Howdy all,

Something is blocking the full insertion of the key to turn the lock on the trunk. I cannot turn the lock barrel. I need to know the least damaging method to get into the trunk. I cannot go through from the back seat because the trunk is full of parts. Should I drill the lock or ???
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Mr. Shannon DeWolfe -- I've taken to using mister because my name misleads folks on the WWW. I am a 52 year old fat man.

Many thanks to you all. I will look in my mess o'keys to see if I have a smaller Volvo key. The key I do have works everywhere else except the glove box and the trunk. Odds are good there is a separate key that I've mislaid. No remote on this one.

BTW guys, I am going to be parting this thing. The car is rust free and has virtually all the trim on it. It has a sunroof that I can cut free from the roof. I'll post more on this when I get home this weekend. I'm at work and this will probably be the last time I have access to the WWW for a few days.

--sd

I guess this would have been right about 20 years ago.. late '80s

We had a 122 wagon in need of an engine. Then, lo and behold, a wrecked 144 showed up at a sleazy local used car dealership. We inquired, to find that the car had been rolled, and subsequently repossessed. Credit to Volvo safety, none of the glass was broken even though the car had been on its roof.

Anyhow.. we bought the car $100 for the engine. Sleazy dealer wouldn't let us work on it in his parking lot, so we pushed it across the street and got it running in plain view of the salesman, and drove it to some friends house where there was room to do the engine swap.

Now, these friends at this house... It was a large house. 6 or 7 bedrooms. And the occupants consisted of 10-12 punk rock type individuals. Mostly unemployed and in their late teens/early 20s. It was a party nearly 24/7.

Back to the car. The trunk for this rolled 144 was locked, and we had no key for it. But, it's a donor car, and a smashed one at that. And you gotta look what's inside. So we get out the crow bars and pry the trunk lid open. What do we find, you ask?

Well, as luck would have it... The trunk happened to be full of sledge hammers. About a dozen of them.

You do the math. 10-12 punk rockers with nothing but time on their hands. One old Volvo that will soon be heading to the crusher. a dozen sledge hammers.

Suffice to say, there was no unbroken glass by the end of that day.

Cheers, hope you find something fun in the trunk when you get into it!

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-Matt I ♥ my ♂

Shannon, B.C.'s advice is correct. Your '83 had a second smaller key to work the trunk lid. The ignition key is too big to fit. There's probably nothing wrong with the lock.

I somehow lost the trunk key to my '82. Luckily I had a friend with a supply of old keys. Couldn't believe it, but the third key we tried worked... Combination of luck and worn out lock/key I suppose. Worth a shot if you can find someone with such a key? Your local Volvo dealer may have a master key?

Good luck.

-Will
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850 / Mini

After reading all of the posts. I would reccommend just drilling the lock out starting with an 1/8" bit and work up to maybe a 1/4" drill bit to drill out the tumblers. This way you won't risk damaging the trunk lid. I don't think a screwdriver will work on the trunk. The lid is too thick and the lock won't spin in the opening.

As to getting into the actual car with a screwdriver, it's not the twisting motion that unlocks the door, it's the downward pressure exerted on the screwdriver that pushes the lock bar up to unlock the doors. Some punk did that to one of my older Volvos. I caught him in the act and saw him do it this way.

any chance the car had the remote trunk release option? You might want to check the glove box... If it does, hook up a battery, press the button and go to town unloading your parts.

Regarding the key, assuming the key you have is an original, the head of a valet key is smaller than that of a regular (owner/full access) key. Of course, if its a copy on a non-Volvo blank you may not be able to tell.

Wasn't 83 during the era when they cheaped out and the only way to open the trunk was with the key? These cars had a round keyhole in the middle of the trunk lid, as opposed to the rectangular one on later models (like on a 7 series) that is also a latch button, and can be left unlocked, if desired. In either case, working the power locks back and forth a few times is worth a try.

A few years ago, I had a 78 Mercedes 240D. One day I went to unlock the trunk and found a similar situation to what you describe. In my case what had happened was that the little metal flap that keeps debris out of the key slot had broken loose and fallen down inside the cylinder. With considerable difficulty, using dental picks and the tweezers of a Swiss army knife, I was able to fish it out and the lock worked normally again.

