This is my first post and I've read a lot of posts regarding the liftgate (probably all of them) but I still have some questions. Our liftgate latch has been electrically dead for about a year (or more). I checked all of the fuses and they appear to be fine (visually). I found a web page, elsewhere, that had a Chevy HHR repair manual and it instructed mechanics to simply pull the fuses and see if they appeared "connected". As I've said, they all appear fine - I couldn't figure out which one exactly I should be looking for (#10, according to what I've read) but I don't have an owners manual so I, literally, pulled every fuse on the inside and in the engine compartment and they all appear fine. I'm guessing it's the switch, in/on the tailgate, and, I've read they were a problem. My wife and I are both 67 and I'm tired of climbing in the car and using a long screwdriver to open the hatch - she can't even do it....

Does anyone have explicit instructions for what I need to do to get this thing replaced. I'm not very mechanical, but, I just replaced the AC/Heater Control unit (which was finally dead on all settings) and replaced a broken door handle (which apparently had been replaced before because the housing was glued and screwed). The door handle,, after my handy work, has an almost imperceptible catch in it as I apparently didn't seat the handle perfectly, but it works fine (man - a year of rolling down my window to get out of the car is over). So, I'm a dummy - but trainable, I guess.

The bottom of the latch, looking at it from the outside, has two screws - of some kind - that are very rusted. I can't tell if they're torx, or whatever - I took a pic which I'll try to attach. if those have to be "un-screwed", whew....I dunno.





I assume I will need to remove that interior hatch trim, and, I know there are numerous posts on how this is done. Anyway, there's nothing on YouTube for this and I just wondered if anyone could give me a step-by-step....maybe someone has replaced this thing. There's always a dealership or something but they wanted $240.00 to fix a door handle that cost me 12 bucks on Ebay. god knows what they'd want for this..Thanks.

 

There's some information and pics in here that may help.
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-...-switch-22192/

 

Ok, you have instructions to remove the trim panel? After that the step by step is remove the screws holding the switch, disconnect the wires.

Link to Owner Manual in my sig.

How have you lived 67 years without learning how to check a fuse? I'm 68 and circuit breakers were a new thing to me.
When you pull the fuse observe the piece of copper in the see through part if it is broken the fuse is "blown". Yes, it is #10 under hood fuse box; make sure #11 is vacant.

 

And you could swap it with a known good fuse, see if the other system stops working.

There should also be a map of each fuse block inside each cover.

 

Hey, I appreciate the links to the manuals - think you misunderstood. I know you can look at a fuse (almost always) and tell if it's alright. I just couldn't figure which fuse was #10. I'm gonna get the trim off inside, and, I'm thinking the thing should be self explanatory, to some extent. Mostly I'm worried about those screws, or whatever they are, on the bottom of that latch unit. I'll post an update when I get into the thing - I took a chance and ordered the replacement part......hope that's what the heck is wrong.

 

They are plastic rivets, just pop out with coercion.