XC70: Body Rear tailgate will not open

[pierremcalpine]

No need to replace the external handle is my thinking. I WOULD replace the entire lock mech though. Symptoms sounds same as mine. Can you confirm that you still get a sound like it might just open but doesn't? That's what I had. Don't bother trying to take the door lock mech apart...I tried that - just a bunch of devilry in there that is all but inaccessible. I'm assuming you've got the power tailgate, right?

AS for the earth wire, I can confirm first hand that this was an issue for the P2 series V70 but I do not think it's an issue with P3.

Nice job only breaking one plastic fastener! gotta love working on the car in sub-zero temp! My brother in law broke the door handle on my V40 over xmas and of course it was -15C at the time. Great!

[GrantA]

Originally Posted by pierremcalpine

No need to replace the external handle is my thinking. I WOULD replace the entire lock mech though. Symptoms sounds same as mine. Can you confirm that you still get a sound like it might just open but doesn't? That's what I had. Don't bother trying to take the door lock mech apart...I tried that - just a bunch of devilry in there that is all but inaccessible. I'm assuming you've got the power tailgate, right?

AS for the earth wire, I can confirm first hand that this was an issue for the P2 series V70 but I do not think it's an issue with P3.

Nice job only breaking one plastic fastener! gotta love working on the car in sub-zero temp! My brother in law broke the door handle on my V40 over xmas and of course it was -15C at the time. Great!

Thanks for that Pierre, yes power tailgate and I still get the noise like the lock is trying to unlatch but that is as far as it goes. I took off the external handle, cleaned it up and removed some/most of the rust from the metal rod and I can now open the tailgate every time by operating the handle. I have to pull the tailgate up a few inches and the motor takes over and opens it fully. By pressing the close button it closes every time. I don't think there is an earth problem as everything works, heated rear screen, rear wiper, number plate lights etc.

My next move is to visit our local Volvo Independent garage here tomorrow, great bloke, very experienced on Volvos and he does my servicing and I expect he will confirm it is the lock as you suggest - can't see what else it can be. At least he has a nice warm garage to work in and should be able to diagnose the fault with his VIDA or whatever he uses.

[pierremcalpine]

Good luck. Keep us posted. Not sure what is wrong with these locks but they do appear to fail regularity. Maybe the same Volvo co-op student who designed the front windscreen sealing also designed the lock mech!

[V70Zig]

Originally Posted by GrantA

Thanks for that Pierre, yes power tailgate and I still get the noise like the lock is trying to unlatch but that is as far as it goes. I took off the external handle, cleaned it up and removed some/most of the rust from the metal rod and I can now open the tailgate every time by operating the handle. I have to pull the tailgate up a few inches and the motor takes over and opens it fully. By pressing the close button it closes every time. I don't think there is an earth problem as everything works, heated rear screen, rear wiper, number plate lights etc.

My next move is to visit our local Volvo Independent garage here tomorrow, great bloke, very experienced on Volvos and he does my servicing and I expect he will confirm it is the lock as you suggest - can't see what else it can be. At least he has a nice warm garage to work in and should be able to diagnose the fault with his VIDA or whatever he uses.

Might be worth checking the tailgate buffers...shown here...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zsWRSEnxaA....from about 30 seconds in....and fitting them towards the end of the video.
For £25 and a few pence (form my main dealer !!!). I fitted these last week as I had the same as shown in the video.....all good so far....only time will tell.......

[GrantA]

Originally Posted by V70Zig

Might be worth checking the tailgate buffers...shown here...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zsWRSEnxaA....from about 30 seconds in....and fitting them towards the end of the video.
For £25 and a few pence (form my main dealer !!!). I fitted these last week as I had the same as shown in the video.....all good so far....only time will tell.......

Thanks for that I was thinking along the same lines, I'll check the ones that are fitted and if they look dodgy I will fit new buffers.

Latest update....... My local Volvo Independent does not have VIDA and has to call in an auto-electrician to diagnose these types of problems at £65 an hour. So, being a mean old skinflint, I decided to try and diagnose the fault myself with my own VIDA Dice that I bought a couple of years ago and only used once or twice. Switched on the old laptop and nothing.... VIDA refused to work, I tried to reload the programme (VIDA 2014A) and each time it got to the point when the on-screen message said "vida not ok". I had an older version, VIDA 2012A, so I tried to load that and the same answer came up "vida not okay".

So I have spent the last couple of days searching the Internet for an answer as to why my VIDA programme will not boot up and despite several attempts and even reloading WIN 7 Pro onto my laptop it still refuses to play ball. I have a mate who is a bit of a computer nerd who is coming round this weekend to help me out but I fear I'll just have to bite the bullet and stump up £65 for a diagnosis to confirm what Pierre and I believe and that is the tailgate lock is fried.

[Croft]

I have a 2008 V70 that has a troublesome tailgate latch. All great until a day out last summer when the tailgate would not open at all. Button on dash and remote caused a slight in the latch. Outside handle would not do anything, but I had noticed that it had less resistance in the few weeks before. I managed to get interior panel off from inside, but it is a waste of time. You do not get access to open or remove the lock. Eventually, by chance it opened.

Normally the exterior handle mechanically operates the lock, but it felt like internal mechanism was not returning to 'normal' therefore handle had nothing to push on. There are clearly a electric microswitches in the lock that tell the car if the tailgate is open/closed, ok to operate power lift etc.

Since then it has operated sporadically. My method when it is being difficult is to use a rapid 'flick' type motion on the exterior handle. This always works, but I am having to resort to this more and more often. So a new latch is on order. Straightforward to change, when you have access to an open tailgate.

[stimperley]

When ours (powered tailgate) has done this I have found it is due to the handle on the tailgate sticking. They seem to be prone to collecting water and grime. So far just liberal spraying of oil or liquid grease into the ends of the handle with accompanying movement to work it in has been enough to get it operating again on the fob button.

[Croft]

When I did get the panel off back in the summer I was able to disconnect the Bowden cable that connects the handle to the lock. Even with 'extended' operation it failed to operate.

This leads me to think that the various moving components inside the lock have become sticky over time. If you could dismantle the lock, it might be possible to clean and relubricate the internals. Sadly, looking around on the forum, this seems not possible.

I know that spraying WD40 is likely to work in the short term, but the oils evaporate off very quickly leaving the matter worse. When the old one is off and the matter is not so pressing I will see what adventures await in dismantling.

[apersson850]

The additional earth wire I connected to the ground side (right side in my car) of the electric rear window heating. There's a 1/4" flat connector, which is simple to use, if you remove the original plug, connect the new earth wire with one of those plugs that has an extra lug for another plug on it, and then reconnect the window heating ground to that lug.
The other end of the earth wire I took all the way down to the bottom of the luggage compartment, beside where the spare wheel is stowed. There are threaded earth studs you can use.

Generally, the wire problem in general and the earth wire problem in particular seems to be rooted at the connector at the rear end of the roof. The wires from inside the car are there connected to the wiring system in the tail gate. As the tail gate in this generation is plastic, all ground current must pass through the connector, and it seems not to be fully up to that task. Burnt out pins in the connector are rather common.

[pierremcalpine]

Originally Posted by GrantA

So I have spent the last couple of days searching the Internet for an answer as to why my VIDA programme will not boot up and despite several attempts and even reloading WIN 7 Pro onto my laptop it still refuses to play ball. I have a mate who is a bit of a computer nerd who is coming round this weekend to help me out but I fear I'll just have to bite the bullet and stump up £65 for a diagnosis to confirm what Pierre and I believe and that is the tailgate lock is fried.

You need to update your VIDA with the patch referenced in the thread below.
https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=276859