Paint It Black

Before you lecture on me looking through the forum for this issue because its already been posted, ive looked and most dont seem to match mine.

I didnt do anything to provoke it, but I went to pop my hatch today using the int. button it didnt open. Naturally I got out of the car and went to the trunk and used the fob, and after a few times it opened.

Troubleshot the issue for a bit to find the following....

1. The latch may not open until the 2nd or 3rd time, but you can hear the solenoid or whatever electrical response is meant to happen everytime.
2. Doesnt matter what electric button you use, unless you use the manual key method, it wont open the first time.
3. Only intermittently will the top automatically shut once down, but if you open it with the key it will autoshut once and only once.

So yeah, I tried cleaning the button by the license plate, I attempted holding the latch at different positions when hitting the button to no avail, etc.

Any help would be awesome

Torchsport

Battery?

Paint It Black

How so?

And now that you say that I forgot another point I had. My first guess was an electrical issue, then I wondered if the solenoid was getting enough power to move the latch enough. This led me to find the trunk release fuse that is on the passenger side wheel well fuse box.

Now is this a 05 thing, because there was NO fuse where it was designated to be AND there werent even contacts at all if i WANTED to swap a fuse.

WTH?

CO Lightfoot

I don't recall a similar thread discussing this problem.

Is it cold where you live? Maybe the solenoid gets iced or is just less effective because of the weather.

I haven't actually seen the solenoid mechanism... maybe someone with real experience will chime in.

I'm sure this is resolvable. Let us know what finally fixes it.

Torchsport

I was refering to the battery in the fob. That's one thing you hadn't mentioned.
Otherwise, I haven't a clue. Sorry.
Good luck.

Paint It Black

There were similar ones, but none as (unfortunately) unique as mine.

I live in Tucson, so it is getting a bit chilly, but there is def no ice. haha

Im assuming the latch connects to some kind of electro-mechanical machine that when the signal hits the reciever, it shoots a discrete voltage to a gear that turns the latch. I cant see it tho, all I see is the latch and a big spring around the turning assembly.

And of course I will

lordofwar

what year is your car?their is a recall on the 2012s for rear window hinges.maybe something to do with your problem.just guessing.

cclive

I'm guessing that it is a physical issue and since you hear the solenoid working, not an electrical issue. It may be a misalignment of the striker. This causes the striker to jam slightly. It's worth a shot to loosen the striker screws and try moving it slightly to one side and then the other and see if it works better.

bolivar

My Corvette doesn't pull the hatch down like my wifes older Cadillac trunk did, but there is a pull down under there. You push the hatch down, and a motor grabs the latch and pulls it down an inch or so. You push one of the releases (dash, over license plate, remote) and a solnoid trips and lets it open.

If it is slow to respond to all these releases, there is something wrong with the pull down. The remote and dash probably both go to one of the computers and it throws a current to open it. The key above the license plate is probably a true 'manual' release. If all three are having a problem, it's probably in the mechanism.

Paint It Black

@lordofwar, its a 2005 but may be worth checking that.

@cclive, ive tried manipulating it like that and seeing if different angles or pressures affect it, but nothing seems to improve it.

@bolivar, so your saying your trunk doesnt do the auto-latch at all? Mine was working fine, but like I said now the only time it catches it on its own is after I use the manual release once, and then it stops working.

Today I tried wd40 on the spring to see if it was just getting stuck, but again no fix. It now takes more times to open also, and still the clicking with barely any motion. I REALLY dont want to have to go to a dealership, im half tempted to take off the mechanism, disassemble, and see for myself whats going on inside. probably not the best idea, but this is ridiculous. Oh, and does anyone know why when you pop the trunk with the rear button or unlock the doors with the fob, there is a clicking sound from behind the CD player?

Just noticed today, wierdest thing.


So yeah, im lost.

CO Lightfoot

Before you take it apart, check the fuse blocks in the passenger footwell. There are TWO fuses for the trunk release, one in the lower block and one in the right block.

See pg 5-88 in the online owners manual:
http://www.gmpartshouse.com/download...05corvette.pdf

I have no idea why there are two fuses. But maybe it's a dual system (like brakes) that works like yours when one circuit fails.

Anyway, it's easy enough to check.

Paint It Black

but see, thats what i was saying earlier.. they arent there.

its not even a question of the fuses missing, because there is no electrical contacts to plug in a fuse if you HAD it. Tried to plug the fuel door fuse (center bottom) into the trunk fuses location and it would hold because of lack of those contacts. WTH?

BEZ06

First of all, I agree with Chris (cclive) when he says that you probably have a physical problem rather than an electrical issue. If you're getting clicking when you actuate the release, then it sounds like electrical power is getting to the latch release mechanism - so it's probably the mechanism itself that is at fault. The solenoid that pulls the release could be getting weak, it could be getting dirty and that could affect the release mechanism, something could be out of alignment and causing excess pressure on the mechanism and not allowing it to release smoothly, or....????

