After opening my stuck 2010 Fit hatch by crawling in the back and doing the "stuck white mechanism" trick my hatch will now not latch closed. The locking mechanism will not allow the hatch to latch onto the trunk side metal clasp when I close the hatch door. It's as if the hatch side locking mechanism is stuck in the closed position. Has anyone had this issue? Any ideas on how to resolve? Thanks very much.

 

What is the "stuck white mechanism" trick? When my hatch wouldn't open I found it was due to the hatch release handle not springing back into position. I was able to push it back manually and then pulling it made it open. Perhaps this will work for you?

 

Over time the hatch release handle will seize up completely due to rusting of the moving parts. When that happens you cannot open the hatch door from the outside. You must go through the inside:

I am now unable to latch the door closed. Any ideas out there?

 

The release handle is connected to the latch via a cable (like a bicycle shifter or brake cable). Maybe try pulling that cable out of its mount.. the cable housing snaps in to the latch mechanism at the bottom and the release handle at the top. It should be easy enough to try if you are already in there.

Edit: I would also try lubricating things with wd-40 or silicone spray.

 

Thanks. I did try that but the lock mechanism is still not moving to the open position thus not allowing the lock to grasp the locking hook..

So crazy. I went from not being able to open my hatch door to not being able to close it.

 

I suspect the rust has gotten so bad it won’t move. It was hard to open and how ever you opened the latch it simply is to difficult to return. I blasted the rust off then greased the heck out of mine till it freed up. Search similar topics as it is a common thread here.

 

I finally was able to move the latch mechanism to the open position and close the hatch door. It was a two part process:

1. Rotate the latch mechanism counterclockwise until you can't go any further. To be able to rotate the mechanism you have to push up on a small white plastic piece on the upper inside corner while rotating the mechanism.
2. Do the 'stuck white mechanism" trick from the inside and the latch mechanism will move to the open position allowing the latch to then grab onto the trunk hook when the hatch door is closed.

The latching mechanism has a black tape like covering (rust protection?) which actually became stuck making the mechanism almost impossible to rotate. I had to peel off the covering in order to rotate the latching mechanism.

Thanks to those who replied with ideas.

 

Mine rusted as well. I took the handle mechanism out and took it apart.
I fabricated a new hinge pin from a metal rod I had in my junk bin. Slightly smaller diameter and chrome plated so should last a long time.
Works as good as new now.

 

Changed out the seized handle. Also had to replace the lock set which failed. Got both parts from Amazon. Handle was $16.99 and lock set was $40. Easy job overall. Tricky part was reconnecting the hatch door
key cylinder cable to the lock set.