grandnexus

I have a honda civic 2001 LX, 2 dr and my trunk is starting to cause me problems. When I open it and try to close it, it usually doesn't close unless I slam on it really hard continuously until it finally latches and stays closed.

The trunk itself I guess closes, it just doesn't latch on to the piece of metal on the bottom and lock up.

How do I go about fixing this problem? Should I buy a replacement part (for the top of the trunk where the key and lock mechanism is) or is there something else I should do?

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

You can try moving the striker plate...? Up, I would imagine. Mark the position it is at now before moving it.

lazlong

Adjust the latch with these 2 screws until it latches the first time:

grandnexus

Hey, update on this.

I finally started messing with it today. I was lying down on the inside of the trunk, and closing it from the inside, then used the manual switch inside the trunk to open it. It would close everytime perfectly. When I use the trunk release switch next to the driver side seat, it would take like 10 times before it finally latches on......

SO, it seems the driver side switch doesn't fully unlatch the trunk, or doesn't fully take pressure off of a spring or some other mechanism or something...

Any one run into this problem before? Suggestions?

lazlong

Look down at the bottom of the trunk pull. If you can see the pull pulling the little ball and wire out of the trunk release cable then the cable is bad.

number 24: http://www.hondapartscheap.com/south...t=0&quantity=0

grandnexus

My roomate and I were looking at this closely today, and it looks like the internal trunk release thing and using the key both pull the latch thing back to the proper position, whereas the driver side trunk release doesn't.

It is barely noticable, but with the driver side release, it doesn't necessarily latch back into the proper position so when you try to close the trunk, it won't lock when it hits the striking piece on the bottom.

We took the whole thing out and sprayed WD40 all over it, still no go. My roomate thinks one of the springs isn't being pulled back into the right position. I'm not sure what it is, but replacing that whole latching thing is $40....but that still may not be the problem.

lazlong

Sorry, wasn't paying attention earlier. Yeah, if WD-40 didn't do it then you'll probably have to replace the assembly.

yfz450killer

More than likely it is the cable. Pull your plastic cover at the bottom drivers side door and look to see if the trunk/fuel door release cable has backed out of the metal end. Mine had the same issue. If you mess with the lever that you pull/push to release the trunk it will catch and let the trunk close or it will not and your trunk will not close. I replaced my cable and it fixed the problem.

grandnexus

Is there any DIY on this? How much is it to replace the cable and how hard is it to do? Because the cable runs all the way to the back...not sure if I can pull that off (car newb here).

lazlong

Sorry about the fuzzy pics, crappy phone camera. Don't know what's wrong with photobucket but, it won't display the pics at the right orientation.

grandnexus

What book did that come from? Is there some mechanics book I should buy for my 2001 Honda Civic LX?

lazlong

http://www.helminc.com/helm/product2...C01&itemtype=N

amystarfish26

I have a 2005 Civic with a broken trunk latch. It is the actual latch that is broken. First the spring fell out, then a cover plate. When I looked I could clearly see one of the plastic pieces that operates the latch is broken. If I manually manipulate some of the pieces I can get the trunck closed (hard slam). Can I buy this part to replace it and where can I get a manual that shows me how to do that? Thanks.

rio34rf

go to the junk yard. look for an 01 -05 civic or accord. use a 10 MM ratchet to take out two bolts. put in pocket walk out. fixed. You're welcome!

TechMonkey

(Just adding some data for future searches)

In my case, the symptoms were the trunk would seem to be closed, but would often bounce open (and semi shut again) while driving. Closing the trunk sometimes it would latch completely, other times a tiny bit of pressure up would spring it open again.

Testing revealed it would latch pretty reliably if it was closed gently, but any everyday use force would cause it to either semi latch or just bounce back up again. I checked the bumper stop thingies, moving the "striker plate" I guess it's called (the metal loop that the latch actually latches on to) fixed it perfectly! (Note that there's a plastic cover you have to remove, there's some sort of retaining clips that pop off w/ a flathead.

ralfcis

Man I did everything to solve this problem except use my brain to simplify the problem by removing all connections. I swapped out the cable, the latch assembly, adjusted the striker bar and the latch spring tension and still no luck. It would latch fine onto a screwdriver but the trunk would not latch on the stiker bar. So then I unhooked the cable and the trunk closed fine. The cable has 3 positions it can click in to. So I picked the most inward one and no problems. I cannot explain why this would make any difference as the cable does not pull on the latch in any position. Hold on, I just figured it out. Closing the trunk affects the cable tension so when you close the trunk the cable pulls on the latch and opens it. I wasted days of effort.

agrace90

This was the problem with my 2001 civic ex. I've spent months trying to figure out what it was and stopped using my trunk as much as possible. I poked around a little bit and you can use your finger(my fingers fit) or something small like a pen/screwdriver to just move the silver latch thing over to its correct position after opening from the driver seat switch. Otherwise just don't use that switch and always use the keys in the keyhole of the trunk. I am very proud of myself for figuring this out as a 23 year old girl who is not super familiar with cars. Thanks for the bit of advice! Hope this helps others in the future!
~Ashley

Kikimedia

I had to buy two trunk latches now after they keep not closing due to the contact that touches the lower bar that it wraps around is nylon and breaks every time someone slams it. The pinyon part just falls out disabling the latching. It won't even make contact to push the latch into place. Why not metal? Imagine if doors would not close if the door was slammed due to the latch being plastic . Another 50 bux on eBay..

Sheirstles

Had the same problem twice. Really hard to push it back. I am really wondering if this is a design fault.