Stuck rear hatch / door...Please help

the_box_rox said:

The rear 5th door / rear hatch / tailgate is stuck shut and will not open...it seems as if the linkage connected to the handle is disconnected but the handle itself moves freely and feels like it always has but it will not engage / disengage the latch. Please help...my E. is obviously out of warranty and I really can't afford to put any money in it right now.

Thanks!

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Can you hear the hatch lock solenoid when you try to lock/unlock the doors from the drivers seat? If you use the key at the rear hatch, do you feel any resistance "unlocking"? Is the hatch open indicator light on the dashboard lit? Try pressing firmly on each side of the lower hatch from the outside and see if there is more give on one side.

I'm thinking that perhaps there is something jammed in the sides of the lower hatch, such as the support cables, or the tailgate isn't square in the opening, causing it to get "****ed" (idiot-level PC filters won't let me use a perfectly good and proper English word because some prude might be offended by someone else's slang usage- ie what do you call the action of preparing a revolver to fire) in the opening, or spring open slightly after the upper hatch was locked in place.

I've had the experience where I closed the back and locked it and later had the hatch open indicator light come on when I hit a pothole. Afterward I had more difficulty than normal opening the hatch to get the tailgate firmly latched. This has happened 2-3 times. I figured that I hadn't closed the tailgate properly.