Button release on trunk and kick panel not working.

[MarcoPolo]

Hi all. hoping someone here has some insight as to what i'm chasing here that i can't for the life of me figure out. My trunk only opens by either the key hole or by holding down on the remote. the button by the kick panel and the button on the trunk lid dont' work. i've already confirmed the following
- the license plate lights work. considering there's only 3 wires going to the trunk lid, i assume they are power, ground, and signal. this tells me we're getting power and ground.
- the keyhole is NOT horizontal so NOT in valet mode.
- fuse 52 is still good.
- i opened the wire sleeve on the trunk and pulled on all the wires. they're holding well.
- i took my license plate lights/button piece to my neighbors e46 and plugged to his car and it works, so that checks that off the list.

is there something that i'm missing as part of initial troubleshooting before i dive into the wires. does anyone know if the trunk release by the kick panel triggers something that i'm overlooking? is it tied to the trunk lid button.
what's interesting is when i hold the remote button it opens so i'm able to send signal from the remote to the trunk latch. somehow the signal isn't going from the trunk lid button to the latch.

this all started when i had some body work done on the corner of the car and they removed the trunk to respray it. seems obvious it's something there but not sure where to start.

edit: if anyone can direct me to any site that tells me how to test the wires at the connector, that would be great.

[maw1124]

You're of course making sure the car is unlocked, correct? The decklid button doesn't work when the car is locked. Of course the keyfob will.

I've been away from my car for a while but I don't recall a trunk release on the dash or the steering wheel. Only on the driver's left kick panel.

maw

[MarcoPolo]

You're of course making sure the car is unlocked, correct? The decklid button doesn't work when the car is locked. Of course the keyfob will.

I've been away from my car for a while but I don't recall a trunk release on the dash or the steering wheel. Only on the driver's left kick panel.

maw

1- yes car is unlocked but thanks for that one.
2 - i mean kick panel. will edit my post.

[Tbonem3]

Might just be unplugged

[MarcoPolo]

Might just be unplugged

thanks. i've already removed the felt and can visibly see the connector connected in the trunk. also, if it were unplugged, the license plate lights would not work.
as for the kick panel button, i will check that it's connected.

[Slideways]

Is the trunk lid key hole vertical or horizontal when pressing the button from inside? My guess is if both the inside button and the lid button both stopped working at the same time, there might be an issue with the GM5. If you have INPA or ISTA software, you can get the faults for each module. That would point you in the right direction and make troubleshooting much easier.

[MarcoPolo]

Is the trunk lid key hole vertical or horizontal when pressing the button from inside? My guess is if both the inside button and the lid button both stopped working at the same time, there might be an issue with the GM5. If you have INPA or ISTA software, you can get the faults for each module such as the GM5. That would point you in the right direction and make troubleshooting much easier.

- it is not horizontal. i've done my fair share of searching and checked that first. but thank you.

my next step was to crack out my laptop and start testing but wasn't sure where to start. thanks for the pointer. happen to know where the GM5 module.......disregard...behind glovebox. i'll focus on that next and see what inpa says

[Tbonem3]

thanks. i've already removed the felt and can visibly see the connector connected in the trunk. also, if it were unplugged, the license plate lights would not work.
as for the kick panel button, i will check that it's connected.

I'm not talking about the trunk, but the button in the dead pedal trim. If your trunk handle button is also not working, then the issue is probably deeper though ya.