98 sport. Went to open my hatch yesterday and something in the handle latch came undone inside and now I can't open my hatch! I built a sleeping platform with a built in drawer underneath in the back of my Xj and all my tools for work are in the drawer and I need my tools!
I know If I take my hatch panel off I can get to the latch inside and fix the problem. But when the hatch is closed the screws to take the panel off aren't accessible.
Any help would be much appreciated!!

 

Just pry underneath the inside of your hatch with your hand and worm your hand to the latch mechanism. Be careful of the plastic, it can cut you lol. I've done this many time because in a retard. I cleaned the latch once an forgot to hook it back up... Twice...

 

And don't worry about re attaching anything until its open. Just move it so it can open, and have someone on the outside lift the hatch for you just enough so you can get ya hand out

 

Sweet man I'm gonna give that a try right now. Hopefully I can get my hand up there. I only have about 6" between my box and hatch so we will see.

 

Lemme know!

 

So I tried fishing my arm underneath the plastic, but no luck. Ended up pulling off the handle and popping the clips and going in through the top of the plastic by the rear glass. Worked like a charm! Thanks for the advice though! It got me on the right track

 

No problem! Glad you got it tho. Sucks when you already have stuff in the back and can't get enough room to get underneath.