2007 Fit Sport MT with 190K miles. Rear hatch would not open. This has happened to me 3 times already over many years. Have disassembled the door grip/handle - cleaned and lubed twice - buys me a few more years of a working hatch. But you have to get the hatch open to start! Went inside, tripped the hidden release - no help. Toggle lock / unlock / release. Still not working. Pulled off the interior plastic trim. Disconnected the latch mechanism actuating cable. Manually moved the latch actuator left and right (right is unlatch). Still won't open.


I have eliminated the handle and cable part of the equation. I am comfortable the plastic "locking" mechanism actuator is still working OK, as I have cycled it with my key fob many, many times. It's unlocked, and still the latch will not release.


I have used a rubber band to hold the latch to the release position and leaned all my weight, pushing the hatch (more) shut, hoping the latch/striker was just sticky and would release. No luck.


So the latch mechanism is probably toast...but how do I get the hatch open to replace it ? I have tried to coax/rotate the plastic latch off the striker - no luck. The latch mech is about $150 bucks...I can swing that...but I'm sure the dealer will want $500 to replace it. I'm still hoping for a shadetree solution.


The next tool is a hammer and small screwdriver to smash the plastic latch off the striker (from inside the vehicle). Does anyone have any possible tricks before I move to the breakage option ?

 

This happened to me recently. I have no idea how you solve the problem, but driving back home 3 or so miles jiggled the mechanism loose. YMMV

 

The resident Old Yankee at work has suggested that since the latch hook is plastic, and accessible from inside the vehicle, that I take split point drill bit, maybe 1/4", and drill a few holes in the plastic latch hook on either side of the striker bar to weaken or break it. Might not get to it until the weekend, but it sounds promising. Once I actually get the hatch open, the rest is easy.

 

2007 Honda Fit Rear Hatch latch

Well, here's how it turned out. I ordered a replacement latch and the handle mechanism from an online Honda parts place in Idaho. While I waited for the parts to arrive, I went at the latch. First off - after drilling, I found the latch hook is NOT plastic, it is steel with a plastic covering. So no amount of drilling or hammering would break it. Which is good, I guess, safety-wise. But I was back to square one.


I got back inside and began probing with a screwdriver. After another half hour, I noticed there is a dog on the inner side of the latch actuator (the one that rotates with cable being pulled). I pulled it left, then pushed it right (as if it was moving along with the latch actuator and Presto - the lock released. I think if the latch mech was on a bench and not crammed into a door - this would have been more obvious at the beginning. As I stated above - the hard part was over. Once my parts arrived - I would be done in an hour.


Similar to other threads in this forum, to replace the super-rusted handle mechanism, I had to remove the plastic cover on the outside of the hatch door (over the license plate). The black and white push pins released easily with some pry pressure on the plastic cover piece outside, and some needle nose pliers on the inside. You do have to remove the wiper arm and motor to get one of the pins. Needless to say, getting the wiper arm off involved a lot of PB Blaster, and a very beefy puller. Which slightly damaged the threads on the motor spindle - which required me to borrow the Old Yankee's (see above) tap and die set to re-cut the threads. THEN, there is one last bolt, that goes to a square nut on the exterior that holds the plastic cover (left side of license plate). No amount of PB Blaster and wrenching could get this removed - so I worked it loose then tight for about 10 repetitions, and got it as loose as I could - and by prying up gently on the right side of the plastic cover trim....I got the handle out. From here, it then took me an hour to finish. Replaced the handle. Hooked up the cable. Used my impact tool to get the 3 latch bolts off. Took the power actuator off the old latch and attached it to the new latch. Installed the new latch. Hooked up the cable. Tested it, lock, unlock, open, close, lock at least 10 times. Put the trim cover, the wiper motor, and interior plastic back together. Done! Works great. Cost me about $150 for the handle and latch, and about 6 hours of non-continuous labor. Since the car made it 11 years on the old one.....these should outlast the vehicle.


Now the "hindsight is 20/20" part. After I got the old latch on the bench, I discovered (since I could compare it to the new one), that the plastic lock mechanism is the part that also ties the pivoting actuator to the release dog. The plastic had jumped out of the track. I finessed it back in place, and the latch mechanism would work. However, since I had damaged the latch hook by drilling it to try and open the door - it is now junk. But instead of regret, I focus on the success of having a working hatch again.