Whenever I pop my truck I have to pretty much use my fingers to pry on the sides in order to open the thing. It just does not lift up after being popped like it should in order to easily open the trunk. Does anyone have the same problems? Do i need to replace the "strut parts" of the trunk that hold the lid up? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated because it sure is annoying.

 

Quickest solution is to just spray WD40 all over the latch and the struts. PFM!

 

You didn't mention what kind of car you have but I am assuming it is a convertible (Vert) or a fixed roof coupe (FRC) or a Z06. If you do a search there are plenty of solutions, I typed in "trunk release" and got several hits that are related to the problem.

This one is my personal favorite because it is so easy and takes no time and also doesn't involve adding things such as springs from Home Depot.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...up-enough.html
I did mine at the beginning of the summer and it worked great ever since. Again, it takes maybe 10 mins if you have never done it before and once you know how it can be done in under a minute.

Welcome to the forum and I hope this helps you out.

 

I was going to tell him the same thing,,but you have the computer skills to include a link,,,,gotta learn how to do that some day!!

 

I am having a tough time figuring out what the bend on this spring?! Is it the small excess wire leading on to the top of the latch that i need to bend upwards? Or is it the actualy spring that is coiled up that I need to bend?

Not mechanically savvy at all....hah sorry if this sounds like a dumb question to some but this little modification is confusing me!

 

I can only speak about mine....'99 FRC.

Pop the trunk release with the door open. Then make sure all the windows are in the up position, close the open door completley & the trunk should pop up some more for your fingers to easily open it. Works for me.....

 

You want the peice of the coil spring that sticks straight out...it will be bent slightly from wear and tear on the trunk latch being pressed down on it for years. If you can get it straight out I have a feeling that would be perfect. I have only managed to get mine bent a little bit straighter which does help a lot.

 

 

This is how I almost always open mine. Works like a champ.

 

All good tips

The trunk popper isn't pretty but its effective.

If you ever decide that the trunk popper is the way to go, here's how I made mine

Trunk Popper for a Vert or Z06

This is an easy mod but for those of you who prefer to buy the ready made item it sells for a very reasonable price of $15.95 from one of the Forum vendors. Unfortunately the vendor doesn’t ship overseas so I needed a DIY version:

http://www.c5trunkpopper.com/

If you want to try yourself, pick up a 7/8” compression spring from Home Depot. They retail at $3.98 for a pack of 4 springs, 2 large and 2 small. You’ll also need an end cap of the same diameter. I used a 7/8” rubber stopper ($1.76). The advantage is that it acts as a soft buffer and can be trimmed to fit.




Cut the large spring to a length of 2”. The springs are quite strong so it takes a bit of elbow grease to cut it. Tighten the radius at the cut end of the spring to give a hole to fasten the screw through.

Undo the T30 torx screw on the right hand side of the closure plate. Insert the torx screw down the barrel of the spring and retighten it in place.

Slot the bung in place. You can trim the bung to get whatever fit you prefer. With it as shown it takes a good push to close the trunk. Trimming the bung will make it easier to close..




It took 10 minutes and all the lubrication and fiddling with the lock are a thing of the past.

 

First post.

If you open your trunk and look at the two corners on the back of the car you will see 2 rubber stoppers (not on the trunk lid). You can turn these stoppers out and it will pop your trunk open a little more so you do not have to pry on it with your fingers. Be careful, you only have to turn these about 1/4 turn. If you turn them out to much your trunk lid will stick up past your quarter panel. Try it, it work

 

Just oil the piston rods on the 2 lifts, easy, takes 1 minutes and it works.

 

I just bought the trunk popper and it has worked great for years

 

I believe the early models (97-99) used a torsion spring in the latch mechanism. This spring wears out over timesince it's constantly being compressed.

Later models used a tension spring connected to a lever which doesn't wear out as easily since the spring has more coils:




I know you can swap the latch for a later model hardware with targa coupes, but i haven't tried it with FRCs or verts. Might want to give it a shot. My swap cost me $60 with parts from ebay. You'll need the latck assembly AND strikers to make it work.

 

The quick, efficient, cheap and lasting fix..http://www.c5trunkpopper.com/

 

I have one on both my and my wife's C5's

 

Towards the end of my factory warranty, the tech told me that GM had redesigned the trunk latch. So, I had mine changed under warranty & it always pops up.

 

Trunk popper!!Well worth the money.

 

 

Here is my fix. I just thought I would put it into the recurring trunk popper sales thread.

Trunk Lid Not Opening
I went through this about 3 years ago. I took the whole thing out of the trunk and had a look at the spring mechanism. What I found was that there was a binding within the latch mechanism. What was happening because of this binding is that the release finger (Latch) that goes through the striker when the trunk is closed, does not move out of the way quickly enough when released to open the trunk. It was the part that was binding. The striker while moving upwards contacts the binding latch, impeding the full lift of the trunk lid. So it's not really that the mechanism isn't strong enough in upward movement, but that the latch doesn't get out of the way quickly enough when released. Easy fix though I sprayed some WD-40 in the latch on either side of the finger of the latch assembly that catches the striker. It worked immediately. And so I went around to every hinge point also with the WD to ensure the best possible ease of motion. Also I cleaned the rubber gasket around the trunk which was also contributing to holding the lid down. About 6 months latter when the weather got cold it started to happen again so this time I used a Lithium spray grease and since then it has never happened again. I hope that all made sense and I am sure it'll work for you.