C5Lion

My rear hatch will not open. I can hear the mechanism trying to open when I press the hatch open button under the dash or on my key FOB but it will not open. I also tried the inserting the key near the license plate.

I think I got something jammed into the mechanism. I just came back from a trip and had the rear area filled with a bunch of stuff. When I crawled into the back to look at the latch, I noticed some cardboard from a cereal box was stuck in the mechanism. I removed most of it but I think I did not get it all. I can't get in there to get it all. It is unbelieveable how that got stuck in there.

I tried pushing it open from the inside to no avail.

Any ideas on how to open it? I have a 2007 Z06 so it does not have the automatic pull down mechanism.

BEZ06

I've never heard of that problem, but here's what I would try:

Go to the back of the car and push down on the rear edge of the hatch to try and relieve the excess pressure that the piece of cardboard must be putting on the latch mechanism.

While pushing down pretty hard on the hatch, try activating either the button over the license plate, your fob or use your key to release the latch. If you use the key you have to turn it pretty hard to pull the cable to activate the mechanical release.

If that doesn't work, check to make sure you didn't blow a fuse - the fuse for the latch is in the passenger footwell fuse block.

Good luck!!

Bob

C5Lion

I would assume the fuse is OK if I can hear the mechanism try to unlatch when I press the button, but I can check. I am at work so I will need to try this later. When I put my key into the rear of the car, it does turn fairly freely to the unlock position.

BEZ06

Yes, you're right - if you can hear the mechanism trying to open then the fuse must be okay.

You may THINK that the key is turning to the unlock position, but the first part of the turning of the key only works an electrical connection to the circuits. Here's a picture of the key lock cylinders from the Z06 latch on top and the auto pull down latch from a regular C6 coupe (or 2009 Z06) on the bottom:






You can see those wires that will be on your key lock cylinder. Most of the first part of turning the key simply closes the contacts on that switch. I think that switch sends a signal to the BCM that is used to program a Fob.

After turning through the switch part of the key lock cylinder, the last part of key turning will start to pull the cable that will mechanically release the latch. That part of the key turning can require a hard turn of the key even on a normal car - and if you have cardboard stuck in the latch and striker it might require a very hard turn of the key (turn it hard, but make sure you don't damage the key!! ).

I'd be very interested to know the following:

When you twist the key, can you hear the mechanism attempting to release???

I know the signal from the switch in the key lock cylinder and electrical wires you can see on the cylinder like in your car sends the signal to the BCM for Fob programming, but I'm wondering if it also may send an electrical signal to release the latch in that first part of the turning of the key. It's not clear in the Service Manual and I can't figure it out from the schematics.

There is some indication that if you have electrical power available that the key may actually release the latch electrically. If the battery were run down or disconnected, only then would you need to turn the key farther to pull the cable to mechanically release the latch.

However, other info indicates that the switch/wires are ONLY to program a Fob.

If you can hear a noise when you turn the key it may indicate that with power the first part of key turning WILL release the latch electrically.

No noise probably indicates that the switch/wires are only there for Fob programming.

Thanks, and good luck!

Bob

C5Lion

First of all I want to thank you for all the great information.

When I insert the key and turn it, I do not hear anything. My question to you would be how far does the key turn under normal circumstances? If I remember correctly, the key turned about or a little less than 90 degrees.

BEZ06

Here are some pictures I just took:







You can see how far the key turns as compared to the "unturned" key in the first photo. It looks like the total twist is more than 90 degrees - more like almost 150 degrees.

I might be able to help better if I still had this latch in my Z06, but the reason I have access to these parts is because I swapped over to an auto pull down latch on my '06 Z06.

I just went out and checked the key in the auto pull down latch, and it turned real easily about 60 or 70 degrees, then it required a much harder twist for another 20 or 30 degrees to pop the hatch.

I hope some of that info helps!

Bob

dmuellenberg

The same exact thing happened to me, except that I had some cloth get stuck instead of cardboard. I ended up taking it to the dealer and they were able to remove the cloth without damaging anything. Before they attempted to remove the cloth, they told me that there was a possibility that something might break, and that if that happened they would have to replace the hatch mechanism. I told them that I didn't have much of an option and to go ahead, fortunately nothing broke. As far as I know, they got the cloth unstuck with needle nose pliers.

Steve Snake Driver

If you remove either inner tail light (one screw), you should be able to stick your arm in far enough to reach the mechanism. That might allow you to unstick it on your own. Certainly beats trying to apply torque to the keyhole above the license plate.

patton

have someone climb in the back and push up on hatch [not glass] while you push the release

C5Lion

I tried that to no avail. That was my initial attempt at the problem.

C5Lion

Good idea, I will give this a try tonight.

Red Rochester

worth a try

BEZ06

Take a look at this picture:




That's a picture of my 2005, and it looks just like my Z06 does now because I put the auto pull down latch in the Z06 - well, the Z06 doesn't have those brackets for mounting the top in the hatch when you remove it.

You can see that the entire latch mechanism is mounted inside the hatch - it's bolted to the rear of the hatch compartment. You can also see the cable from the key lock cylinder coming throug the back wall of the hatch and up to the release mechanism.

When I did the mod to my Z06 I did the whole install by reaching through the tail light holes to access the bolts to remove/replace the latch and to swap out the key lock cylinder.

There is essentially nothing in there that you can get ahold of to pull on that will help in releasing the latch. You can feel that cable from the key lock cylinder that goes through the wall of the hatch compartment and hooks into the latch for mechanical opening.

However, all you can grab is the outer sheath of the cable and not the part you need to pull, which is the cable itself.

