97C5driver

Is this possible to do without battery power? Is there maybe a trick to lowering it manually without breaking it?

thanks

sTz

It's probably operated by gears, which are probably plastic. I doubt that you can lower it manually without breaking something.

ersatz928

no, unless you want to break it.....

Always Red Dave

No power must be on from the battery.

Maxpowers

I've seen a picture of the unit while out of the car and there is a little electric motor on the bottom with gears. You would definitely do some damage if you forced it down.

Gearbox22

Not to get too personal, but why do you need to do this?

KoolCorvette

If its still under warranty who cares if you break it.

NSC5

User inflicted damage isn't a warranty item; sort of like taking a knife to your seat covering and asking for warranty replacement.

Warranty is like insurance; the covered is expected to take actions to minimize additional damage so if there is an electrical failure preventing the screen from being lowered GM will happily address that but not so happily address the owner who decided to break the screen rather than having the underlying warranty issue addressed.

The hidden compartment's security is mostly because it is hidden. If someone wants to get into it the cover can be forced down via stripping the gear train OR the more direct approach would be a hammer through the screen It is easy to get into IF you aren't concerned about damage to the screen/mechanism.

renoone

I guess my question would be... what if you have something you need in there and the battery dies. Billfold, phone, gun, etc. How do I get it out? Without damage?

Maybe you are out on the road and need a tow. I don't want to leave my item(s) in there.

NSC5

Probably the best bet is to have the tow operator attach a jump pack to provide temporary power to retrieve the contents.

renoone

Good point. My thought was if you just couldn't get power no matter what. I suppose you leave it in there or strip the gears if you really need it out. Seems like there should be a better solution.

ersatz928

Every gimmick has a downside.....

NSC5

That is one of those situations where you have to decide if the damage is worth it. That is one of the reasons I rarely use that compartment and the other reason is whether the flex cable for the screen is up to multiple cycles or if that will become a repair concern sort of like a laptop computer that is too frequently opened and closed.

A more likely on the road failure is the stupid locking gas cover mechanism. Enough people have had trouble with it that I installed a plug to prevent it from locking closed.

ea327

I guess maybe you shouldn't keep those "important things" in there.

renoone

LOL! You are right!

What about the locking gas lid. What happens so it won't open? How do you put a plug in?

NSC5

I plugged mine like you see in this thread, see the solution by TEXHAWK0 in this thread: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-not-open.html