I'm assuming the lock release mechanism is seized. Apparently you have to access it from inside the van. The van is a built out camper and there is no way to access the inside mechanism. Am I completely screwed or what? Is there some way to get it from the outside? I've just been banging on the door while pressing the unlock button, hoping it will release. Any ideas of what I should do?

 

i dont even think there is a manual lever/handle for the rear hatch on the inside. even if you were not built out as a camper i think you would be in the same boat.
that might be a dealer visit... though i am sure someone else has had the same issue, there is no telling when someone will chime in.
let us know what happens... i can see this being an issue
maybe its frozen shut? i have never removed the plastic panel on the rear hatch, though i have seen a few at the junkyard, which may be an option for you: go to the junkyard and pay $1 admission to break theirs and see how it works before you break your own

 

https://www.fixya.com/cars/t6905960-...tgate_will_not

 

hmm i am overdue for lubing latches...
think i might do that today

 

I was wondering if it was frozen too. There could be a piece of ice blocking the mechanism. I pointed a heat gun down there for 20 minutes and still no success.

Sounds like the mechanism is at the very bottom of the hatch. Completely stumped how I'm going to reach it. I don't want to cut a hole through my rear wall.

 

Pretty please take a picture where the handle unlock mechanism is. Maybe I can jam a stick down there and make it move.

 

i bet the window, metal door, and latch were sweaty with humidity and then it pooled around the latch and seized it up even worse.
if you are inside and its toasty but its cold outside you will get a ton of moisture on the skin of the van and i would imagine it pools in the lowest spot...
you could try spraying de-icer up in there from the outside... i dunno maybe a siphon pump could get up under the hatch... they might make de-icer in a spray can with a straw too, i dunno.
or get a saw and cut a hole on the inside just where the latch is... if/when i convert mine to a camper i wont be covering that latch... make sure you lube it up when its free and dry... i usually lose white lithium grease

i have blacked out my rear windows with reflectix and a black sheet sewed on as a shade, the rear quarter windows on an extended model are hard to make shades for because of the window latch. my shades arent perfect and the ones where the reflectix is not touching the windows 100% will sweat and ice up when it gets into the teens here... and thats just from daily driving, not camping. i think you need to have the reflectix pressed right up to the windows and metal to keep it from sweating. even one little crease will get wet.

 

It is impossible to completely seal up a minivan. Moisture gets in behind everything. I wish I would have started with a cargo van, then I couldve done insulation and sealed the interior up.

So yeah probably the last two months of moisture have rusted the mechanism stuck. I tried a heat gun from the inside and outside but no luck. Looks like I'm going to cut a hole through the wall now.

If only Chevy had added a key hole lock at the back.

 

Can anyone guide me from here? I've tried moving the cable latch but no success. There must be something else to it.

 

is it making any noise when you hit the lock/unlock button?
apparently there is a fuse for it per the fixya link...
somebody there said theres lots of plastic in it... might want to have your hands on a spare latch just in case it breaks and you cant close the hatch since theres not a good way to tie it down in the event of it failing open

it also said somethin about other vehicles having similar problems.. i think one was tahoe... you might have better luck finding info using the other more popular vehicles as search terms