1997 Outback Rear Hatch

[mwbean]

Just bought this car and The rear hatch won't open but

got $ 300 off the sale price beacuse of it. Now how do

I fix it?? thanks

[jarl]

Well... any "symptoms" you may describe? Do you think the hatch is unlocked?

On my OBW the link between the hatch handle and the lock had rusted out, but the place where I bought it from had removed the internal cover somehow. Nothing was broken, so I assume it should be possible to do something similar in your case.

[gbhrps]

Its been years since I owned that 97 body style, and I remember having to replace the flat bar that the license plate lights and the rear hatch lock handle are attached to.

 

You will definitely have to climb into the back of the car and pull the inner panel off to get at the lock mechanism. The panel just pulls straight off as it unclips about a dozen plastic plugs. There may be some plugs or screws in the very bottom of the panel that you may not get to unless the gate is open. That said, you should still be able to pull the panel off far enough to be able to unclip the control rod from the lock handle and pull or push it to unlock the gate.

 

If that doesn't get you anywhere, you may have to just pry the lock mechanism open and then replace parts from a wrecking yard. Good Luck!

[mwbean]

thanks guys, when I try to unlock it with the key and pull

up on the outside handle it won't open

[ShawnW]

You will probably have to break the inner trim on below the window and manually open the latch with the arm that would go between the handle and the latch. Then troubleshoot it with the gate opened.

[NOMAD327]

On my 99 there have been a couple times where the spring that returns the outside handle to the normal position came off. The effect is the hatch gets locked and the electric release cannot open it. If the outside release seems stuck in the rear most position, you can return it to normal it by putting the key in the cylinder and working the key back and forth until the outside handle can be manually moved to the normal position (downward or forward depending on how you look at it). The handle will then work but will have to be moved back manually, but the hatch will be open to work on it then. If this is it, the spring is probably present and just flew off it's hooks.

[Suzam]

Make sure the handle is in the most forward position before you unlock the hatch. I had a 98 that you had to help the handle return to the forward spot before you could pull it back and lift the gate. It was caused by the common rust issue that's been discussed here before. As long as I moved it forward it was fine.

[mwbean]

update on rear hatchproblem> I remved the rear panel and took apart the rear

hatch handle mechnism and the lock. what happened is the plastic part that locks the rear hatch had brokenoff and was non functional. it was swinging freely and sometimes would inpede the "lock bar" to come down completly

thus not allowing it to unlock with the handle beacuse it was still partially in the lock position. also the spring the held it in the unlockpositon seemed a little weak so I used my dremmel too to shave a little off thus allowing the

lock bar to have a little more clearance to slide by the lock Mechnism