I tried adjusting the striker on the body thinking it was to far in and the hatch just could quite grasp. Consequently also adjusted the hatch latch out for the same reason. When I had the striker in my hand I held it up to the hatch and noticed the rubber bumpers didn’t seem to allow for these pieces to make a solid connection. So I filed em down some. It worked briefly. And shut, latch engaged and locked. Yea. No a new issue. It started popping open while the customer was driving down the road.
so now I’ve got both pieces in my hand I notice looking into the lock mechanism that when locked it’s barely hanging onto the edge. So you got the striker the hatch closes onto. That piece curls around the striker then another piece acts like a kick stand and springs into a notch thus locking this latch. 2 issues. 1 these pieces are plastic. 2it would appear in the stamping process making the housing that they’re a Cunt hair to far apart. Basically the kick stand needs to be closer so it grabs more meat and not barely the edge. Since these pieces are stamped together I assume Ford made millions of these and just going to buy another may result in the same issue after some time. The two I did I put the lock mechanism in my vise and squeezed the locking end slightly bending the latch making the two pieces closer together.
success.
I waited a month before writing this. And honestly had forgotten until earlier today when the First Lady sent me a text thanking me for taking the time to fix the issue. Not just throw a band aid on it and pass her off. Hmmmm I wonder if fords hiring. Seems they use someone like myself. Anyway. Good luck and thank you guys