The only way you can get into the latch assembly to clean it out would be to crawl into the hatch compartment and remove the rear trim piece so you would uncover the latch as you see in the picture above. Then you might be able to pull enough of the junk out of the latch to get it to release. It would be tight quarters in there and you'd probably be working in a weird position and at arm's length, but if you can't open it without cleaning out the latch, I think you'll need to do it from inside the compartment.

Edited: I just added the picture below which is my Z06 during the auto pull down latch installation. You can see the cable coming into the hatch compartment, and although you can grab the sheath of the cable by reaching through a tail light hole, you can't pull the cable to activate the mechanical latch release. This latch is a little different than the manual Z06 latch (basically the manual latch is only smaller), but the cable comes into the hatch in the same manner. You can see how from inside the hatch, if you remove the trim piece that covers up the latch, you could probably clean most of the cardboard out of the latch.

Good luck!

Bob


Here is the Z06 with the auto pull down latch installation just about completed:




Here is the Z06 with the stock manual latch still installed and the auto pull down latch leaning against it:




.

C5Lion

Didn't work, would not release.

C5Lion

How do you remove the carpet that covers the latch mechanism? I noticed some plastic caps around the mechanism but did not try to remove them. Your also right, it is tight in there with the hatch closed. I am going to get a small mirror and some needle nose pliers to see if I can see the card board and remove it.

BEZ06

There are 4 plastic "screw plugs" (2 on each end of the trim piece) that you'll need to unscrew, then there are 2 plastic push pins right in the middle of the trim piece on each side of the hole where the striker goes (you just pull the pins out by getting a screwdriver under the head to start it out, or by pulling the trim piece to pull them out).

The edges of the trim piece are just force-fit under the rim around the edges of the compartement, so just pull it loose.

Don't pull it out too far, because there's a light on each end. When you get the end of the trim piece loose you reach behind it to push the spring clip to release the wire from the light. You may only have to get the wire of one light loose and then swing the trim piece out the way to get access to the latch.

Below are a couple of pictures of the trim piece that I removed from my Z06 when I swapped to the auto pull down latch:




The picture below is one end of the trim piece with the 2 screw plugs and the light:





Below is the center section of the trim piece with the hole where the striker goes through to hook into the latch. You can see 2 small holes on each side of the larger striker hole. The 2 small holes are where the plastic push pins go through to force fit into holes in the latch - you just pull them out:




Below is a picture of the latch assembly, and I'm holding the stiker above it:





Below is a picture of the latch with the striker inserted in it like when the hatch is closed:





Below is a picture looking down at the top of the latch. The striker is still inserted as it is when the hatch is closed:





In the picture above you can see the small "U-shaped" area on the end of an arm - that's where the end of the cable from the key lock cylinder goes. I pushed down on that lever and the striker came flying out of there - I'm glad I wasn't looking down in there when it came flying out!

I would suggest that you try to pull as much cardboard out of the latch as you access, and try to release the latch with the Fob.

If you just can't get it to release electrically, you may be able to reach in there to pull on that lever arm where the end of the cable is connected to release the latch mechanically. The problem is that it will be hard to get to with the hatch closed.

If you can't get your fingers or a tool in there to push that lever down, maybe you get some pliers on the cable (the metal cable itself, not the outer sheath) and pull it hard enough to rekease the latch.

I hope those pics and info might help. I know a trip to the dealer to have them do this might cost a good chunk of change!

Good luck!!!

Bob

C5Lion

Hi Bob,

Great information. I appreciate it. Is the small U shaped area that you speak of on the right side of the picture, just below the rectangular label. There is also a wire coming into the top of the lever. Is that the metal cable? Where is the electrical switch. Is it the small box with a label on the right or left side of the mechanism?

z06clif

With all this tech stuff being posted Im almost ashamed to ask but did you try WD-40 to soak the cardboard if it is cardboard causing this problem? paper is going to break down when wet. Water is not an option but WD -40 isnt going to hurt anything Ill shut up now

Clif

BEZ06

No....there is a square plastic box on the right of the picture, and a smaller rectangular one on the left. Those have nothing at all to do with the latch - they are part of the "diversity antenna" system (some kind of modules for impedance matching or signal boosting or something for the antennas that are mounted in the rear fascia).

There is a lever across the front of the latch. That is simply to shoot the hatch open when the latch mechanism is released. You can see in my previous post that there are 2 pictures - one without the striker, and one with the striker inserted as if the hatch were closed. You can see how the lever is depressed when the striker is inserted into the latch. There is a mesh cover over a very strong spring, and I think the "wire" you mention is actually the hook end of the spring that is attached into the end of that lever.

Below are a couple pictures of the latch from the "backside" - as if you were standing behind the car and looking down at the latch.

The first picture looks down into the latch. The "U-shaped" end of the lever I was talking about now has the round ball on the end of the cable in it, as it will be in your car.

There is a black styrofoam piece that covers the electric release for the latch.





In this second picture below I removed that silver aluminum piece and the black styrofoam that is in place in the previous picture. You can see how the cable would come through the back wall of the hatch and then attach to the latch - the sheath part mounts in a bracket, and the center metal cable extends up with the ball on the end mounting in the release lever.

You can also see the sort of round electrical release motor where I removed the styrofoam.



Let us know how you make out getting the hatch open - Best O'Luck!!

Bob

C5Lion

Good news. I was able to force the hatch open tonight while lying on my back in the rear of the car. Good thing I have a good bench press. I pushed up as I pressed by key FOB and the hatch came loose. One more push and the hatch opened. There was a 1" square piece of cardboard stuck in the mechanism.

Thanks for all your help.