The rear hatch on my 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe won't stay up.

Pull or push on the link that connects to the latch.

open the hatch,, get a 2x4 or something that will hold the weight of the hatch up, prop it in place against the floor and the hatch itself, so its solid and won't come off under pressure so once you remove the strut it doesn't come crashing down on you, they have a bunch of different ends on them, when you buy the replacements make sure the end caps are the same, some are held in place by a nut with a bolt that attaches to a bracket on the opposite side , and some have screws at each end that go right into the sheet metal of the car . with the hatch open,, you should have very little play left in the strut itself,, but still use care in the removal of the first side of it,, you may have to push it in a little to get it to release, again, this depends on the mounting harware that your vehicle has for attachments. don't think that replacing one side at a time will hold the hatch open,, use the board or broomstick if you have to,, to support the door

I'd love to know how this turned out as have the same problem with 2009 Santa Fe now.
Broken rear window has been removed but cant open the hatch.
I have removed the internal liner and all the lever rods are attached. A bit of glass inside the door and I have tried banging on the door to unblock it. Squirted CRC in the area and will leave until daylight and have another go.

Hi

Open rear hatch,
locate 3 philips screws on the right side of lamp,
note that the lamp assembly is held into the fender side by a plastic tab( hidden ). You have to stand at the rear fender side, facing the lamp and pull the lamp toward you carefully.

Thanks for using FixYa.
- Steve

Made a video of me replacing the brake light but I show how to remove and install the tail light assembly. It's on a 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe but should be the same as a 2004.

The interior rear hatch panel has to be removed to access the latch ot open the hatch. Repair can be done after that.

The interior panel on the rear hatch needs to be removed to access the latch mechanism and open the door. Then it can be inspected to determine the cause/problem and repaired at that time.

you don't. take it into a Hyndai Dealership and have the handle repaired/replaced. The rear hatch panel/cover has to be removed (from inside the vehicle) to access the hatch latch and open the door.. from that point the handle can be replaced/repaired.

Typically spring is the failed part. Unfortunately if the WD-40 doesn't work then need to order or find replacement at a junk yard. There are 2 bolts that secure the hatch handle to the door but you'll need to remove the interior trim panel to get to it. Also the 2 screws/bolts that secure the hatch handle to the door can be fragile as well and may break-off - so unscrew with extreme caution. There is a a "Rube Goldberg" kind of set-up to get this whole mechanism to actually work. The wire-hanger type of metal that appears to link to the actual latch area can easily be popped off the 1-side of the hatch handle once you are able to remove the hatch handle from the door (after the 2 bolts are removed).

Open the back hatch and in the well of the hatch you'll see two big screw that hold the black trim that holds all the lights on the rear right side and the same for the left. Once you take of the whole console (it's a little tricky you'll have to pivot it like opening a car door for it to come off) inside back you'll see all the light socket pushed into the console. Turn and pull out for each socket and then you'll see each light bulb. from there just replace the bulb.