03 Frunk refuses to open via popper button.
 

Feeling stumped right now with my frunk issues. Car is an 03 with the electronic release. Button inside the car doesn’t work, i’ve tried replacing the switch inside the cabin, and have also replaced the latch/actuator assembly, still doesn’t work. Checked my grounds + wiring + connectors, and all look clean. What else could I be missing? The most frustrating part is the emergency pull inside the frunk works perfectly. For now i’m using the emergency pull wire hidden behind the tow hook, but it’s far from ideal (especially because as I was going to replace the latch/actuator assembly last night my emergency cable broke causing two additional hours of hell, luckily the new latch came with a new emergency cable). Another thing that may tie into this is I believe my car has some kind of immobilizer issue, as my window switches and door locks don't work, could this be related? From what I understand the two systems are separate, but you never know.

Has anyone done a manual frunk/trunk latch retrofit? I know the earlier cars have manual pulls for their trunk/frunk, and i'd much rather have that vs worry about this. Another idea I’ve had other than a manual retrofit is extending the wiring for the internal emergency release to the interior since it works perfectly fine, seems fairly simple to do once I find somewhere to pass the wires through + somewhere to mount the pull.

Definitely.

To expand on JFP in PA's reply, there is an electronic module under the driver's seat that is often damaged by corrosion when water leaks into the car. The central locking module/immobilizer box handles some window functions, locks, trunk & frunk latches, and immobilizer. There are places that repair and replace these such as 'ECU Doctors' and some people on this forum have reprogrammed a replacement unit to match their car. Sometimes it is possible to clean corrosion from the circuit board and regain full function, but the process may also damage it further.

Retrofitting the release cable is possible, but you should address the other issues, before it gets worse.