Cadillac Deville The flagship luxury car, offering the class with which the Cadillac has been associated, for decades

2002 deville base trunk will not open

Old Jan 17, 2026 | 03:02 PM
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Jeffrey9871's Avatar
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Angry 2002 deville base trunk will not open

Hey guys and gals,

I'm at my wits end concerning this beautiful low mileage Deville I purchased a while back. I've fixed 90% of the mechanical issues but am stuck with this seemingly simple problem. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Issue: Base model 02 Deville trunk will not open

Details:
-I have shorted the valet switch. So, valet mode is essentially always off. ie: gas tank does open. Trunk should as well.
-I have replaced the trunk relay. I do hear a click when I engage the trunk release.
-The key does turn normally when inserted
-I have put as much downward/upward force on trunk with key in open position as I'm able
-I think the internal manual trunk release is located in the very rear of trunk. There are multiple totes in the way. I initially thought I found it right behind the rear seat, but I just pulled out the speaker leads for the subwoofer
-I do not believe this car has separate ignition/trunk keys.
-Backseat opening is too small to fit through.
-I did completely remove the backseat thinking I could crawl back there, but access would be impossible without an angle grinder and an hour of cutting. Now that I think about it, isn't out of the question....

Theory
-I think this vehicle was towed by police based on all the jail/prison paperwork I found in the trunk(found through small opening in backseat). I wonder if after their search, they slammed some clothing or something in the locking mechanism.

Possible solutions I haven't tried:
-Locate the solenoid leads and send 12v(maybe a little more). There are a lot of wires back there. I did try this but failed to identify which ones.
-Drill a hole behind license plate and pry the locking mechanism. This is a bit more invasive than I'd like but if this is the only option, I'm okay with it if I know where to drill.

Bottom line:
-I don't know what the heck is in that trunk. Based on the do***ents I found, this dude could have been a bad person, and I don't want to drive around with hidden crimes.

Thanks for reading.
 
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