While working on my "actually does not rattle anti-rattle kit" for the tailgate trim of my wagon I identified the problem I am having with the tailgate intermittently not wanting to open from the outside handle...a major issue with a wagon. In short, the lock and unlock mechanism is not working as designed.

The actuator tries to actuate but is unable to turn the lock cylinder. Neither of the keys that came with the car are able to do so either (lock is either frozen or maybe I have two valet keys?). So I decided to remove the entire handle assembly. Nuts one and two came off with no effort. Bolt one was tough but no big deal. Bolt three took moving up to the 3/8" breaker bar and a 1' extension...then just spun in the hole.

So I assume there was a captive nut in the handle itself that broke its retainer. Short of drilling off the head of the bolt, any ideas how to get this handle assembly off? If i were to guess, I could potentially remove the license plate light on that side and slip a wrench in?

Second question: does the wagon have a similar feature to the 240 sedan that if the lock cylinder is in a specific position, the power lock actuator would do nothing to lock or unlock the hatch? It seems silly to do such a thing but not out of the question.

For now I have the lock portion of the latch set to unlock with the actuator rod disconnected. I can't lock the hatch at all but I rarely lock my car anyway. Would like to resolve this before I finish the tailgate trim and button it up for good. Friday is supposed to be nice again so that time is near.