Okay,folks ! I’m comin’ at ya with another “nickle & dime” issue here ! Recently,my 2003 Saturn Ion’s electronic trunk opening buttons have stopped working ! As,I’ve said ,in at least one of my other posts,I’ve been wondering if maybe some of our dogs chasing animals under the car at night might have something to do with this.A couple of times,I have found wiring casings underneath where we usually park the car at night and I even found what appeared to be a chewed up wire within the same spot.I’ve kind of checked for bad fuses.But,there is no listing for a fuse for the electronic trunk switches.Neither the button on the remote works nor the button inside the vehicle.Anybody have a clue ???
It’s the same problem as if you had a pipe you knew water was going into, but no water coming out the other end. You’d check at points in between to find out where the clog is happening. In your case somebody’s got to get out their DVM and start at the switch and work their way towards the trunk actuator. At some point eventually they’ll find where the signal isn’t getting through. This will be easier to do if you have the car’s wiring schematic. That would usually show all the fuses involved too, of which at least one is for this circuit.
The circuit most likely has power applied to it at all times and most or all of those fuses are in the panel under the hood. Make sure all of the smaller fuses there are good and have power on them. There are small slits on top of the fuses that you can check for power on either side of the fuse element.
Cougar,I really appreciate your trying to help.But,now…when it comes to this kind of thing…I’m a bit of a dumb-a** 
I know how to check a regular fuse by looking at it.But,is this the same thing ? Will I be able to see a “burned out” element ?
Take a look at the photo below. See how the top of each fuse has two metal prongs just slightly exposed? One on each side? To test a fuse like that, a tech would use their volt meter and probe each side of the fuse’s prongs, referenced to chassis ground. If the fuse is good, they will read the same voltage. Like each will read 12.6 volts. But if the fuse is blown, one side will read 12.6 volts, but the other side will read 0 volts.
http://www.townandcountryautorepair.com/images/photo_faq_fuse.jpg
Even though a fuse may be good if power isn’t getting to it for some reason then the same results happen. So it is ideal to verify power is getting to both sides of the fuse. Thanks to @GeorgeSanJose for the picture. The slits are on either side of the fuse rating number. Simply touch the probe of the tester to each one.
Probably just corrosion on contacts in the switch.
Usually a very simple type switch on trunk releases. if it’s the springy push button type, it simple bridges the two contascts within when you push it down to touch in there.
To test the switch , unplug it and use a jumper wire to bridge the two ends in the plug. If the solenoid pops the trunk. . the switch is corroded. Sometimes one can disassemble the switch and brighten the contacts , I’ve done it before on Fords.
You can also apply hot power to the solenoid to see if it’s working.
On the top of the trunk hood, behind the latch, is a switch which enables and disables the trunk opening button. Move the switch to the right to enable. I had this problem earlier and discovered this switch. It probably got moved when you put something in your trunk.