving the key after inserting it helps, like in the direction of the slot one way or the other then trying to turn it.

I put some graphite lock lubricant in which only helped a little. Then later I removed the lock mechanism and tried to clean it the best I could and it's worked a lot better since, but I still need to sometimes give the key a wiggle to get it to turn. This could be from the key being old too.

 

Thanks, but this is a new lock with new keys. It was cold the last time I opened it the cold didn't seem to be affecting it. Also the handle to the trunk release inside the car is broken off because they place it right where your feet go in of course it was going to disappear at some point. I bought this car used from an individual

 

The lock body and tumblers are most likely worn if it's an old reused lock. I experienced this with my driver's door lock. The lock body had deep grooves with some burs wornnin, and one of the tumblers has mushroomed a bit. This would cause the key to insert, but the tumblers wouldn't fully retract and the lock would partially turn and bind.

 

I was hoping someone would have an idea that would preclude having to remove the back seat to get into the damn trunk. But I guess not. Cuz I don't know if the mechanic can get into the trunk because the trunk is so small. But here is hoping he's very creative LOL.
Across all those so-called OEM replacement parts are made in China.
We used to say made in Japan to denote things that are not up to so-called standards LOL

 

Okay, neighbor helped with looking at the broken trunk latch lever on the driver seat under the driver seat and it's a no-go. Too small space even to put a locking plier onto.
Only way now is through the back seat back. I guess.
Does anyone know if there is an emergency release somewhere in the trunk area that can be accessed with the back seat back off?

 

I’m not sure on that generation if their is or not. I know the later ones have a yellow lever on the trunk lid to release it.

 

There is no trunk release from inside the trunk.

Can't you somehow remove the lever and pull the cable with pliers? This will only work if the lock is set to the vertical position.

I have folding rear seats which leaves an opening into the trunk, but some models don't come with folding seats (maybe base models). With non-folding seats, the seat back is still easy to remove. Just a few bolts after your remove the bottom cushion. The bottom cushion is only held down by snap in clips. You just have to reach under the seat cushion and give a tug upward. The 2 clips are located right between where your legs would be if you were sitting back there.

I'm still not sure what you could do even if you can crawl into the trunk

 

The rods that pull the latch when turning the key could be interfering with using the key.

If the trunk release lever inside the car works to open the trunk, then the only issue left isn't the lock itself. You'll need to pull the whole assembly out of the trunk to inspect it for malfunction.

The lock is using rods to release the catch on the trunk lock to open it. Sounds like the assembly is not working anymore with the key and need to find out why.

 

Most likely you're going to need to get better access to the trunk release cable. . . If it's functional. Off the top of my head, even getting inside the trunk through the back seats won't be of much help, unless you don't have a trunk lid liner. I'll try to describe the lock setup as best I can recall because I've swapped trunk garnishes and had to remove the trunk lock. The trunk lock body is secured by two screws to the trunk lid. These can only be accessed by removing the trunk garnish, which is secured by ~4 studs with nuts and plastic clips. The nuts are facing the inside of the trunk and require removal of the trunk lid liner which is secured by multiple little plastic clip/screw things. The rear of the lock body attaches to the trunk release cable and has a little plastic elbow that helps secure it. It's possible this piece broke or the cable popped out and won't allow proper tension to be applied if you yank the release cable. I can't recall 100% where the release cable goes. I want to say when looking into the trunk from the rear, it goes to the left and up near the left rear passenger seat belt mounting bolt, but after that I don't remember. It could be in the door track with the wiring, under the door sill panels. I forget though. The mechanism in the trunk lid contains the actual hook that keeps the lid closed. The bottom part secured to the car's chassis is simply a bracket with a horizontal bar the hook catches. There's also a plastic trim piece surrounding this. Not sure if there's clearance there to wiggle a screwdriver inside to release the hook, but I doubt it.

