The liftgate on our hhr is stuck closed the electronic button is not functional but I have the latch open from the manual release from the inside but even with the latch in open position it still doesn't budge no matter how hard I pry on it any suggestions would be appreciated i inserted a picture showing that the latch is open

 

Sometimes you have to push the door closed to let the latches release before you try to open it. But, I've never had this problem, so that's just a guess.

Ira

 

I've already tried that actually at first it wiggled a little but after trying to pry it it doesn't wiggle but the latch is still not engaged not sure what changed but its really jammed not even sure why not sure if I should just try to brute force it with whatever I can find sturdy enough to do so but also don't want to break something either also forgot to mention that when on the system detects that the rear is open

 

If there is a fuse in #11 underhood fuse box remove it. When there is a fuse there the latch won't work properly.

I am not sure what you mean. You pushed the manual lever which opened the latch mechanism but the door will not open? If the latch mechanism is open there is nothing else holding it closed except the gasket being sticky.. Maybe the supports are frozen.

 

I see the the latch is open, so that tells me some other problems exist , is it possible there’s ice in the weather strip holding the lift gate?
what about snow and or ice on the bumper blocking the lift gate?

 

thought about that but i cleared the bumper and even if it was ice you think it would have either melted or gave in to prying on it? Can't get ahold of the bottom of the liftgate but when prying.on the sides it flexes enough to see the inside about a inch gap i even had someone pull from the outside while I pushed from inside and still no budging not sure what could have it jammed so bad only thing I can think of is the weather seal was lifted out when it was closed and it got stuck on it its been warm enough for the ice to melt off the entire body which has me assuming that any ice that possibly could of been holding it melted seeing the latch is disengaged it shouldn't cause any harm to pry it even harder then I did before?

 

Even pressure from the inside, don’t push on the glass .

 

made sure not to put any stress on the glass, think I'm just going to go for it and see if I can find something to get better leverage and try to pry it open

 

Just be aware of the pressure on the area near the tail light and up. Not much reinforcement in that area. Carefully open it, being aware of the weight of the hatch door , it’s heavy and if the gas struts have failed, you will need two people to hold it open.

 

to get started - drive the car into heat (warm garage, underground parking) or to a car wash with warm water
if something is frozen and interferes, it will thaw
if reason not about freezing - just the search area will narrow, also a good result