Thread: Not the Usual "Trunk Pop" Question - FIXED

OK, I did a couple searches and it seems that most of the trunk issues relate to the electric remote actuator on the trunk not working. That's not the issue here, I can "pop" the trunk from both the remote and the yellow button. The issue is that once the actuator releases the latch, the trunk lid just sits there...you can grab it and pull it open but otherwise you wouldn't know it was unlatched.

It used to pop up a few inches to let you know that it was open so a) you could grab it easily and b) you wouldn't drive off without realizing the trunk wasn't latched. I replaced both gas struts, and that helped the trunk open easier, but after looking at the scissor mechanism, they don't provide any leverage at the latch level. There is a spring next to the latch that I assume is supposed to boost the trunk a little upon de-latching, and it seems like it still has some tension, but yet does nothing. I can't see any binding in the trunk mechnism or in the trunk fitment that would prevent it form popping up.

Does this spring get weak and need to be replaced? Anybody got a part #? Any other ideas?

Are your adjustable rubber stoppers gone?

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Climb in trunk with flashlight to confirm this. Have friend or family pop trunk. Hope you've been nice to them lately.


You really don't like having typical issues do you?

Originally Posted by Burbman

maybe? Are those what provide the energy for the initial pop when you release the latch?

They stay pushed down to give it the little bit of lift once you've popped it. Counter clockwise raises them if I remember correctly

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OK, figured out what the issue was on this. Next to the latch striker located on the body, there is a rubber bumper that is spring loaded. This is what provides the initial push of the trunk lid when you release the latch. When the latch engages the striker, it's important the the body of the latch mechanism contact that spring loaded bumper. What happened was the latch went out of adjustment and was hitting the striker at the rearmost part, allowing the latch body to miss that rubber bumper. So the lid latched and released properly, but would not "pop" without the help of the spring loaded bumper.

Sorry for the blurry pic, but here I have the striker off of the body and am holding it up to the latch on the trunk lid.



The spring loaded rubber bumper is the big black square in the picture. You can see how the latch is engaging the striker, enabling the latch body to slide down next to the bumper instead of hitting it and compressing the spring. In this pic, the latch should be engaging the striker further down so that latch body comes down on top of the bumper and compresses the spring.


There's really no fore/aft adjustment on the striker, so that got re-installed in its original position. The latch just attaches to the sheet metal on the inside of the trunk lid, so the fix was to insert a large pry bar by the attaching point and tweak the orientation of latch, so with the trunk lid open, you are moving the rearmost part of the latch downward. This allows it to hit the striker further forward, allowing the latch body to compress the spring loaded bumper when the lid closes.

This would have been a 5-min fix had I known this ahead of time, since the rear bumper cover needs to come off to access the bolts for the striker plate, which in the end didn't need to be removed.

Click the pic below for quick video of what the "trunk pop" looks like now. This was a trial run before I got the tail lights back in.