This can happen because the mechanism that opens the lock when you push the
button slides back and forth.  If your power locks are working usually
cycling them a few times while someone pushes the button can work.  If the
power locks are down, then you are going to have to pull the interior panel
for the rear hatch and move the mechanism from that side.  Buy a cheap set
of plastic pry bars from Harbor Freight to give yourself a chance of not
destroying the rear panel when you go to do this job (also the fasteners).

Another problem I have seen is that the allen screw that holds the bottom
of the lock to the door itself can loosen up and even fall out over time.
 You can't get to this without popping the hatch, but please check it and
if it is loose, I would put some lock tight on the fastener to keep it from
loosening again.  If it is gone you can buy a new one from the dealer (or I
have some here).

If your power locks don't work, occasionally this will happen again and
without the ability to cycle the locks you are going to be doing this job
over.  I would install a release wire that you can pull from the inside
when this happens and make a small hole in the rear panel to access this
area from the inside without having to pull everything apart.  I know it is
doable as some Westies have this as a safety feature in case of fire.

Hope this helps,

Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com

On Sat, Mar 22, 2014 at 10:19 AM, Grungy <grungy@grungy.com> wrote:

> The rear hatch lock on my '89 Carat has failed locked.
> I can't open it with the key.
>
> The power locks failed a long time ago, when the driver door power
> lock actuator got stuck in the unlocked position. Fixed that by
> removing the power lock actuator on that door.
> The remaining power locks sometimes continued to work when I would
> lock the passenger door from the outside with a key, but that stopped
> too after a while.
>
> I could work around that.
>
> But I have no work-around for not being able to open the rear hatch.
>
> Any tips on how to get the hatch open?
> Haven't tried to peel the hatch liner off yet (with it closed).
> I can replace the lock if I can get it open, provided that I can find a
> part.
> (Too bad I already sold the one that I had from my parted-out '90.)
> --
>
> bcnu - Grungy  (Seabrook, TX)  opinions are just that.obviously.
> '60 dddPanel '69 Bug '89 Carat '11 Jetta SportWagon TDI
> g r u n g y AT g r u n g y DOT c o m
>

--
Thanks,
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com