I am way past that point my brother..... i need to physically get that clasp off the lock bar.... not sure how to get it to let loose.... gotta be done by hand somehow

That lever under the little plastic cover is a straight mechanical shot to the latch. It's either jammed or rusted in place but being in FL you wouldn't think it's rusted. Does it move at all? If it will move I'd crawl inside and push on the door while moving the lever. If not you may need to pull the inside cover off to spray penetrant on the latch mechanism. You may be able to get to the U-bolt piece the latch locks onto from underneath but I it's kinda up in there but may be easy to get to with the bumper cover off.

I took the motor off to see better and both levers move but dont release the grip on clasp cnt even see the clasp.... The small lever has released lock for over a yr now it doesnt do anything. I gotta get that thing to let go the clasp to get it out put nrw one in. Been fkin w it for an hr cant get it open for my life hammer pliers moving springs nothong works... Its stuck on the lock clasp. Levers are moving garbage and do nothong

Not sure if this is helpful or not...
There is a small metal tab (part of the lach mech) that needs to slide, side to side, mine was full of mud and it made it stick and not slide.

Its is on the back side of the latch. (passenger side)
Pics would be looking from the rear, as if you are outside looking at the tailgate.

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Not sure if this will help...... try spraying generous amount of WD40 into latch area. Had trouble with mine latching in only freezing temps. Spraying wd40 in there and exercising a few timing, no problems in 5 years now.
Hope this helps vs throwing expensive parts at it.

3 time over the span of 4 years the latch got messed up again.. it locks, and then double locks and then wont open and needs to be released through the levers in the access door.. Lets see if I can revive it a 3rd time. lol

I had mine freeze in the closed position while the tailgate is open. I happened to be near my local body shop and needed to paint the hatch anyway. So I had him repair it. He said it was a problem with the switch and that he replaced it. He did also adjust the latch because it wasn't closing tight. Did you check the switch?

To me, this is the single worst part on my 4th gen. It's acted up an average of once a month since I had it. This past weekend it finally bit the dust. I opened it and as I was raising the hatch I could hear the motor run a second time. When I closed it it only went halfway closed. And it wouldn't open. Even with the manual release lever it wouldn't open. Ended up that I could unhook the battery, initialize everything, work the door locks several times and then it would work 1 time. I ordered an aftermarket unit on Amazon for $80. (Thankfully they are fairly cheap now). Installed it yesterday and it is working perfectly for the time being. If someone would design a manual latch to replace this defective system I'd pay good money for it. This is the only thing on my runner that I can say I truly despise. I love the vehicle and everything about it, except this.

I ended up fixing it again, pull the ECU B fuse for 20 min or so.. wd40 the hell out of the latch, and manually move a few times with levers.. re insert fuse, key on engine off

unlock and lock doors 5 times, Drivers window up and down 3 times, tailgate window up and down 3 times, Shut tailgate door