6G Celicas Forums

Hi Everybody, this is my first post.

I picked up a '97 GT a few weeks ago. I love it. It has 170K on the clock but is pretty damn clean and runs well. When I bought the car, everything worked on it but I've run into my first problem. Yesterday I put my key into the hatch lock cylinder and jiggled it around to pop the hatch. The key turned 90 degrees CCW and kinda just didn't feel right. The key came out but now the cylinder is stuck in that position and I can't pop the hatch. I can't pop it from the driver's seat either. When I pull the lever it just feels like it's not catching anything. I'm assuming something's loose in the hatch mechanism or something but I haven't had time to crawl back there and check it out yet. Anybody have this problem before? Thanks for your help.

I've had similar problems... You should start by taking everything out of your trunk, i knows its a pain since you cant get it open and have to go in through the seats once its empty undo everything that is holding all the fabric in place on that back wall, from there you should be able to see if the cable used to unlock the trunk is snagged on something or has come lose, if that cable is out of place it could be what is causing the problems with the lock selonoid...

i have the same problem. locked at a horizontal. kind of a pain to pull the lever somtimes. lol

hmm... This could be a common issue, because mine is also stuck horizontal. Although this happened over winter. I basically pop the hatch from the inside every time. Someone should find an answer to this issue.

Aaah yes..I have the same problem and was told that it is the "valet feature". Apparently, the lock on the hatch is set up so that you can lock it and give someone else the key to get in & start the car but they can't open the hatch. I'd like to meet the genius that designed this because he obviously didn't think about just putting down the back seats. Anyhow, I have the same problem. I can't even open it with the master key or the hatch release switch anymore. The only solution I could think of was to replace the lock cylinder with a "regular" one. Hope that helps you somehow.
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If you take apart the plastic cover in the very rear in the trunk, you will see the system. I think you can unhatch the mechanism that is connected to the cylinder.

i know what your talking about but not sure you understand what we're thinking. its more like the cylinder is stuck... because i've had the problem you are describing and it was fixed rather easily.

Yeah I know, but if the cylinder is stuck, you can just "bypass" the cylinder with the method I were talking about.


But, it may be that I dont understand the problem here..

how would you bypass it standing outside of the car w/a key in your hand?

i thought you're supposed to turn it CW to pop the latch??? and CCW to lock it???? mine does that when i turn CCW and yes it gets locked in that horizontal position. all i do is turn it CW until the mechanism pops the hatch

.........wait turning left is CCW right?!?!?!? and turning the key to the right is CW?????

yeah thats right

This post has been edited by 808celica: Sep 9, 2008 - 3:40 AM

You have to get inside the car from the front? If you cant pop the hatch at all, you have to unhatch some cables at the locking mechanism.

no it can be opened from the inside via either pulling the latch at the side of the drivers seat or by climbing into the back and doing essentially the same thing manually... the only thing that doesn't work is turning the key counter clockwise. its stuck horizontally.

Finally had time to mess with it today. Crawled in the back and pulled off the cover to see what the eff is going on. In my situation, the driver seat lever doesn't catch anything when I pull it making it useless. The only way I can unlock the hatch is by manually disengaging the latch while I'm in the trunk. Since the lever doesn't engage, I'm thinking that the cylinder is not broken but I've got it in valet mode and I can't get it out. I only have one key and I'm not sure what kind of key it is... The lock worked fine for a week or so... I'm calling a dealer to see if I can get the cylinder replaced or something.

Just got back from Toyota of Garden Grove. I had a valet key. Those keys are all metal with no plastic cladding. $16 for a new master key. Lame that the valet key can put the lock in valet mode but it can't get it out... Thanks for the help guys.

Just the method I was talking about..