[CajunRider]

well..... i don't htink the speaker thing works. Besides, looking at it now it would be impossible for me to reach the emergency latch from the subwoofer hole...even if I was able to take out the subwoofer.

a million thanks to Cajun Rider.... I called him up more than 3 times and he walked me through the whole thing. I dunno how I'm gonna get my seats back in....but my trunk still doesn't open even with the emergency latch. Sigh...

No prob hyogen. My latch also broke. I got the grocery out so I won't have some stinky steaks and chicken in there. I'll replace the latch and tell you how. I'm still pissed at Honda however, 2 latches in 3 years?? The last one I just replaced last October. I've been a Honda fan for quite a few years. This time they are changing my mind.

I found out the latch was broken after all. The metal lips that hold the latch electrical/mechanical opening mechanism were simply bent. Bent them back in shape and you are good to go. I'm also upset because I know now the dealer replaced my latch mechanism needlessly.

By the way, the next time it happen,s you don't have to remove the seat back any more. I discovered that you can remove the little cap for the baby seat on the left side and stick a 6" flat bar (3/8" x 1/8" thick) into the opening and pop the latch on the backseat.

 

[khanza2]

how to pop the latch on the backseat

hi CajunRider,
I am stuck and want to apply the last method you posted about poppin the latch on the backseat..so i took the cap out of the left rear seat on my civic 06 ex. now where exactly do i put in my flatbar...does it go at the edge of the seat or does it go at smack in the middle..any help would be much appreciated..also i assume you use the straight end of the flat bar and not the curved hook part...thanx again...

 

[khanza2]

hi CajunRider,
I am stuck and want to apply the last method you posted about poppin the latch on the backseat..so i took the cap out of the left rear seat on my civic 06 ex. now where exactly do i put in my flatbar...does it go at the edge of the seat or does it go at smack in the middle..any help would be much appreciated..also i assume you use the straight end of the flat bar and not the curved hook part...thanx again...

 

[BlueSi4]

Just took my car to the dealer because I'm having the same problem.

Since the car has less than 36k miles, it's covered under warranty, but here's where they get you.

Since I have subs in the trunk, they wanted to charge me 2 hours of labor to disconnect the amplifier and subwoofers and take them off the car so they can reach the latch.

I walked away really pissed, will be taking the sub box out myself and then taking it back.

 

[jboogie19]

Thanks for asking this question. I have the same problem and been trying to figure it out for the last 4 days. I tried everything. so now i have an appointment at the dealership to take a look at it.

 

[hyogen]

oh man... it was a huge hassle...HUGE. I had to take out the rear seats/loosen them and unbolt the bottom part so that i could crawl in and pull the lever.

Cajunrider has a good solution to fixing it--using some sort of hook

 

[26291]

Well, I can already tell from what you said that the trunk is unlatched. What you need to do is pull real hard on it. Something might break, but it won't be anything that's part of the car I don't think.

 

[hyogen]

o m g.

trunk is stuck again.

cajunrider - might need to call you again.

I cannot go through the removing of my backseats again...that was an insanely difficult ordeal

 

[hyogen]

is this a flatbar cajonrider is talking about?

someone mentioned it being curved on one end...

or something like this?

 

[jboogie19]

had the same problem with mine. The dealership will fix it and your warranty should cover it.

 

[hyogen]

way out of warrantee here.

 

[redsiguy]

i had my trunk stuck in my 06 coupe. dealer wanted to charge 150 dollars. i told them to shove it and i went home and took the back seat out. turns out it was a broken screw in the latch mechanisim and the whole thing took 92 cents to fix by replacing a broke screw. the whole project took about an hour. saved a ton of money.

 

[redsiguy]

oh ya i should have mentioned you dont need to take the back seat all the way out. just loosen it up enough to get your hand in there to pull the release lever for the seat.

 

[hyogen]

i've tried this... maybe b/c i'm too fat? but i couldn't reach in there for the life of me...so I had to prety much take out the whole bottom cushion, then painstakingly detach the bottom part of the seat and barely used a hammer to push the release lever for the seat..

then i crawled further in to press the release lever for the trunk..

 

[hyogen]

CAJUNRIDER CAME THROUGH FOR ME AGAIN.

his flatbar method worked on the first try. I dug up his phone number and he even called me back and sent me pictures from the inside of the trunk to show me exactly how to do it.

WOW. I think this thread should possibly be a sticky... I've never would have imagined how cheap our trunk latch mechanism is...

I'll post pics and stuff soon. Thank you again Cajunrider!

 

[CajunRider]

You are welcome hyogen. Since you have the pics I sent you, go ahead and post them here. I'm sure others can use them.

I've owned many Hondas and have been a fan. This one major design flaw is driving me nuts. If you habitually stuff things into you trunk (who doesn't?) make sure you stay away from the center latch mechanism. All it takes is a tall luggage bag and that latch will be bent and the trunk won't open when you get to the air port. DAMHIK.

 

[hyogen]

I am glad i was able to get my trunk open...shortly afterwards the cheap CHEAP plastic latch broke completely. So now I have to order a new one...and figure out how to install it

here are the pics. CAjunRider you are a lifesaver 2 times.

this is the passenger side...stick it in towards center (preferably with something harder than a plastic knife.

pull towards the passenger side like a lever

pop down the seat!

crawl through and open trunk with emergency latch.

 

[CajunRider]

what to do?

No, I don't have the valet lock on. I've tried locking and unlocking many times. it's not that.

I'm out of warrantee- i called the dealer and of course they want me to bring it in.

Now that you have the trunk open. Take the latch out by removing the two bolts. I bet you that you'll find the steel on the back of the latch mechanism is bent. It's made out of cheap soft steel.

Straighten the steel out by hammering on it against a flat surface. Then wrap a wet towel around all the latch mechanism except for that steel piece. Take a propane torch and heat it up until orange red. Be careful that you don't get the plastic parts too hot. Once it's orange red douse it with cold water. That'll harden that steel a little bit and prevent it from bending so easily.

 

[hyogen]

well, that part i bent in by pushing myself.

the plastic part...sort of a zig zag shape that is connected to the emergency latch (glow in the dark latch)....is broken. on one end it is connected to the emergency latch, and one part of it there is a small notch where the cable goes (for the trunk release in drivers side of car).

then the other end is where it pushes this metal lever attached to the actual lock....

yeah, this piece is broken.... calling honda and trying to figure out what to order...

 

[hyogen]

can't really see it...but it's kinda behind the 11/15 parts...