broken hatch door hinge

blue boyblue boy Band Wagon
in Bodywork & Cosmetic Modifications
Hi Guys,

Wondering if any of you ever had one of the hinges to the back hatch door break? One of mine broke and now obviously I can't open the hatch very well, so it just stays shut. I was looking at the hinge that broke and it looked all rusted out. Not sure how to repair it or where to go for help. any ideas? thanks in advance.

Comments

  • DRMORTYDRMORTY Council Member
    This is what happens when the hinges seize up.
    Fix: Get another hinge.
    The 2dr hatch hinges are the same and pretty easy to find.
    And once you put the new one (s) in.... spray them with some lub or grease, to keep it fron happening again.
  • skittlenipsskittlenips Wagonist
    You'll have to partially remove the interior in order to get to the bolts that attach the hinge to the chassis. Kinda hard to explain exactly what to do without pictures, but the goal is to be able to drop the back end of the headliner down just enough to get a wrench in there...you'll probably want to re-apply some sort of sealant (as it comes from the factory) after replacing the hinge as well.

    I have an extra hinge or two laying around, if you need one just shoot me a PM.
  • blue boyblue boy Band Wagon
    how difficult of a job is this? I haven't really done much work on the car by myself, but I would be willing to try.

    I sent you a PM for that hinge.
  • skittlenipsskittlenips Wagonist
    Hard to say...if you've removed interior plastics and such before, it shouldn't be too hard.

    Basically you have to start at the bottom and work your way up. Here's a rough step by step:

    1. Remove the hatch (4 bolts)
    2. Remove the weather seal and "clip" that holds the headliner to the rear of the chassis (under the weatherstrip along the top edge).
    3. Start to remove the large, funky shaped plastic pieces that cover most of the rear cargo area (start by removing the storage "cups," then start removing the plastic screw fasteners along the bottom edge...you'll also have to disconnect the hatch hydraulics/struts). Once you have most of the fasteners out and the struts out of the way, you should just be able to give the plastics a firm pull to disengage the metal "clips" that hold the parts that don't have plastic screws to the chassis. You want to be able to pull these out just enough to where you can start to remove the upper, lighter colored plastic pieces that go from the roof down to the funky shaped plastics.
    4. Start to remove the upper, lighter colored plastic pieces by simply giving them a firm pull from the chassis, as with the other pieces. The goal is to get these removed just enough to where you can get a wrench between the headliner and where the brackets bolt from the chassis.
    5. At this point you can un-bolt the brackets. Undo the two bolts and just pull the bracket off (may take some force to break the chassis sealant).
    6. Repeat all of this in reverse.
  • HaydzHaydz Moderator
    http://www.civicwagon.com/content.php?188-How-to-Remove-Tailgate-and-Replace-Tailgate-Hinges

    There is an article detailing the steps.
  • chuckshinchuckshin Wagonist
    The work is fairly easy. Rear hinge broke on mine and didn't take long to get it done.

    Where in CA are you from?
  • blue boyblue boy Band Wagon
    chuckshin, i'm living in the san jose area.

    haydz, thanks for that article. very helpful with all the pictures!

    skittlenips, thanks for the details and the PM. I'm replying now.

    I may have some more questions for you guys when I get closer to doing this. Thanks a lot everybody!
  • keg hatchkeg hatch New Wagonist
    this just happened to my car! does anyone have an extra hinge lying around or know where i can find them? ive be searching the internet for 3 days now with no luck... :disturbed:
  • red-rt-wagonred-rt-wagon Band Wagon
    Here you go...first post...
    DRMORTY wrote: »
    This is what happens when the hinges seize up.
    Fix: Get another hinge.
    The 2dr hatch hinges are the same and pretty easy to find.
    And once you put the new one (s) in.... spray them with some lub or grease, to keep it fron happening again.
    keg hatch wrote: »
    this just happened to my car! does anyone have an extra hinge lying around or know where i can find them? ive be searching the internet for 3 days now with no luck... :disturbed:
  • lolingirunarlollolingirunarlol New Wagonist
    Are you guys sure that the 2dr EF hatch hinges are the same?
  • RiskEverythingRiskEverything Wagonist
    CRX hinges are the same as well, IIRC. I am going to talk to a machinist friend about making grease-able bolts for these, and maybe all-new hinges as well.

    Would there be much interest in this product? New hatch hinges with grease-able bolts?
  • lolingirunarlollolingirunarlol New Wagonist
    RiskEverything wrote: »
    CRX hinges are the same as well, IIRC. I am going to talk to a machinist friend about making grease-able bolts for these, and maybe all-new hinges as well.

    Would there be much interest in this product? New hatch hinges with grease-able bolts?

    Wish I had seen this sooner - just bought OEM hatches from the dealership for alot of money.
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