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Closed15 replies

Can't open rear hatch

G Guest
Here's my problem, one of them any way. I noticed a few weeks ago the it was getting difficult to open the rear hatch to access the engine. I noticed that the U shaped bracket that is bolted in to the rear of the car with 2 bolts is broken on one side and cracked on the other. When I pushed in the button to open the trunk, I could barely push the button enough the engage the "thingy" to unhook it. I immediately called around to get a new bracket. It took a while as the part came on a slow boat from Italy but now I have it. This morning I went to install my new bracket and no amount of fiddling can push in the button enough to open the thing. I'm assuming that the old bracket has deformed enough now that the button can't push the "thingy" enough to unhook the hatch. I was under the car looking for a way to possibly unbolt the old bracket but that seems very unlikely given the room betwwen the frame rails and the rear of the ZF to work from. Has any one been here before? Thanks all. Vince
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cozcozMember
Vince,

I had a simular problem like this before. My trunk latch assembly wasn't broken but it got loose and the same thing happened, I couldn't get the trunk open.

What I had to end up doing was remove the rear center screen (rear end, middle) from under the car so I could get to the latch assembly. Unbolted the latch assembly completey and then was able to open it.

It was a pain in the butt.
fordgtfordgtMember
I had this happen once, I was able to get to the mounts on the underside of the decklid through the frame rails you mentioned, it was extremely difficult because of my POPEYE(esque) and rather short forearms. If my teenage son was around with his long skinny arms the job would have been a piece of cake. Find a friend with long skinny arms and they should be able to remove the attaching hardware for the latch assembly.


Good luck
gary #06984
joulesjoules"Racing is Life, anything before or after is just waiting" - Steve McQueen
Some good suggestions already; the deck lid hinges are on moveable bolt plates and have some (although minimal give) for alignment. loosening them may provide that bit extra you need, but be careful when it does open as the deck lid upper may want to open against the roof and that results in chipped paint. Pop the lid just enough to clear the latch.

Julian
lf-tp2511lf-tp2511Member
CAUTION:

Removing or loosening the hinge mounting bolts opens a can of alignment worms - you can guess how I know this.

Far better technique if you need to remove rear deck is to punch out the hinge pins. This allows all the bolts to stay in place and does not give you the hours-long hassle of realignment.

Now I know this is not an option for you as you can't do this with the lid in the closed position, but I did want to caution about removing these bolts for general deck removal.

Larry
cozcozMember
Specially with the deck lid shocks still attached. Ask my fingers how I know this. Ouch !

quote:
Originally posted by LF - TP 2511:
CAUTION:

Removing or loosening the hinge mounting bolts opens a can of alignment worms - you can guess how I know this.

Far better technique if you need to remove rear deck is to punch out the hinge pins. This allows all the bolts to stay in place and does not give you the hours-long hassle of realignment.

Now I know this is not an option for you as you can't do this with the lid in the closed position, but I did want to caution about removing these bolts for general deck removal.

Larry
panteradougpanteradougMember
I may be wrong but there is no way to reach the inside of the lock mechanism from underneath if the trunkliner is installed.

Your best bet is to loosen the hinge bolts and attempt to move the lid just enough while pressing the release button.

That means extra hands on this one.

Everyone is correct, you don't want to completely unbolt the decklid at this point, only as an absolute last resort.

I would also like to point out that the pushbutton lock mechanism is the fuseable link here. The housing is made of soft potmetal and if worst came to worst could be broken loose by use of a slide hammer just pounding it in.

You may loose the attachment studs but it's cheaper then a new decklid.
K korina (Guest)
I fixed it so so I'll post how I did it so who ever is in this situation next time knows another option. I was able to lift the hatch just a hair after messing with it so long. I was able to reach in with a very small screwdriver a push the "thingy" that hooks onto the bracket on the hatch. I was able to figure this out by exaiming the next latch piece that the push button moves. All well that ends well and thanks everyone for their input. Vince
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