Thread: Can't open rear door - tailgate door

I have had this problem before So I gave the outside of the door a good flushing out with a garden hose between the edges of the door and the body of the truck and heaps of dust washed out especially at the bottom of the door.
After this I pushed against the door quite hard and operated the latch to open it.

Originally Posted by trout1105

I have had this problem before So I gave the outside of the door a good flushing out with a garden hose between the edges of the door and the body of the truck and heaps of dust washed out especially at the bottom of the door.
After this I pushed against the door quite hard and operated the latch to open it.

When I washed the car the other day I got a HEAP of dust washed out so dust in the door surrounds wasn't the problem.
I took your "quite hard" push a step further. A few HEFTY blows from a dead blow hammer and viola it's open. I think the problem is that there's about a pound of red dirt (which is now hard set mud after water got in there when I washed the car) around the locking mechanism which prevents it from latching properly unless the door is SLAMMED shut. When it stops raining I'll take the locking mechanism out give it a good de-mudding and clean. The bottom of the door cavity is about half full of red dirt too so I'll get rid of that while I'm at it.

Thanks heaps for the advice. The really telling words are "quite hard"...

Raining? Please send some to Qld.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Raining? Please send some to Qld.

You can have it. You can have the 12 degree temp too. Just come and get it. :-)

Originally Posted by Markf

When I washed the car the other day I got a HEAP of dust washed out so dust in the door surrounds wasn't the problem.
I took your "quite hard" push a step further. A few HEFTY blows from a dead blow hammer and viola it's open.

There's still a little issue though.

If I try to open the door while it is locked I have to go through the dead blow hammer routine again to get it open after making sure that it's in fact unlocked. I'll get to that when I can get the three torx bolts undone - they seem to have been tightened by a gorilla on steroids wielding an impact driver.
Before I tackle it I'll wait til the weather cheers, I have another Torx bit and a handful of those horrible trim clips. At least if the door's unlocked it works for now.

The outside handle on the rear door gets gunked up and needs some TLC occasionally as well

Lean into door with shoulder, scrum style. Push door, pull handle.

Buy a new mechanism from the UK. Then in another 5 or 10 years when it sticks - repeat. Once it starts sticking, lube only prolongs the inevitable. Murphy's law being what it is - your rear door will not open at the most innoportune moment. Like when you are in the back showing your wife how you fixed the door lock much more cheaply than buying a new one. Except now you're locked in the back between the cargo barrier and a busted door. And your wife is laughing so hard it takes her 20 minutes to pass you through a spanner so you can take the cargo barrier down from the inside. Hypothetically speaking of course.....