DIM (Do It Myself) hatches, latches, and thingy's
Hello everyone. I finally figured out how to get the back hatch open even while the electronic locks (both on the drivers door and key fob) failed to unlock the hatch. And you can forget taking the hatch paneling off until the door is open, since the two main screws holding the panel on are only accessible with the door open. Before I go into the following instructions, I will disclaimer that I would only suggest going to the extreme of troubleshooting this problem yourself if you are out of warrantee and short on cash like me. If not, just take it to the dealer.
1.) Get inside the back of the car. I would suggest folding down the rear seats to make yourself comfy. May want to throw a blanket down too. I know this is already sounding bad.
2.) Pull open the boom box thingy no one ever uses (okay maybe some people do).
3.) There is a hole about an inch in diameter with a wire running through it leading from the back of the boom box. It is a dark hole with access, though not easy, to both the door latch mechanism and the automatic (or not so automatic in my case) lock/unlocking solenoid thingy.
4.) Shine a small flash light at an angle such that you light up the inside bottom of the panel. One of those keychain flashlights is perfect. You may be able to also use the flashlight on the interior roof of the car now above your head. You should see a cable wire with a pall at the end near the middle much like you would see at the end of your bike brakes. That is you latch mechanism. For now, forget about that, because until the door is unlocked, it is useless.
5.) A few inches to the right of this and a bit lower is a white plastic knob. This is the lock/unlock solenoid thingy. Use a screwdriver or similarly long object to push the knob down with a screwdriver an 1/2" or so to unlock the door.
6.) If the problem was just the locking/unlocking solenoid thingy, you should be able to jump out of the car and use the hatch handle to pull open the hatch.
7.) If it still doesn’t open, the latch mechanism may need some manual help from the inside. Jump back into the car and look at the latch mechanism again (cable thingy with ball at end). This should move when you use the handle on the outside of the car (will need someone else to do it while you are inside looking). If it does not move when someone pulls the handle, then the handle may need to be replaced. You can move it from the inside with a right sweeping motion with a long skinny screwdriver. Just be careful since there is a lot of wiring in there you don't want to damage.
8.) So by now, you should know if the problem was a solenoid or latch handle. If the door still doesn’t want to open, the latch tooth may just be jammed due to a foreign object or misalignment of something. Try pushing and pulling the hatch to loosen it and go through the procedure again.
If you got the hatch open, don’t go shutting the hatch or you will have to go through that mess again. Regardless of whether it was the handle, solenoid, or latch mechanism, you are going to need to get that panel off to make sure and to replace the part.
1.) With the hatch open, look at the base of the door for two silver screws. Take them off.
2.) Swing the boom box down again and unscrew the four black screws.
3.) The only thing holding the panel now is 6 panel latch thingy’s. Starting from the bottom of the door, pull evenly at different points with steady pressure to pull the panel off. Keep in mind that the paneling near the window overlaps this panel piece, so don’t go too hard and fast or you will take off a lot more than you need to and possibly damage something. The two latches near the window will require you grabbing the paneling at the base of the windshield.
4.) Once you have it off, you will need to disconnect the boom box wire which is the only thing preventing the panel from dropping to the ground. Support the panel so that you don’t damage this. It will help if someone is there to help you unplug it.
5.) With the panel off, you have a much better view of everything. Try using the handle to make sure the latch mechanism works well and the unlock button on the drivers door or you key fob to see if the solenoid is working (white knob should move). If both are now working as was in my case, then I don’t know what to tell you.
Once everything was apart, everything was back to working again. I guess caliber just needed some attention. I also noticed some of the plastic coating on the latch tooth coming off, so I cut the hanging piece just in case this was catching on something and jamming the latch. I will go ahead and leave the panel off a few days to make sure the problem doesn’t come back. If the problem returns, I will just be looking at the cost of the part rather than the over priced labor I was sure to get charged at the dealer. And that is if they could have even figured out what was wrong. You can tell I have had a few bad experiences with my local Dodge dealerships. Hope this helps and sorry for all of the layman talk of thingy’s, latches and hatches! I hope no one else has this problem. While you are in there, I would also suggest lubricating the mechanical parts well.