Trunk latch not working

[NickD]

I have just had mine replaced on warranty. Stopped working after I had the car for about 9 months. The trunk would only open with the key.

Referring to the remote I assume, only key slot I can find on our Cruze is on the drivers' door handle. Thought about that with our 04 Cavalier when my remote battery just happened to go dead in the middle of nowhere. Drivers' door lock was frozen for not using it in years, but still had the trunk, on that car, seats drop from pull belts from the rear, but was able to barely turn the key in the passenger side of the car. Next day, removed all those locks cleaned and lubricated them.

Probably why the Cruze owners manuals extremely suggests you carry a spare remote entry key with you, Good idea to check to see if that one locks first before leaving.

Difficult to say what's wrong with that push button switch now mounted exposed to the elements. For a long time, when the USS EPA banned plating, my friends in the contact and connector area were going nuts trying to design reliable switch contacts with bare copper. Turns green, forms copper oxide that is an excellent insulator. These guys are flipping burgers now, thought this problem was resolved by importing switches from China. We don't give a good **** if they die from heavy metal poisoning.

Looks like the worse part of this job is removing that trunk liner without breaking all those plastic tabs. Have taken many GM switches apart, well Ford and Chrysler too. Polish the copper to bright mirror finish using a powered buffer with jewelers compound that tends to harden the copper and coat with Lubriplate where they will last a lot longer.

Dealers just replace switches, if a good sealed plated switch is not used, problem will occur again. Would be good to check if they didn't break those plastic tabs on that liner, may find that laying on the bottom of your trunk floor.

[tecollins1]

Mine hasn't been working for about a month now... Haven't had time to bother the dealership yet. I've just been using the remote. But it is a pain if the car is running cause you cant open it with the key in the ignition so I have to turn it off every time.


Sent from iPhone 4

[Danman1453]

Once you get the button replaced, I think they do a flash update. I have had mine replaced, and I can open the trunk using the button as long as the doors are unlocked. Running or not.

[Jewel Red 5]

Just had mine replaced by dealer Monday, its not just the button its the whole chrome trunk piece assembly with plate lights all one piece.