Thread: Tailgate actuator fix or replace and rear access draw WARNING.

Recently opening my D4 tailgate became unreliable. After reading previous posts I decided to purchase and replace the failing actuator.
Luckily I could open the tailgate to access the lower gate and 'easily' access the actuator. However I have two rear storage draws installed and realized that if the actuator failed completely accessing the lower tailgate (via the back of the vehicle) would have been impossible without destroying the draws and turning them into firewood.
Even if the new actuator was installed (which it wasn't - more later) I also installed a manual pull wire directly from the tailgate latch to the outside of the vehicle behind the number plate. This pull wire is now easily accessible by removing the number plate and will open the tailgate should the actuator or actuator cable fail or brake. The only con for this pull wire installation is you have to remove the tailgate speaker - no big deal really.
With a new actuator at hand I decided to investigate why my actuator was failing. After carefully splitting open the actuator casing I noticed it consisted of a small 12V DC motor which connects via a plastic cog to a worm drive which pulls (winds) two joined plastic rods down. Surrounding the two plastic rods is a return spring which pushes the rods back along the worm drive to their full extended position ready for the next retraction/tailgate opening.
With 12V DC applied the motor turned freely. The plastic rods (which connect to the original pull wire) retracted reliably. Once the power was released the spring 'almost' returned the two rods to their extended position. After a few more switches I noticed the rods where extending less each time until the required retraction was insufficient. I then took off the return spring and physically stretched it (made it longer to apply more return 'push out' power). AMAZINGLY this worked and all further tests were significantly (sounded better than new) successful. I applied some grease used two Panduit straps to hold the split casing back together and connected all back into the tail gate. Now have a powerful reliable solid sound and the actuator hasn't missed a beat since reinstalling.
My conclusions.
1. If you have rear storage draws (or not excited by crawling through the back to access a failed actuator) install a secondary manual means of opening the tailgate.
2. Stretching the internal actuator return spring and a bit of grease may save the cost of a new actuator. A better solution would be to replace the spring with a stronger one as the OEM is under engineered and possibly made from poor quality spring steal.

Originally Posted by DieselLSE

Note that the failure can also be in the latch mechanism itself. That is, not related to the actuator or cable at all. In this instance, the claws do not fully open, thus still trapping the upper tailgate. Having an emergency cable that is attached directly to the latch claw lever will not necessarily fully open the claws. I'm still looking at a solution to this.

Throw a brick throw it and tell the insurance company they were stealing all the beer you had in the back. Hopefully they pay out on both