Rear glass hatch won't open/relocks immediately 03 EB

[mfitz725]

03 Eddie Bauer I can't open the rear glass hatch, tailgate operates correctly. When I press the open/unlock button the actuator activates but before I can open the rear glass hatch the actuator clicks again and relocks.

I tried pulling it at same time as pressing the unlock button but it relocks so fast I can't open the hatch. I'm at a dead end on this and hope someone has an answer. I searched the forum but haven't found any posts that seem to address this problem .

 

[hunterb]

03 Eddie Bauer I can't open the rear glass hatch, tailgate operates correctly. When I press the open/unlock button the actuator activates but before I can open the rear glass hatch the actuator clicks again and relocks.

I tried pulling it at same time as pressing the unlock button but it relocks so fast I can't open the hatch. I'm at a dead end on this and hope someone has an answer. I searched the forum but haven't found any posts that seem to address this problem .

Hi!
I had the same problem in my ‘04, what I did was take off the plastic panel on the inside of the trunk and found the door lock actuator. The plastic clip on the actuator broke off from the cable on the motor, so I fixed that and it’s worked for over a year now.

 

[hunterb]

Hi!
I had the same problem in my ‘04, what I did was take off the plastic panel on the inside of the trunk and found the door lock actuator. The plastic clip on the actuator broke off from the cable on the motor, so I fixed that and it’s worked for over a year now.

Here’s a thread detailing how to do it. It says it’s for a 2nd gen, but it works on 3rd gen too!
2004 Rear "Window" Hatch Won't Unlock, but Hatch WILL?

 

[Tekreck]

I just did this repair last week. Search Amazon.com for YOT65B - it’s a cable for Expedition but fits 3rd gen. I chose to replace versus repair. If one end came apart, the other is not far off.

Note on rear hatch trim - easy to break tabs. With hatch up, pull down on lower part under the window. Around the sides and top of the window, pull inward toward center of window, NOT DOWN. If you break a post, look up super glue and baking soda repair to reattach. I used opportunity to put insulation in rear trim with hot glue gun.

 

[4rd Xplora]

I had the same problem for a while, but it ended up being that the release cable had stretched. I pulled the inside panel off and put a plastic cable tie on the end of it to take up the slack (see the accelerator cable fix). It'll be 3 years in October, still working fine.