The rear door panel is secured to the door using screws and clips. The screws will be in the handle used to close the door and there may be plastic plugs in the handle hiding the screws. Once these screws are removed, the handle will come off.
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How do I get my rear hatch open on my 1998 Chevy?
Re: How do I get my rear hatch open on my 1998 Chevy... panel on the rear door (pass side),then remove the metal trim panel under that.You will then be able to see the latch and should be able to get ahold of the linkage to open it! You can't post conmments that contain an email address.
How do you open the rear tailgate hatch?
Inside the rear tail gate hatch should be a small access panel. Remove the access panel so you can manually open the rear hatch by grabbing the small metal rod linkage. They put this access panel so if the door motor actuator goes bad you can still open the rear hatch.
What are the two parts of the rear inner panel?
Figure 1 There are two pieces that make up the rear inner panels: the upper section (green arrow) and the lower section (yellow arrow). The lower section is held in place by a single Philips head screw in each of the pull handles (red arrows).
How do I remove the lower section of the door panel?
The lower section is held in place by a single Philips head screw in each of the pull handles (red arrows). Figure 2 Use a Philips head screwdriver and remove the screw (red arrow) in each handle. Figure 3 Use a trim removal tool and gently pull the panel away from the body (red arrow).
The rear hatch lock is coded to the car and must be ordered VIN specific from Volkswagen
That being said if you are having problems with the hatch lock, tumbler or actuator there are many things that can go wrong and not all of them cost money to fix. I recommend that you remove the rear interior panels and find out what is really wrong before you order parts. Please see our article on inner rear panel removal for help.
Project Photos
Figure 1 If you are locked out of your hatch there is no way to access or remove the lock tumbler (red arrow) or handle (yellow arrow) from outside of the vehicle. You will need to remove the inner rear panels to get at the mechanisms.
If your rear windshield wiper motor is going bad or you need access to the hatch locking mechanism you will need to remove the rear inner panels
These panels can also get pretty torn up from stuff you haul around in the back and new panels can really freshen up the look of your vehicle. This article will show you how to remove both the upper and lower sections along with the lock carrier piece.
Project Photos
Figure 1 There are two pieces that make up the rear inner panels: the upper section (green arrow) and the lower section (yellow arrow). The lower section is held in place by a single Philips head screw in each of the pull handles (red arrows).