Eric

There are two plastic bumper stops on either side of bottom edge. I’d adjust those first.

Begin with loosening then hex socket screws in the striker latch on the deck. Let it get out of the equation

Close the hatch and asses the door closure. Adjust those plastic stops ( screw in or out ) ti have the hatch flush with body.

Then retighten the striker assembly , you might see, ha, a shadow of sort where the striker was before. If not, then you should have marked the striker position before loosening, or I should  have mentioned that before :-)

Set the striker plate a little closer to the rear of the van at first, test the hatch.

Adjust till the hatch striker and and latch  engage nicely. It’s an iterative process, try then adjust etc.

That’s a start anyway, place to go from

Alistair 

> On Dec 3, 2022, at 4:44 PM, Eric Caron <ericcaron96@comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> Hi folks,
> 
>        My 84 rear hatch is hard to open because the lock button takes a great deal of thumb pressure to disengage.  My 85 is much easier. 
> 
> Can someone give me some tips on what can be tried to relieve the pressure a bit?  I’m guessing there is some adjustment on the latch somewhere but this is not something I’ve done before.
> 
> Tips on my starting place appreciated.
> 
> Eric Caron