Back Hatch Door Handle Not Releasing With Hatch Door Stuck Shut.

[steve56]

I have an 03 obw that has been sitting for 16 months. The back hatch door looks closed, however the indicator light in dash is open.The hatch door handle is stuck in the open position. The hatch is closed and wont open. The key seems to be operating the hatchdoor lock correctly. Looking for solution to ge the hatch door open and the hatch door handle unstuck.

[gbhrps]

steve56,

 

The adage that "use it or lose it" has reared its ugly head in this case. The first two generations of OBW's had issues with the tail gate handles. Corrosion seizes the hinge points on the lock handle, the connecting rod/cable to the lock mechanism bends/comes unclipped/the cable dislodges one end of its outer sheath, or corrosion seizes the lock assembly itself. In all cases frequent use and lubrication of the parts would have relieved the problem.

 

That said, you have a real issue on your hands. There is no easy fix, without the possibility of ruining some interior trim pieces, which should be available from wrecking yards in the case of a 13 year old car.

 

Fold down the rear seats and get into the back of the car. Then remove the interior tailgate trim pieces from the tailgate. The problem will be that they all overlap each other by a half an inch and have to be removed in the proper order, starting with the top cross piece. It simply pulls straight down. Then both side pieces pull straight out on a 45 degree angle towards the center of the car.

 

That now allows the large bottom section to pull straight away to the center of the car across its top section by the rear glass and down both sides. Unfortunately, it is also fastened by 5 screws along its bottom edge that you will not be able to get at with the gate closed.

 

You will however be able to pull/bend the cover down and maybe get enough room to get at the bottom center cutout in the tailgate to where the lock assembly is. Now you'll be able to lubricate the handle to free it up, or pull the rod/cable to unlock the mechanism, or unbolt the lock assembly entirely and open the hatch. You really won't know which method to use until you get that trim panel pulled down and take a look with a flashlight at what you find.

 

As I said going into this, be prepared to get the pieces you need to replace at a wrecking yard, because the cost from Subaru will put you in the poor house if you go that route. Good Luck!

[Rooster2]

Had same problem with my 99 OBW, finally replaced the hatch hand mechanism. What may help you to get the hatch open is to spray with PB Blaster. The spray may not work instantly, but may a few hours later, if given time to loosen up the rust.