Rear hatch wont open 2000

[Waffleofdarkness]

Like it says the rear hatch wont open, the handle just flops around. I can open the glass and the plastic is pulled back a bit. I can see what looks like some sort of latch, theres the 2 linkage rods right there. If I grab that by Hand I cant make it move. Any ideas? Haha

 

[noah7797]

The way my 97 hatch works (keep in mine I have a different design but mechanically it might be the same) is that behind the plastic trim there is a metal tab on the drivers side that is pushed on by a rod which connects to the handle. Now if you get a screwdriver or some other long object and put it on that tab and bang on the screwdriver with a hammer it should pop right open.

 

[koda2000]

Opening the Lift-gate:

what usually happens is that the yellow plastic clip that connects the exterior lift-gate handle to the rod which operates the latch breaks or pulls out of the handle. this happens because, over time, the latches and other moving parts wear and need to be lubricated. the stress caused by lack of lubrication is what pulls the plastic clip out.

to get the lift-gate open you need to get access to the part the handle is supposed to pull on. this can be accomplished by removing the interior trim panel completely, or by carefully prying the panel over the window latch. before trying this be sure to remove the pull handle (2 Phillips screws) and the single Phillips screw found under the small plastic plug to the left of the larger center plug by the widow latch. the bottom portion of the interior panel hooks to the bottom of the lift-gate with 8-10 plastic hooks. lifting the panel will give you a little more play to get it over the window latch. if you want to remove the interior panel completely, there are a series of metal clips (1 or 2 on each side and 3 or 4 across the top of the rear window). these clips are best located and popped out with an interior panel trim removal tool. insert the tool between the plastic and the metal door and slide it along until it hits a clip. once the metal clips are released, the trim panel will lift off completely.

using a good flashlight, look straight down inside the lift-gate in the area of the window latch. you should see 2 rods which go out to the left and right lift-gate latches. using a long screw driver, press down on the pivot point for the rods. one side (left?) moves down and the other moves up to release the latches. open the lift-gate.

remove the plastic weather shield from the lift-gate to gain access to the internals. you'll probably find the rod that used to be attached to the exterior handle is now just flopping around inside the lift-gate. on the end of the rod will be the yellow clip that you now have to replace. make note of where it is located on the rod (usually around the center of the ribbed section). the clips are available from Ford for around $3.00. you might be temped to reuse your old clip, but don't. i have the part number somewhere if you need it.

be sure to lubricate all the moving parts (including the exterior handle pivot points). install the new yellow clip and snap it on to the exterior handle. reassemble the lift-gate in reverse order of dis-assembly. use some pieces of masking tape to hold the plastic weather shield in place while you reattach the trim panel.

 

[Waffleofdarkness]

I got it, one of the rods needed to be adjusted. I can kinda see what happened. The screws holding the exterior handle to the hatch broke, and pulling the handle loose opened up the yellow clip that attaches the linkage. Ill leave the trim off for now and just open the hatch from inside, fix it later

 

[koda2000]

I got it, one of the rods needed to be adjusted. I can kinda see what happened. The screws holding the exterior handle to the hatch broke, and pulling the handle loose opened up the yellow clip that attaches the linkage. Ill leave the trim off for now and just open the hatch from inside, fix it later

the exterior handle would have been attached to the lift-gate using 2 rivets (not that you couldn't replace them with screws and lock-nuts).

 

[Waffleofdarkness]

Well it was hard to tell because of the corrosion, but they are broken nonetheless