DIY DIY: How to install factory trunk release to your base Corolla

DIY: How to install factory trunk release to your base Corolla

Okay bitches.

Tools Needed:
10MM socket wrench
Razorblade
Flashlight
Flat head screwdriver
(3) Factory wire harness clampToyota part #58521-02020
Socket wrench extension

This is what fuel release/trunk release controls look like. It is pretty straightfoward to install.




The pulling back the carpet and the routing the cable part is the hardest. I don't know if my method is the easiest way to install it, but it was the way I did it and it works. It helps a lot if you have small hands. Had it not been for the difficulity in getting the module into the interior and all the cable routing I would of saved 2 hours.




Now the STEPS:

1) Pull out the fake left pedal by prying it up with a flat head screwdriver. The fake pedal is holding the carpet down so you will want that out.


2) Unscrew the plastic black screw by the brake pedal that holds the carpet in place.


3) Now pry up the plastic step plates on the bottom of the driver's door. Also unscrew the black screw that holds the kickpanel in place and remove the kickpanel. If you break one of the little clips that hold down the step plate, the Toyota part # is 67921-32010.


4) Pull up the little white wire clamps that hold the wires going down the side of your car. You want to pull these up because they hold the carpet down. Their should be 2 of them in the front and 1 more when you pull up the rear stepplate. I have not found a way to remove them and be able to reuse them, so I guess you can just rip them out. They are $1.50 a piece at the dealership so you will need to buy 3 of them when you're done so your carpet will hold back in place. They are thet ones I'm holding in the picture below.


5.1) Now you can pull back the carpet to reveal what is in the picture below.


5.2) Get your socket wrench and remove that brass screw. You may need to use an extension so you can get enough room and leverage to work in there.


6) Now you need to get to the trunk of the car and look in the interior left side of the quarterpanel where the fuel door is.


7) You want to unscrew this button from the inside. This button is what triggers the fuel door to open.


8) You unscrew the button by using your flashlight to look down behind the trunk padding and grabbing the plastic white knob and turning it loose. It should come out now.


9) Go back up to the driver's seat. Lift up the back side of the carpet and work the old fuel door control out now that the brass screw that held the old control module in place is out.



10) Go to the left rear door and pull up that stepplate by also prying up. Take off the wire harness clamp that holds the carpet in place.


11) Now lift up the weatherstrip on the rear left side of the car like in the picture. Now you can see how the wire routes from the driver's seat into the trunk. You can take the old cable out by gently pulling the length of the cable out or just cut it with a pair of shears like me and pull both halves out.


12) Now you are ready to install the new control module with the trunk release. You start by reversing the removal step and putting the module back through the hole on the back of the driver's seat. IMPORTANT: You need to make sure you get the trunk release and fuel release levers back through the hole in the carpet BEFORE you screw that brass screw. Otherwise the carpet will not fit through the levers. I had to use a razorblade and make a slit in the carpet where the brass hole is and trimmed the hole for the carpet a tad bit bigger.


13) Now just route the cable down the side of the car through the stepplates up to the hole in the trunk. This takes time and careful hand coordination.



14) When you get the fuel door release into the trunk, make sure you stick the fuel release cable through this hole in the left side of the trunk and reverse the removal step that you did earlier. Now your fuel release door is done and should work again!


15) When you get the trunk release cable into the trunk you want to stick it inside this hole in the interior side of your trunklid.


16) Now unscrew the 2 10MM silver bolts that hold the trunk latch in place. Use your socket wrench.


17) Now that the trunk latch is open and hanging there. You want to route the trunk release cable so that it comes down on top of the trunk latch. Grab that little steel ball and route it into the latch like this picture below.


