bigspyke

I have an '89 944 T and the rear hatch key lock all of a sudden quit working. It turns, but nothing happens. It has a slight "clicking" sound when I turn the key, is the opener electrical with the key? The hatch does still open with the inside switch. TIA.....

River

There are two ways the hatch opens. One, at the front with the hatch release button. The second with the key. The first being electrical, the later being with leverage of the cables.

It should open with the key if it opens with the hatch release. That's a new one for me. lol! Open the hatch, pull your carpet out and check things out. There are two plastic clips that hold the bars in place. You'll see how it works when you have the key in it, and turn it with your knoggin' down looking at it. Prolly needs some lube and adjustments is all. Or, the cylinder lock is toast (doubtful, but possible).

Once a month at least, you should clean everything back there and silcone spray the hell outta it. Keeps it working...

F40LM

I have similar problem. REALLY need to move it up on the things to do list. For me it is a plastic conector between the key barrel and the release mechanism. Once it failed the electric part would still work but key does not.

Started a thread trying to find a name or number for the part with no luck. Sorry can't help but will be watching, hopefully you'll have more luck and I can ride your coat tails.

michael

xsboost90

89 the rear is not manual it actually uses the motor even with the key. Check the micro switch on the rear between the lights.

River

OhhhHHh...piece of candy! I did not know that about the 89'! That's kind of a nice addition. Probably takes the stress of the mechanism too so it doesn't require some omph to open it by the key. I'm curious to see the difference in how it works. Maybe it would be a nice little upgrade

F40LM

Ditto on that, may look into it myself.

ramius665

Had the motor fail on my wife's 968 cab. I'll tell ya, it's not easy to get into the trunk when there's no way to open it.

SirLapsalot

Yea its also a pain in the *** if the battery is dead and you just want to get in the hatch

Fara

Do what I did: Crawl into the back and manually operate the hatch releases with two pairs of pliers.

It sure makes you look graceful.

River

Yeah, I feel ya on opening the hatch from the inside! LOL!

Much time haseth been spent-eth on a seized hatch.

Not fun.

Worth it though.

Yeah, but not fun.

Mr.Rodgers

Mine stopped working last summer. I believe it was in August, so it was probably around 90 degrees, and I had to climb my 6'4" butt back there in my work clothes and yank on the release cable to open up the hatch.

Mine actually failed at the lever/nut that connects the release cable to the motor. It just snapped in half. Got a nice used one from a fellow lister for around $10 and its worked well so far

zerMATT951

I got to work on my hatch release over the summer and because of my bolt-in roll bar, my rear seat is permanently in the up position. I'm a big guy, and climbing over the rear seat to reach the release mechanism was a bit of a trick... I had to do it 6-8 times until I got it adjusted properly where I could open it reliably. Ugh!