XC70: Body Rear tailgate will not open

[Kastellos]

Thanks. Mine looked well lubricated when we got it open. What worries me is the lack of a diagnosis.
There seems to be a lack of information of how to handle this fault when the tailgate is solidly shut in the forum.
Have not got a new lock yet but it looks expensive.

[apersson850]

Quite common is an earth wire breakage to the tail gate. You can try that out by checking if the rear wiper works. As the tail gate is plastic, everything in it has to have a separate earth wire.

Mine malfunctioned erratically too. I solved it by putting in another ground cable, parallel to the standard one, just in case. Never any problem since that.

[Kastellos]

It turned out that the lock was mechanically defective - PierreMcAlpine spot on.
Obtained a new lock from Volvo agent.
The part number has changed. The original was as above. The agent said this part number does not exist! We searched and it appears it as been replaced by 31276958 although there was no confirmatory change recorded.
Unfortunately it comes with the solenoid attached so it is very expensive. You cannot obtain the lock alone.
Slightly different design but the fixing points the same. Electrical plugs the same (but one or two more pins for additional electronics on the newer versions). Mechanical cable fixes to the tailgate handle like a bicycle brake cable. Leave the screws in place with the white plastic cogs on the solenoid but unscrew 2 or 3 turns and then slip into slots and do up tightly.
As soon as it was in place we could open the latch from the tailgate external handle indicating the old lock was defective mechanically.
Once we had the trim back in place all worked perfectly.
I have not discussed with Volvo but it does appear that the only way to open the tailgate in this situation is to get at the lock from the interior and break into it to turn the latch. There is no catch on the exterior of the lock when the internal mechanism is defective.
Very bad engineering and far too much electronics involved.
Good luck to anyone else with this problem.

[TheRapidRooster]

Hi Kastellos. What do you mean by expensive ? - please give us a clue so that we can arrange an overdraft or alternatively a deal to scrap it.

[pierremcalpine]

$400CAD out here in Toronto, Canada. I took my defective one apart just out of curiosity...a crazy amount of circuitry and mechanical wizardry just to get a door open. Nuts.

[TheRapidRooster]

Originally Posted by pierremcalpine

$400CAD out here in Toronto, Canada. I took my defective one apart just out of curiosity...a crazy amount of circuitry and mechanical wizardry just to get a door open. Nuts.

The whole of the motorcar industry has been going that way for many years with one or two manufacturers heading the field at a very very rapid rate of knots.
Making the once simplistic parts so complicated that the owners get a head-ache just contemplating doing a bit of self maintenance/repairs.


The use of computer diagnostics and special tools is one of the only ways that they can keep their workshops employed during the warranty periods.

There is a great-deal to be said for the Volvo,BMW,Mercedes,Audi and other premium brands having the little man that has set himself up as a 'Specialist'
and or 'Approved' workshop.
Without them the car breakers would surely be overwhelmed with expensive white elephants on wheels.

[Croft]

My 2008 V70 tailgate refused to open today. Dashboard button, remote and physical handle failed to open the tailgate. The lock mechanism made noises and clicks but no physical release.

Using the guidance elsewhere I managed to remove the interior trim from the hatch, had to break the two corners in the process. Frustrating that there is no mechanical emergency release and so investigated how to remove the lock. Drilled out the fibreglass panel to undo the cross head screws which allowed me to loosen the lock mechanism in the holder, but that is as far as progress went. It did allow closer observation of the steel cable that runs off to a unit on the left, not sure what it does but pressing all buttons made no difference to the tension.

Decided to screw the mechanism back in the holder and leave it for until the morning, and hey! It worked with no issues!

Anyone have a suggestion as to what is going on? Does this mean that I need to be looking for a replacement tailgate lock, and if so what sort of cost?

Help appreciated.

[Model flyer]

At least Volvo have an manual emergency fuel cap release tucked away behind the inner cover .Unlike the Jaguar I recently moved to . One week in and the fuel cap refused to open ;not usually a problem as I don't let the car get too low on fuel but this time I had been on a longish journey was LOW on fuel and had a long queue behind me at the fuel station! £300 + later and a new fuel flap module fitted thankfully under warranty and its all fine .

Agree all the simple things are far too complicated . The designers must I think qualify in over complicated engineering to get a job.

[apersson850]

The most common causes for the tailgate not to open is malfunctioning lock or cable problem where the cables run from the rear part of the roof into the tailgate.
When I had the problem usually nothing else worked either in the tailgate. No wiper, no light, no rear window heating. I installed a separate ground wire from the tailgate to the car floor. No problems ever since.

The fuel cap emergency opening was added after a while. Early MY 2008 don't have it.

[GrantA]

Well it has happened to me......... first the tailgate would not work on the key fob or the button on the dash and eventually (after a few days) I couldn't open the tailgate from the lever on the tailgate. The temperature outside is -2C at the moment so not conducive to working outside and my garage is full of "stuff". Anyway, I eventually got the tailgate to open and, following this video from "Volvosweden" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fckJNMK6PwY I managed to remove the trim on the tailgate (only broke one clip in the freezing weather) and I have removed the external handle that operates the tailgate.

Having got this far I am now at a bit of a loss of what to do next, do I just clean it all up and put it back together like "Croft" did and hope for the best or do I buy a new lock. The cable that was mentioned (that looks like a bicycle brake connection) is actually pushed in to operate so the cable hasn't stretched and now that it is disconnected I can push it in by lying in the boot and the tailgate lock releases - the tailgate doesn't open as the small micro switch inside the handle has been removed with the handle so the electric opening does not kick-in.

The rear wiper, numberplate lights etc all work as normal so I don't thing it is an earth problem however if "apersson850" is reading this can you let me know where you fitted the additional earth lead - I just want to cover all bases.

So do I take the lock itself off, clean everything up and put it back and hope for the best or do I buy a new lock and external handle and fit it all back together???? - any advice gratefully received. I can only work outside for about an hour at a time before bits and pieces start to freeze and I get a headache - rather like eating ice cream too fast, then it gets dark quite quickly up here in the frozen north - lives a bitch then the tailgate stops working..........