Since you are parting out the car, there are a number of destructive methods to consider. If the trunk is full of parts, so what? Remove the back seat, chop out any braces that are in the way, unload all the goodies, and then you can crawl through and release the latch. Or, if you have an air chisel, cut away the quarter panel or the area where the license plate mounts to gain access to the mechanism. Finally, if you don't plan to keep the ignition switch (mechanical part) or the door locks, you might try driving the key all the way in with a hammer. Obviously, there is some risk the key will be damaged by this procedure, and no guarantee it will turn, even if it goes all the way in. Think outside the box and you should be able to save that trunk lid with no damage.

If the 83 had electric locks "I don't know", hook up a battery and unlock all the doors by using the key on the driver door. If it is like an 89 you have a 50/50 shot of that unlocking the trunk depending on which mode the trunk lock is set into.

jorrell
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92 245 250K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!

Before ruining the lock, I would try harder with the key. perhaps just a bit of dirt got in there or something. Maybe some high pressure spray lubricant would dislodge whatever is in there. WD40 not great for locks, but that'd be what I'd try first.

Locksmith second unless you don't want to spend money. A neighbor recently had similar issues... couldn't open the trunk, and all 4 of his door handles were broken.. he managed to break locks and/or door handles and get access to the car with minimal damage to painted surfaces, and I doubt he was being very careful.. it being a worn out $100 240...

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-Matt I ♥ my ♂

Has this key worked before? Try wiggling the key around gently to see if you can make it work. Are you using the correct key? I think some of the 240's used different keys for ignition and doors. Or a previous owner swapped a tumbler at some point? Dan

Howdy Pageda,

Well, to be honest I don't know how or why the key will not insert. There is only the one key. It goes in about 1/2 way and hits a hard barrier as if there is a broken key in the slot.

I got the car free from a brickboard member (milkman -- he seldom posts here) about a year ago. It has been sitting in the yard ever since and I have not tried to open the trunk before now. It was opened during my inspection before I towed it home, but not since then.

The reason I need to get in to the trunk is I am about to strip the car and send the remains on to Valhalla. The trunk lid is in very good condition and would make a fine replacement for someone if I don't bend it up getting into the treasure chest. ;-)

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Mr. Shannon DeWolfe -- I've taken to using mister because my name misleads folks on the WWW. I am a 52 year old fat man. ;-)

oh...

in that case, the problem is rather simple. You've got the wrong key.

On sedans of that era (or at least it's the case with our '82), the trunk key is different than the ignition key. It might do the glove box too, but the ignition key only opens the doors and operates the car.

That unlike my '84 *wagon* where the ignition key opens all doors including the rear hatch.

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-Matt I ♥ my ♂

Are you using the Valet Key? See if the key will lock/unlock the glove box.
My valet key will only go about half-way into my trunk lock then it sticks.
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420,000KM and still ticking

Hey Kenner -

The key system in which a valet key will do the ignition and doors (I think) and the owner's key will do everything, began with the 1986 models.

Prior to that, the car had two keys, one with no black head and a totally different cut. That second key opened the trunk/cargo door and the glove box.

The trunk was either closed not latched, or closed and locked. It could not be closed and latched without being locked. Some GL models had a motor in the trunk lid allowing opening by pushing a button in the glove box.

Had the problem car been a 1986 or younger, your suggestion would have been an excellent one. Consider this post a small briefing on 240 history, directed at members having yet to acquire knowledge of the older 240's.


Regards,

Bob

:>)

Maybe the sedan is different, but my 1985 GL 245 has a valet key and the owner's key. The single owner's key unlocks everything, doors, hatch, glovebox, Storage compartment and the ignition. The valet key only works on the ignition, doors and hatch, but will not open the glove box, or the storage compartment in the rear floor.

Bill
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Those who beat their swords into plowshares will surely plow for those who did not.

In that case I think the screwdriver method will work fine. Dan

If there are no other suggestions, the low life drug addicts that stole my daughters 3 year old $100 radio used a screw driver and lucky for me did no damage to the door. It appears they jammed, probably hammered a good sized screw driver into the locks tumbler and just turned it. They may have used pliers on the screw driver for leverage.
Dan