Im ripping out my entire interior and i totally forgot that after i restored all the function to my rear hatch motor a few months ago, i wired somthing wrong when i reassembled it!!!!! how in the hell do i open my dam hatch now, all i could think of was drill out this rivet thing and go from there, so now im there and im stuck again PLEASE HELP!

 

Use your keys?

 

nope

 

There is a keyhole to open the hatch behind the licence plate...

 

yup, doesn't function....

 

Hmm, key should open it even without power in the car.. Sounds like you messed up more than the wiring.. Someone once had mentioned that you can pry the bottom of the plastic piece up enough to work on it from the the bottom up.. Just take out the plastic screws first.

Good luck!

Kevin D.

 

any idea what to do if i can get the plastic piece out of the way?

 

it's probably easier just to drill out your key hole and open it from the outside with a screwdriver

 

you mean break into the car and replace the lock cylnider?

 

if it doesn't work anyway i don't see why not

just a thought

 

the whole system works... it's just stuck cause i didn't attach somthing correctly at the very end of rebuilding the whole assembly. how much would a new lock cylinder that is keyed for my door key cost?

 

ah i see now and i would save that for a last resort as the cost of a lock cylinder might be costly if you don't have a friendly junkyard around that will sell you a whole set with key

hmmmmm lemme think

i believe that either the panel or the lock cylinder will have to suffer the wrath of destruction for the remainder of the project so i would visit my fav junkyard and find out what's cheaper to replace an go from there

 

new lock cyl. that is keyed for your car should be about $25 from GM. If your hatch key isn't working, I'd be willing to bet your lock cylinder froze up. Mine did the same thing. What you have to do is go to your local GM dealership, leave them a door/hatch key and they should be able to key the new cylinder for your car the same day, sometimes two if they don't have any cylinders in. I just went through a similar situation

 

you have to fold down the seat take out the rear most interior panel under the hatch and unbolt the thing at the hatch that the trunk latches onto


happened to me too


yo gotta crawl back there face smushed against the rear window. do it in the shade or itll get hot fast!

 

any idea how to take the panel off with the latch attached? doesn't it go around the latch?

it won't get that hot, the window is practically painted black

 

Once you get the plastic bolts out, the only thing left are the two upper screws. You're going to have to pull the plastic up and go about it blind. You would probably need to look at one on another car to see what to do next..

Kevin D.

 

Not to be dumb but. My latch on the 91 sometimes wont work with the key and it has no electric release. I know what the prombem is with mine. The U shaped (catch part) is cracked vertically and doesnt allow the key to release it. I literally have to sit on the hatch to pop it with the key.
May be you could have similar prolbem. Just trying to help
I thought i was stuck like you are But i had 2 15" sub box taken up the hatch area though so I went at the cylinder and messed up the paint around it. then i stopped and tryed sitting on it.

 

Same thing happened to me. I had to go in from inside and break the plastic interior panel. Sucked because it was a nice panel, but there was no other way to do it.

 

im probobly gonna make anyone who cut their panels or drilled their locks very upset right now but i just unlactched my trunk...

my first impression was to drill out the rivet looking thing in the picture... DON'T do that! after i did that i realized there was a bolt that i could remove and that small part of the assembly would come off, then in the darkness i felt around and pryed on a small protrusion with a flat head that turned out to be a latch that realeased the trunk!!!!!! we should make this a tech article.


here is a pic of step 1...

 

and here is step 2.... and your finished!!!! doesn't matter if there is power to it or not, it's all mechanical. i used one of those screwdriver things that has a 1/4" square end for sockets. So you will probobly need one of those a 1/4" swivel and a 10mm socket.

 

thanks for your help guys, i hope this thread helps other people out and prevents anyone from spending any more needless dollars.