Polo 9N rear-hatch latch

[dero]

I bought a 2008 9N Polo on the weekend. The car seems quite ok through my 20km odd journey home from picking it up so not concerned with that.

The thing which is the quirk with this car is the rear hatch's latch.

The previous owner instructs that to open it requires a counter-clockwise twist of the key then when turned, lift the handle. I've so far managed to get it opened once - immediately after I was given the instruction on it and then trying immediately after it didn't open again.

If I don't follow the directions I will hear the motor to have it unlatch but the hatch stays closed and locked. It's quite weird.

I didn't have enough time to keep fiddling with it to figure it out fully and be ok with the quirk. I'm guessing that there needs to be some sort of "reset" internally to have it open again.

So to the question - can the motor or latching mechanism be changed? If I go to a wrecker to buy the motor and latching unit, can it be swapped so that I can get a more predictable hatch opening expectation? Would the key-fob hatch open button be able to unlock/open the hatch again if the mechanism was changed?

[Bora Sport]

If it is like the Polo GTI which is 9N3 there are three bolts that hold the electric switch/triggering mechanism in place. In my car the bolts fell out (into the bottom of the hatch) and therefore the electric switch fell off and could no longer trigger the unlock mechanism. Search on YouTube for a video. In my case it was the easiest of fixes. Simply bolt the switch back into place with the 3 bolts. In my case we put some Locktite on them just in case.

[dero]

Checked it out - it looks almost exactly the same as the GTI 9N3 you've described. The headlights have that little lower eyeball droop and the rear has a very same-y shape and dimension based on the images that crops up on Google image search.

I'll check it out if I'm able to get the hatch open again next time. What sort of size am I looking at regarding the bolts?

(Youtubed - there's a video of the hatch strut replacement - the car looks very similar to this YouTube)

[dero]

Wow... might be even easier...
YouTube

[simon k]

mine was the same when I bought it last year - I could hear an electric motor trying to do something when I pulled on the handle but it didn't open unless I used the key

one of the 2 screws holding the electric thing that pushes on the catch had fallen out. Mine was missing, I found another and loctited them both in

my mechanism was nothing like that video

[sambb]

There's two types. The early 06's (maybe 07's???) have a key hole as part of the handle. The ones older than that don't. That could be the variation when viewed from behind maybe.

[dero]

Thanks for the advice lads.

I've also had to look up how the internal trim comes off - looks like its 2x Phillips Head screws at each of the internal grab handles. Take those out then unclip the trim.

From the VIN, the car's a MY07. I'll just have to see what variation of latch it works out to be once I have the trim removed.

[simon k]

I've also had to look up how the internal trim comes off - looks like its 2x Phillips Head screws at each of the internal grab handles. Take those out then unclip the trim.

yeah, but be a little bit careful when you get to the centre near the catch, there's a cutout - mine split

[dero]

Got the trim off this afternoon.
I unclipped the orange circled bit and screwed it in tighter until I couldn't go any further because the plastic bit butted up against the bend in the metal pin.

The servo motor coming loose though - is it the purple circled bits? There's only the one screw which is connected there. The top-right hand one. It was pretty loose. I've finger-tightened it a bit. I'm guessing the other two connectors need to have screws found and done in to tighten those as well?

Guessing that the whole assembly has to come off with those Torx screws and then that'll give me the access and angle I need to tighten the screws in? What size screw bits are they?

[simon k]

yes, the whole assembly comes off, and it's the two purple circled with the brass inserts. The screw is probably M4, but take the other one with you when you go to the bunnings and screw it into their thread tester. Buy a bottle of thread locker and put a drop on each before you put it back together

the orange circled one doesn't need to be touched, except when you gently prise it off the ball it's pivoting on to remove the assembly to replace the screws

You can test the problem by pulling on the handle, you'll see the actuator come out of the white thing and push against the black bit that's attached to the orange circled bit, and then the whole of the white thing will pivot away because the screw is missing

If you find that you can't close the boot catch after you've played with it, it's because the catch has closed. You can flick it open again with a screwdriver

[dero]

I couldn't figure out how to take the bracket out after taking out the torx screws. Something about the key barrel attaching to the handle that held it all together.

Didn't matter too much though because I have got it mostly sorted.

The screw that still sat in there was a 5mm diameter unit with a length of 0.5".

Ended up finding two of the same 5mm diameter screws with the correct thread but at 1" length. I've doubled the length of the screw and was able to do a bit of jiggery to get the screws into place and then turned the brass barrel with a pair of pliers while holding onto the top of the screw with my finger. Once there was a bit of tightness with the head against the bracket the overall came together relatively tightly.

At least in this end though, the screw will not be able to fall out again - it's now doubled in length, there's got to be a lot of jiggling jiggery to have them work their way out again and I think the relative angles available in there would make it hard to anyway.

Happy with it now. I've managed to get the actuator mechanism back to the right position and tight against the bracket so when triggered, hits the unlock mechanism to have the hatch open reliably again.

Thanks again for the tips and help. I definitely would have been a lot more lost had it not been for your experiences!