I found the same thing. Just had to push the rod back over towards the
driver's side and all was back to normal again. Once I looked at the design of
the lock mechanism it all made sense how things get out of sync. After
repeatedly locking and unlocking the rear hatch manually with the power lock
actuator disconnected it gradually moved out of place and did nothing. Got to
 get that Swiss lock actuator set with the remotes and ability to turn on
the  inside lights. Anyone have any negative reports on this setup? Here's
the link.  http://www.a1electric.com/mes.htm

In a message dated 8/6/2009 11:53:10 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
robertmstewart@mac.com writes:

Had this  exact issue 2 weeks ago.

I have an 88 Wolfsburg with power locks. The  van was sitting for 6
months. Went to open the rear hatch and it  would not unlock.

Like you I crawled inside, removed the back panel.  Then noticed the
latch mechanism was not working properly for  whatever reason.

I grabbed a flat head screwdriver and pushed on the  latch mechanism to
push into the unlock position. Be sure the lock  on the outside key
hole is in the unlock position and press it in  before you start the
process though. Worked perfectly, had it open  in 3 minutes. I
lubricated the entire thing and it has been fine  since.

Robert
NY