My HHR battery died, and as luck would have it, it was parked in a position where I could not get to engine area without great difficultly. So, I tried to open the rear door via inside the car and the small opening in the door itself. No luck, could never find any lever to push/pull or pry that allow me to open the door. Has anyone ever been able to unlock or open the door via this small opening and can explain what get pushed/pulled or moved to unlock the door.
Thanks

 

If you can get to the manual, the directions for opening the rear gate are in there. There is a little oblong plug that you remove on the inside panel near the latch mechanism, then stick, (theoretically your finger, but try a large screwdriver) in to open it. It is just a piece of thick wire you hit, if I remember correctly. I think I remember seeing pics on this forum somewhere.

But, you do know that the battery is back there under the spare tire, right? You are supposed to be able to jump start from under the hood, IF you FOLLOW the directions. That black box under the hood IS NOT the battery, but the RED contact on it is the direct wire to the (+) side of the battery, the strut mount is the (-) side and is marked.

I hope that answers your vague question in all possible vague ways. I was not sure what you were asking about, so I include what I can think of.

 

MAYBE this will help........


https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-tutorial-library-21/how-manual-liftgate-release-8540/

 

 

DonBrew,
Sorry I made it so vague. But the vehicle was in a single car garage facing in and I was unable to get any jumper cables to the front of the car, just to open the back. That rear area at the time was full of my junk, I have in the car and trying to remove it out the door was being a pain. I looked in the manual and it said as you did, to remove that small cover and push in to unlock the door. But no matter how hard I push (without feeling I was going to break something) I could not unlock it. I ended up putting everything in the rear up in front and getting under the spare tire cover to remove the tire and get to the battery to exchange it. As I said it was a PITA doing it and if it happens again sometime I was trying to find out how someone else did it. The post with pictures just below your helps. I will see if I can do it that way. It appears that I need to push on a wire to open the lock..Thanks for the help

 

another well designed feature we have all grown to love

 

This thought tormented me all the time ...
what the f..ck! GM designers have not provided many important things in my car?
why there is no mechanism from inside the opening of the gate?
why not the ceiling handles for the passengers? they have nothing to hold on during the ride!
Why not f..cking tow loops? this is a very urgent problem when I'm sitting in a snow pile!

just a cry from the heart! The answer is not required.

 

geg - every time i see your sig pic i want to take my "wasr" to the salvage yard and find a crashed HHR and relief my frustrations

 

I'll give you my answer anyway. Pehaps they build the vehicle for the 'average' consumer. We've had ours since it was new and haven't had a need for any of the things you mention. The op's situation could have been hanlded with a portable jumper.

 

Good luck finding that manual latch. I have never found it, nor could the dealer. You just have to hope, if the battery fails, you can get a charger connected up front, and that the electric switch never fails. I wish there was a key lock on that tailgate.