My kids' 1992 940 was suffering from various maladies of under-maintenance (tough to repair by yourself in midtown Manhattan!) so I brought it back to Iowa to do some work. I asked a local tire shop to change the snow tires and they tried opening the trunk in which I had placed some tires, only to permanently lock it using the valet setting. As you all recall, the valet setting locks the trunk but allows you to open the car doors. No amount of turning on the master key would open this lock cylinder. I assumed that spray from the rear had corroded it over time and the kids had never lubricated it.

I sprayed the innards of the cylinder liberally with penetrating oil. The little straw on the spray can only reached about 1/2 inch into the lock. I bought a cheap veterinary syringe with an 18 gauge, 1-1/2 inch needle to inject the penetrant fully into the lock. I did this several times over two days.

I then placed the key in the lock and whacked it several times with a rubber mallet. This did not succeed in freeing it up, so I removed the key and placed the plastic cap of a spray can over the cylinder (it fit perfectly) and whacked a whole harder. Success! The key turned the cylinder clockwise with some effort and it opened up the trunk. I then sprayed Houdini lock lubricant to keep it functional.

I don't want this to happen again on their watch late at night in Brooklyn. I am probably going to disable the entire valet mechanism on the trunk as it is marginally helpful while being a major pain when it fails. I may permanently remove the actuating rod which seems like a better idea than epoxying the lock shut. Any thoughts from Brickboarders?