Hatch Door Stuck, Help With Lock?

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2002 Mazda Protege5
In the process of moving, I packed my '02 Protege5 full of all my stuff and then closed the hatch door. I forgot one last thing to put in and go to open the hatch door and it won't open. The panel may have slammed up against some boxes but nothing was too far back. I locked/unlocked it a few times with key and keyless... pushed hard to ensure the hatch was shut all the way... pulled really hard as I pulled the handle... nothing worked. So I just pulled off the interior door panel to check things out. I can see the latch arm extending down to the lock, works great. I pulled out the keyless and watched it lock/unlock, parts are all moving and I can see it locking/unlocking. The catch is I still can't open the door. I pull down on the arm and it does nothing to the mechanism that is physically grabbing, holding the door shut. I tried sticking a flat head in there to try and persuade it to move one way or the other and still no luck.

Any ideas? It doesn't look like I can disassemble the lock in this state. I'm guessing the hatch would have to be open.
 
Take a screw driver wedge it against the arm and lightly smack it with a hammer to pry it open if that don't work cut it off. Don't worry about breaking the already broken
 
Once I figured out which way the lock spins I did just as you said and POP it came free. It looks like there is a plastic layer over the center metal part that had risen up, pressed it back down with a pliers and the door works good as new! I wouldn't be surprised if it happens again in the future but saves me the $180 for now.

Thanks for the tip, it worked!
 
It looks like I have exactly the same problem. I can even see the little black piece of plastic wedging the latch keeping it from moving. Then you popped your latch did you place the screwdriver in at a 45degree angle between the the U-ring and the latch (so you are pushing on the latch using the U-ring as a pivot) or are you going straight in pushing on the latch using the locking housing as a pivot? Seems like you did not apply very much pressure. Also, do you happen to know if the trunk should be locked or unlocked or if yours was not completely closed. Just dont want to pry it open if it is going to break something especially since it seems like everything is just fine except for that lock. Thanks in advance for any help.
 
Sitting down to dinner soon here. I'll go out and take some pictures and describe more what I did in a little bit here.
 
Sitting in my trunk area, I pulled off the inside trunk panel. This is NOT necessary.

Picture 1 shows the view of trunk from the inside.

Picture 2 shows the locking mechanism up close. Look and you'll see the spinning U-plate that swings around the center bar. To the left of the bar you'll see the where the U-plate has a little notch and meets up with a plastic piece. Hard to see from the picture.

Picture 3 shows where where to stick the flathead screwdriver, which is where the notch is. Push the screwdriver in to the left of that notch. The plastic may fight you but wedge it in there. I had to use a lot of force. I was sitting in my trunk but had to put my shoulder into it. It'll make a nice loud POP when it frees us.

Picture 4 shows the locking mechanism with the trunk open. I spun the plate around as if it were closed. You can see the plastic layer that had risen up and jammed my lock.

Hope that helps. It's hard to get a camera way in there. Let me know if you have any more questions.


Picture 1.jpg

Picture 2.jpg

Picture 3.jpg

Picture 4.jpg
 
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Thanks so much!! That worked!! A lot more force than I thought earlier was required. I wound up just cutting all the plastic off when I got it free. Seems to work fine without it.
Thanks again.
 
I have a similar problem. Mine has been hit in the rear hatch. I need to remove the interior hatch panel to check on the damage and to repair the dent in the exterior. The hatch is stuck closed. How do I remove the panel?
 
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