Miata Trunk Opener - Lock Mechanism Failed Leaving the Hatch Stuck Shut

Today I went to help my dad with his 90 Mazda Miata. As it turned out the trunk was stuck shut because the lock mechanism failed. By design there is no backup to accessing the trunk in the event the lock mechanism fails. I will show you how to open your trunk in just a few easy steps without damaging anything in the vehicle.

Step 1: Removal

First step is to remove the 3 items that block your ability to access the inside of the trunk.

1. Passenger Chair (Quantity 4 - 14mm Bolts)

2. Peel back the carpet

3. Remove the rear firewall (a dozen or so small 10mm bolts)

Step 2: The Tunnel

View the passageway/tunnel you will use to access the trunk. This is to the passenger side of the gas tank.

Step 3: Handy Dandy Trunk Opener

Now its time to make the tool that you will use to release the latch.

You will need the following items

1. crowbar

2. flash light

3. 2in x 2in x 4ft long piece of wood

4. masking tape

Tape the crowbar and flashlight to the end of the piece of wood and voilà you have a new handy dandy tool.

Step 4:

Using the new tool you will first need to pull the carpet in the rear of the trunk down to expose the lever for the rear trunk release. Once you have done that you can use the forked part of the crowbar to pull the arm for the trunk lock release.

Step 5:

Voilà you now have an open trunk so you can fix whatever it was that broke.