Rear door probs 99 passat wagon

[nicwymer]

Hi this morning went shopping and found that I could not open the rear hatch. The handle does not feel like it is connected to anything! I can hear the central locking working and I have tried it with a key but to no avail. I can't see any way of getting the interior trim off with the door shut either.
I did have a similar problem with a rear door but that just started working again the next time I drove the car.
Any ideas, or do I need to flex the wallet....

[nicwymer]

OK, someone has informed me that part of the handle has either come dissatatched or has bust inside. Any ideas on how to open the damn door so I can get the trim off.....

[nicwymer]

Frustrations over. Someone very kindly sent me a photo of the guts of their rear hatch with the trim off. From this I was able to use a sharp knife to cut a small flap in the carpeted section of the trim, then using some tweezers pull the link to open the door. The flap is invisible when pushed back flush so no real damage their.
After getting the trim off I found the inside wadding to be soaked and some corrosion around the the various parts of the lock. This seems to have been caused by a slight leak on the connector for the pipe for water for the rear washer. A few months back I had the rear nozzle bung up and I’m sure this stems from then, I’d cleared it out but I had noticed the jet seemed weak.
Anyway the good news is that nothing appears to be broken it was just a few bits getting too stiff for the springs to properly return them and after a good clean and lubrication all seems well except for the light switch!!