 

Well guess what. The lock works again.
Funny I had never thought seriously that it would be the weather. But I went out today it's 54 degrees. I hadn't been anywhere in the car for a week and even back then it was colder than that and I didn't try to lock on the trunk. But I tried it today and it's just like nothing ever happened .
Go figure. Now what does this mean? Well one of the things that means is I'm going to take the replacement lock that the seller sent me and I'm going to put it in the freezer and take it out after a while and see if it works LOL. Of course the freezer in the winter here can be so much warmer than the air temp outside. I mean I know temperature does things to metal but I can't afford ever not to have the trunk being able to open because the spare is in there.

 

I find mine is harder to open in the cold, and I have to jiggle the key around or try taking it out and putting it back in the other way. And when I say cold, around here that means 50°F. When it's 100°F it opens easier. I can't explain it either.

If you pull the key out in the vertical position does the inside trunk release work? Or if the lever is broken it might be a good time to fix it while you can open the trunk.

 

Yeah I couldn't hurt to look at that. What I mean by cold is in the teens or below. That's when it started not unlocking.
So no comparison there.
.

 

Yeah, but I'm says at 50°F I started having problems, so at colder temps I'm sure it would be worse. I ended up taking the lock out and cleaning it. I couldn't completely disassemble it, but I sprayed it with brake cleaner then put a generous amount of graphite lubricant in it. Now it turns a lot easier, but it will still get caught and not turn sometimes, but it only requires a few jiggles of the key to get past the sticking point.

 

Right.
Well this is a replacement lock not OEM.
So in some ways I'm not surprised it was probably made in China not Japan LOL.
Like I said I'm going to experiment with the one that the seller sent me to replace it.

 

Mine has sticked for a long time but it always opens if I push the key a little further in, then it will turn freely.

 

Well like I said this is a replacement lock, says made in Taiwan LOL.
Now I have to wonder what it was the lock or the latch. I'm going to put the replacement replacement lock that the dealer sent me to replace the first one that supposedly failed but didn't into the freezer for a few days and see how it works after it's been Frozen for a few days.
but I can't take the latch off the trunk and put it in the freezer to see whether it was that that was screwing up

 

The cables run along the driver's side. Double check the rods around the trunk release.

 

Under the carpet on the inside?

 

Yes the cable runs under the carpet. In the rear, it continues under the trim over the wheel well.

 

So to continue the saga. Several times, after the weather has stopped being cold here, it has failed to work yet again. Yesterday was the latest time when I was trying to put groceries in there. It did the same thing but it did during the cold weather. Well I got frustrated and banged really hard on the trunk at the latch area, not intending to bang on it in order to try to get something to loosen up well yeah I guess I was doing that but it was really frustrating so most of that was cathartic LOL but, I tried to lock again and it came open now I suspect it's probably the latch.
Anyone, experience anything like this? Thanks no

 

Does the key turn? Who made your key?

 

Same thing as when I posted earlier when the weather was cold. Put key in, he will only go partially to the right but to the point where the latch should snap open but does not.
As stated earlier in my posting, it is a aftermarket replacement lock. Keys came with it.
B I was thinking about getting something that resembles the latch striker thing and putting that up into the latch and see how it acts. I got to determine whether it's the latch or the lock

 

That's a good way to try to diagnose it, using an improvised striker. You could swap out the latch and keep your current lock tumbler - assuming that the tumbler part isn't the problem. It's kind of a pain to access, with having to remove the trunk lid garnish panel and all, but it is doable. I swapped out all of my locks, but it was over a year ago, so I don't remember all of the specifics of the trunk lock/latch part. I do remember that garnish being a bit of a pain though.

 

Initially I replaced myself which was easy if you had the right tools. Unfortunately, it went kaput after a month or two.

I brought it in to Toyota and the technician diagnosed the problem that it's the mechanism also affects the emergency latch as well as both mechanisms of trunk and emergency rely on the same latching system to secure the trunk. With cost concerns, the replacement of the mechanism has a warranty.