Rear hatch lock doing strange things

New to the he forum hoping I'm in the right place. I'm hoping somebody can give me a hand. I have a 2006 V6 and the rear hatch is playing with me. It won't unlock so I go up, pull the 10 volt ECM fuse out, give it 10 seconds, plug it back in, and then it will unlock. However it has now started relocking itself where I can't lift it in a few seconds. When I have the tailgate open it sometimes makes a sound like it's relocking itself but I can close it and hear it pull itself down. I can pull on the lever and it will come unlocked again. It has now started to make a second sound after it has been closed for 30 seconds or so and it's stuck again. Hoping it's not the ECM and maybe just the latch assembly. Has anyone here run into this problem before or heard of anybody with this particular problem. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Mine did this for a bit then just completely stopped latching all together. Mine was the motor seizing. I replaced the motor and it's works fine now. This is apparently a common issue.

 

Hey there couple of questions; is there a handy video or link that will show me how to do this repair? I'm getting kind of frustrated wading through almost but not quite the right videos on youtube.. and also- is it possible to replace the motorized latch all together with a manual one? That would be my favorite thing! I have a 4th gen. Thanks!

 

I don't know if there is a YouTube video.I went in with the idea that it couldn't get worse and just took it slow. It is really just a few bolts and a plug. The latch comes in a white box that is bolted to the rear hatch. Super easy.

Not sure about a manual latch. I would look into if the rear window is tied into the wiring harness for the latch before going that route.