Lift gate will not open??

[dwaters]

G'day all, after a recent run along the beach, I came home to find I could not open my rear lift gate.

I can hear the solenoid driving but there is no clicking of the latch.

Has anyone had this problem that may be able to help out??

I have had a quick look and it seems rather hard to access the internals when you can't even open the door.........Also tried pressing the lock/unlock buttons together with out any luck.

Thanks in advance!

[~Rich~]

Search is your friend!
Heaps of posts on this already including fixes.
I have had this happen twice and have applied the fix so it won't be happening again!

[dwaters]

Cheers Rich, I did try a quick search but only found the rear tail gate problems, not the lift gate.

Can you post some links please mate?

Cheers Darren.

[~Rich~]

Ah, the top tailgate won't open but the problem is actually in the lower tailgate!

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/101292-manual-tailgate-release-d3-2.html#post1493955

[dwaters]

WTF???

Cheers Rich, I did see that link you posted mate with pic's, but how the hell do you access inside??

Cheers Darren.

[~Rich~]

You need to lever the carpet trim off the lower tailgate(I used bike tyre levers for this), you will only be able to lever the upper part of the trim enough to get your hand in, then you need to take off the grey foam to access the solenoid opening.
Be prepared for some skinned knucles!
You now need to push back the plastic cover of the solenoid and somehow get your hand behind it to grab the end of the cable(this bit is abit tricky) when you have the cable use long nose pliers to pull the cable and release the upper tailgate. You now have to disconnect the two cables from the lower tailgate and take off the remaining trim, this will give you clear access to the solenoid and you can fit the new latch and cable. It sounds complicated but it's quite easy.
Good luck!!

[dwaters]

G'Day Rich, it is all sorted thanks to you mate!!


There was only a tiny amount of blood and swearing as well!!

I ended up using 2 tunnel connectors and a piece of coat hanger wire which I bent into a hook.
I then crimped a lug on the end of the wire so there is no chance of it pulling through.


I have attached a couple of pics FYI.

Thanks again mate for the quick reply and great information!!

Cheers Darren:D

[discotwinturbo]

Is this happening to anyone in a D4 ?
If so, I might need to do some preventative maintenance by fixing now.....otherwise the dog would expire in the back on a warm day if it snapped.

Brett.....

[dwaters]

Haha, classic Brett. I just let my dog out, after a run down the beach (lucky dog).
It was about five minutes later when I went to open it again, before it broke........ Maybe I should blame the dog...........??

Looks like Rich is onto a winner though. It is all soughted now.

Sorry, but I have no idea on the D4 arrangement, but I can only assume it will be the same.
Sounds like it could be a night mare if you have roller draw's.

Darren.