I'm not quite sure what "fuse" you're talking about!?!?

I also am assuming that you have a coupe. You keep talking about a "trunk" (and the fuses/relays are labelled "trunk"), but the "trunk" on a convertible and the "hatch" on a coupe are distinctly different animals!!

You mention that your auto power pull down latch works intermittently, and there is no power pull down latch on a vert trunk, so I'm assuming that you have a coupe.

The semantics are important so we know what kind of "latch" you are talking about - the vert trunk (and 2006-2008 Z06) has a manual latch, and the coupe has an auto power pull down latch. Both latches have a manual release capability with the key, and they both also release electrically with the fob, the button on the driver knee bolster panel, and the button over the license plate.

So.....the electrical circuits to the 2 different latches are different.

And.....I don't know what "fuse" you're talking about when you say: "Tried to plug the fuel door fuse (center bottom) into the trunk fuses location.....".

I suspect you're talking about "RELAYS" and not fuses. Take a look at this picture of the fuse/relay blocks in the passenger footwell:




If you're talking about those large box shaped things at the very bottom of the picture, they are relays.

This picture was taken a couple years ago when I removed the manual latch in my '06 Z06 and replaced it with an auto power pull down latch. This picture was taken before the mods were done to change the power distribution. The setup in the picture is how a convertible or an early Z06 with the manual latch would look - i.e., there are 2 of those large relays.

In a coupe with the auto power pull down latch, the relay on the left does not exist in that location. I'm not sure, but I suspect the terminals don't exist to hold a relay in that location because the wiring is different between the two latch installations.

So....if you are talking about the large "RELAYS" at the very bottom of the picture, the manual latch has both of them you see. But f you have an auto power pull down latch on a coupe, then the left relay will not be in your car. Actually, there's still a release actuator relay on the coupe, but it's in the latch mechanism, not in that fuse block in the passenger footwell.

You can also see a 15 amp fuse in the circle in the upper right of the picture. That fuse will be in either a vert or a coupe, however the wiring goes to different places.

Bottom line - if you're getting clicking in the latch, it's probably not an electrical problem.

If you have a coupe then you have a hatch and not a trunk. The fuses/relays may say trunk so GM can use the same labelling, but there is a definite distinction between a trunk or a hatch in that they use two different latches with different wiring - so that's why you probably are confused when unable to install a relay in that trunk release relay location because the relay is in the latch for a coupe with the auto power pull down feature.

Bob

COL-INF

BEZ06: Really an excellent post. If anyone needs a reason to keep track of CF issues, this response is Exhibit A. Text and pictures make all the difference.

BEZ06

Aw, gee.....:bb Ya got me all blushin' and embarrassed!!!:o

Butt....I was an Airborne, Ranger, Infantryman for many years!!!!

So I'll graciously take your comments as a very high compliment!!

Thanx very much!!

Mainly I hope it helps Paint It Black with his problem.

Bob

Paint It Black

See, this is why forums are so amazing to me. A collection of people who know what youve been through, have been where you are, and if they havent are always willing to share their knowledge.

BEZ06, thanks for all the information. I do have an 05 Coupe, so you are absolutely correct. The reason I suspected electrical was that the car has had electrical problems in the past, so it seemed to match the cars "mood". Also, in my measly 3 years in aircraft maintenance ive learned that its either 1st (and most likely) the part itself 2nd, the whole assembly or 3rd (and most dreadfully) the component is not recieving the full needed electrical signal.

So the problem is, from what I can tell, either the mechanism isnt recieving enough voltage to work the first time or the mechanism isnt responding to the correct voltage. Either way I dont know how to solve this issue, lol. Im going to start with that amp you showed me on the right side of the footwell relay/fuse box (thanks again) and if they doesnt do it ill cave and dig into the latch assembly.

Wish me luck. :P

Landru

Recall reading reports here of the hatch linkage from the solenoid to the lock either coming loose, or disconnecting completely.

Since you can hear the solenoid energizing; yet, not unlocking the hatch as designed? Perhaps that likage is at least, loose. IF it had become completely disconnected I'd guess the hatch wouldn't open, a'tall. Check it out.

Wayne O

An intermittent fault (or intermittent operation) is quite often caused by a faulty electrical connection or wiring. If it's not just a bad actuator and if you can't find anything obvious, the dealership could use their scan tool to trace the source of the problem. Good luck.

CO Lightfoot

I think you're referring to the following post by Bob (BEZ06) from a different thread discussing problems using the manual key:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...tal-key-2.html

Landru

Yup that's it, thanks for the clarification. It'd been some time since reading the write-up, what stuck was remebering it involved the rear latching mechanism.