Drilling out boot lock

[clouds87]

Hey everyone,

so I bought my mr2 sw21 last year and at the time the boot lock already was kinda hard to turn. A friend of mine fiddled with it, and ended up turning it counterclockwise which locks it in valet mode - something I didn't know it could even do..after searching online I've tried several methods. I've tried WD40, graphite, jiggling it for hours, picking the lock with paperclips, getting a master key, no luck at all

I left it as is for a year, but now one taillight bulb died, so I need access to the trunk to replace it. I've bought another lock as a replacement, so it is time to drill this sucker out.

The problem is I'm not sure how to do this. I've been reading about drilling out cylinder locks, but I am confused as to where/how to drill.

I've added a photo with drill locations to my profile, since I can't post url's (yet). Do I drill at the green Xs, so I drill "through the shear line"? Or straight through the center of the keyway (red X)?

I really hope anyone who has already done this before, could tell me the steps they took to drilling out the lock, because obviously I don't want to make the situation worse.

[andrewgt]

Don't mean to state the obvious here but have you tried pulling the boot catch to open it? Happened me was half stuck and it opened it.

[clouds87]

You mean the release handle by the driver's seat? We tried that right away when we realised the key couldn't be turned back to the original vertical position. But the valet lock disengages this lever, so when you pull it, the boot doesn't pop open. I also read about pushing down on the boot lid and then jiggling the key, but nothing.

And the frustrating thing is, I put the new spare lock that I bought on the valet lock too to figure out what's preventing me from opening the boot with the keys that I have. And that one I CAN get back to the vertical position by jiggling the key..

[Slarty]

I was going to suggest wiggling the key and WD40, but it would seem that you've already done that!

There is another method to open the boot, but I don't know how it's done. Hopefully someone who does will come along and pm you the information, to keep it out of public eyes, so to speak

[andrewgt]

Yea i remember seeing that on one of the posts last year all the information was pm'd to keep out of the 'publics' eyes

[clouds87]

Yea I saw that thread too from TheBaker, but his problem was that after drilling and hammering he got the boot to open and then he closed it again. After that he couldn't open it again, so he resorted to drilling through the plastic center panel.

I'd like to avoid drilling through that, since I only have a new lock. I don't know, maybe it's easier than it seems to me, but I read posts of people ending up with the cylinder spinning freely in the housing thingie, or drilling for days and still not getting the boot to pop open :/

It just seems like there is a right way to do it, and a lot of wrong ways to drill out the lock. I don't want to start drilling and end up with a stuck boot and a destroyed lock/mechanism. So yea if anyone knows the right way, please pm me. It would be a big help

[Canopus]

If I remember correctly you can't access the rear lights from inside. The clear cover has to be levered off to gain access. Someone correct me if I'm wrong?

Good luck and keep fiddling with the lock and you may be lucky!

Cheers

Geoff

[clouds87]

Hey everyone, update: the boot has been opened

TheBaker and JeffD pm-ed some guidelines, and first I tried jiggling the key some more but when that really didn't work, I drilled through the center panel like TheBaker told me, and tried to find the metal rod that's connected to the lock. TIP: from time to time check whether the boot has opened....I was pulling and pushing on that rod for close to an hour, until a friend who was also working on his car came around and pulled the boot lid up...Apparently it had already opened but I hadn't noticed

Thanks for everyones input!

[toxo]

There's another method for getting into the boot that sacrifices the rear bumper... I happened to lock myself out of my boot while the rear bumper was off the car so it was no problem for me