if the electric lock assm fails there is no way to open the gate other than using a air chizel and cutting the door open. so says a gm svc manager.
when i asked him he just shook his head and told me that.
so be careful if you look in and try. if u screw up youre out!!

with the trim off i look in and carefully feel for a release,finding nothing.
this needs to be fixed?? you can feel movement but nothing that lets you open the latch. i stood beside the open gate and simulated the lock mode.
so if a wire breaks in the door.....

jfwiw

 

There was a thread running around the web all about that rear door lock/unlock stuff.

Credit goes to Broken Halo:

Thanks I showed the pic to our door latch engineer and he said to unplug the harness going into the locking mechanism and check with a meter for 12v when the unlock button is pushed. If no power, jump 12v to the terminal that the harness plugged into, and see if that actuates the unlock. He suggests NOT to tap into the wires themselves, so you don't 'back-feed' voltage into the system. If that doesn't work, he said if you can pry off the black cover (try and stick a small mirror in there to see if it is snaps or screws holding it on, but he thinks it's probably snaps), that you see the release rod going into, you should be able to access the unlock lever, and manually trip it.

 

he 'assumed"a good motor...

ive pulled the cover and see NOTHING that will open the door. remember the gm svc mgr just shook his head in frustration and said you gotta tear it apart...

just stand by the open door with your remote and try it. reach in and you can feel the rod move but you cant do it without the remote. if the motor goes ,,,you are finished. i see no way to dissassemble it. remember the door will be closed when the trouble starts and you will crawl it and try. very much more difficult...
answers anyone???

 

This is really a conundrum.