To me it sounds like that actuator is starting to go bad. My last car had multiple starters (lol) where when they went bad, I could avoid a tow by crawling under the car and whacking the starter with a hammer which sounds similar to what's going on here.

Cleaning the latch and applying something like WD40 couldn't hurt though, it's worth a shot to see if maybe the latch is just binding up. Before you do wind up buying a new actuator, you might want to verify that plug for the actuator is reliably getting 12v to the rear (I believe this gets 12v when the button is pressed as it should be a 2 wire plug IIRC). A multi meter or even a simple test light connected to those pins just to verify.

One other thing I'll mention, and I really honestly don't think this applies to your case, but at least on mine if it isn't in park/neutral, that hatch does not open when you press the button on the dash. If you find out you don't reliably have power back there and you have a scan tool capable of reading the transmission range sensor that might be something to look at if you do wind up going down that path (in my opinion this would be a stretch as you'd probably have other issues if the range sensor went bad).

 

oh,just to let you'll know...lol,,,i only repaired the panel and put it back on without the new part...I DID drill a small hole so if needed,one could holesaw a hole in the plastic and stick ones finger in the hole,haha, and release the glass..as far as the guy with electrical problems...maybe soak down the switch with electrical cleaner?

 

I'd be fine predrilling a hole just in case of a breakdown, where is the place?

 

Believe it or not, this is the emergency release procedure from the owner's manual on my 02:



I think you might be able to get away with just peeling the carpet back. I unfortunately didn't notice this until now so my panel is busted from ripping and yanking on it to get a screwdriver in there to release it

 

Nice, TY!

 

my hillbilly repair, lol,,thin aluminum on other side