Quote:
Originally Posted by Croft
Hi - resorted to buying a new latch from local Volvo dealer. Did consider the offerings from the auction sites, but in looking at the photos decided to splash out on a new one for just under £250.
Fitted it, all works well. Decided to have a look in the old one. This cannot be dismantled without damage to the case as it has been pressed into the metal assembly. The plastic case had become brittle with age too. Besides, it is a very complicated component for what essentially a simple task.
The likely cause of my issues and intermittent operation seems to be a broken rubber bushing that was fowling the actuator, preventing full movement. This in turn then puts the mechanism out of sync with all the microswitches.
I have highlighted the troublesome part below. My advice, replace the lock!
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Old thread I know, but my tailgate stopped working after I managed to shut it down over a dustsheet. Luckily I could still open it manually, and with some adjustment to the stops as per the video it would sometimes work. I replaced the stops, but no difference.
In the interest of science, I put a 1 1/2 inch square of sponge in the rear panel recess where the catch is: it opened every time. With boot open, if I closed the tailgate latch with a screwdriver and then fired the unlock button on the remote, it would instantly release to the fully open position. However, the faulty operation of the tailgate is just as per video: almost seems to catch around the centre, twisting the whole tailgate a bit before pulling itself closed.
Anyway, the net net is that I dropped the whole release mechanism with the idea of trying to dismantle it. After much fiddling and concluding (as above) there was no way to get in there, by chance a little bit of rubber boot fell out. I imagine it might be the bit mentioned by Croft. It had a couple of chew-marks in it as well. As a shot to nothing, I put the mech back in the car and have cycled the tailgate about twenty times over the last few hours and it's been fine: no hint of catching at all. I can only think that the mech fighting the dustsheet had overloaded the rubber boot and split it. The tailgate had been perfect before the dustsheet incident.
I think Croft is spot on: if the micro-switches don't 'see' that the tailgate has cleared the car quickly enough it blocks the release catch whilst the lift motor is still running.
I suspect that most of these tailgate mechs that are going in the bin would be quite savable if only you could get in there for a fiddle.
Nevertheless, if you don't fancy spending £250+, it might be worth removing it and giving it a good shake about just on the off-chance a similar thing has happened. If it goes wrong again, I'll go in with the Dremel and try some surgery on a nothing-to-lose basis. Also, whilst it was out, I did photograph the part-number sticker for future (eBay) reference on basis a used one is about £40 and therefore sacrificial in terms of open heart surgery.