18) Now just snap the neck of the trunk release end into the groove on the latch and reinstall the 2 10MM bolts for the trunk latch into place and YOU ARE F-ING DONE. Just remember to tape or zip-tie the cable in place so they don't dangle. And don't forget to install the stepplates, kickpanel, fake left pedal, the little plastic black screw by the brake pedal, and whatever else we took out to do this.

taking apart interiors isnt really hard at all, just take your time with it and dont rush it, if you rush it you will break things

ive taking apart just about every GM car and truck(from aveos to hummers) and my honda also.

my advise is just take ur time and expect it to take a while!!

on a side note, i need to add a power lock to my hatch on my civic!! im tired of having to get out and put the key in and turn it, lol

Thanks for the advise. You can do like I and go to a place that will install car alarms and get power locks put in. You will be able to lock and unlock your doors with your fob, but you still won't be able to lock and unlock from inside the car. It was $50 per door like 6 years ago.

There's actually a addon switch you could install as a option with aftermarket door poppers. I always put one in for the customer because it only cost a extra 20 bucks.

electronic trunk popper solenoids are pretty straight forward, i think it'll actually be easier on civics since the latch mechanism is on the body (ifn I remember correctly)

As for OEM cable latch, its very straight forward. I assume you remove the piece from a doner car yourself so installation is reverse of removal.

Nah, I got the OEM cable latch from eBay they took it out of the donar car. So I am lost...heh

I have an electronic trunk popper for over 3 years, but it dont always work and it usually requires I press the fob down 2 times or more. If you look my thread about a picture of trunk latch, you can see the electronic trunk popper cable.

Where is this add on switch for aftermarket door poppers? Please send me a link, I've been looking for this for a long long time.

yea the cable on the universal remote trunk poppers get loose over time so they're a pita sometimes.

You can get the switch from SPAL.
http://www.spal-usa.com/power_lock_kits/automated/accessories/all_accessories.html
It's the 8th or 9th item down. Installation is very straight forward. There are 2 wires, just find the keyless entry module and tap them directly into the two wires that controls lock and unlock.

As for installing the cable into the trunk latch, the cable comes in from the top and theres a plastic grommet piece that snaps in to the notch. Then there's a ball attach to the end of the cable which go into a slot in the latching mechanism which you'll see as soon as you unbolt the latch.

Makes me so glad I have an LE.

Thanks, I needed that. Now I need to decide if I want to get the OEM parts to convert to power windows and locks or make do with the alarm keyless entry and maybe add a SPAL window kit....

I'm leaning more towards gettng the car alarm installers taking out the alarm/keyless entry and converting to OEM windows and locks and then putting the alarm people to put the alarm/keyless system back in.

plu added 2 Minutes and 41 Seconds later...

shhhhhhhh. How about a picture of your trunk latch to prove it then

I'll post when I get home.

i dont think i can put a popper on my hatch, being that its basically a 3rd door, its got a regular locking mechanism just like the front doors.

i just wanna make the lock power and put a switch inside the car and put it on the 3rd channel on my alarm system...none of my door locks are power, i dont care about the front ones not being power but the rear is killer cuz i have no way to unlock it inside the car unless i climb into the backseat and reach into the back and pull up the lock, lol

OEM is always best. Even though the SPAL kits i've installed have always been relaible they never operates as smoothly as OEM equipment.

JspeXAE102 added 3 Minutes and 20 Seconds later...

oh right, the last civic i worked on was a coupe. In that case you want to use a simple door lock actuator.

lol base model ftl.

How much price difference was the LE compared to the S, CE, and VE, even though the S came later?

lol, mines not even a base model...cx is tha base model hatch mines a dx which the only diff is i have powersteering and a rear wiper, lol

yea, i may pick up a lock acuator and do it up at work one day

N/M I done did it.

I might actually try this in the summer. I have the same car model as you!

sweet, now i dont have to use my key anymore. yay! lol

i use to own a S model so i know the difference's. lol
i dont own that VE anymore. sis drives it..Im moving forward To my nxt yota

It's been done
It was so easy that I didn't need a DIY. Just need the lamp which pops in and swap the lock latches. And wire up the 2 (blue/yellow and red/white) wires to the wires in the trunk.