Bought a needle nose. Got into trunk. Now I just need to put some touchup paint or plastidip or something on the exposed metal so it doesn't start rusting out. :-|

The really weird thing is I was expecting to have to pull that release rod with a lot of force, or still need to pop the trunk open since it was frozen or something.... none of the above. I barely pulled the rod and the trunk popped. And now the release cable works perfectly. I have NO idea what was wrong. o.O

 

Lock cylinder is probably frozen. If you're careful, you can disassemble and clean it all up. If you aren't careful, you'll pop those little springs and pins out, and it's useless.

 

I'll look into that. I assume by "frozen" you don't mean physically below freezing temperature with water inside and just needs to thaw.

The tumbler has never worked to unlock the trunk.. it turns SOME, and seems like it's about to pop, but then it doesn't (car actually came with 3 keys and I promptly broke one by trying to open the trunk because it seemed like it really *wanted* to go).

I was talking to a buddy about it because he works at a shop and he said his forman might be able to re-key the tumbler for me, but then we looked at it and he said that it wouldn't turn AT ALL if the key wasn't right for the tumbler. Which makes sense.

Maybe it's just all gummed up or something?

EDIT: Found it: https://www.miataturbo.net/general-m...17/#post941149

Interestingly, in all of my google searches to try to resolve issues with my car, almost all of the most useful posts come from this site (and the m.n garage).

 

I bet your release didn't pop the trunk because the trunk was frozen shut. The release probably worked just fine, but because the trunk lid didn't rise away from the locking mechanism slightly when you pulled the release, the release simply re-latched the lid when you let off of it....

Just a thought.

 

I thought that was the case as well, but I held the lever up while a buddy tugged up on the trunk. No dice.

I also tried the release cable immediately before tripping the release rod with my (brand new) needle nose. The cable didnt' work, and the trunk popped open IMMEDIATELY and effortlessly with the release rod.. So I'm not really sure wtf.

I'm not going to complain. It works now.

Only thing I can think of is I found directions on m.n garage for "temporarily disabling the release cable" by allowing the trunk lock tumbler to rotate to the left. Possibly the tumbler got moved and so my cable was accidentally 'temporarily disabled' or idk.

 

In the meantime, find someone who can key your trunk to work with your key. I may have to look into getting the parts and tools to do this myself as I happen to be a locksmith - I just don't do cars. But if I can get the parts and tools I'd be happy to do this for friends.

 

I GOT IT

So it was 18 above today (HEATWAVE!!) so I got out in the garage and started tinkering. Turned out my lock tumbler was installed UPSIDE DOWN (I have no idea why, but there are other clues that this car was possibly in a rear-end collision once before, looks like whoever did the repair didn't install the tumbler correctly). So as you turned the key clockwise, the rod got pushed TOWARDS the latch instead of pulled away.

Not only is this why the key didn't OPEN the trunk, but it's also why the release cable stopped working (if you push the rod towards the latch, the release cable doesn't work, like in the thread I linked earlier to "temporarily disable the release cable".)

Removed the right side of the finish panel, reached in and flipped the tumbler around, and now the key and the release cable work perfectly.

Woooot.

Here it is upside down. :-P

 

Sweet! It's great when stuff turns out simple.