V70: Electrical Tailgate opening problem

[5062mike]

Have a 2009 V70 estate. Normally there are no problems and the tailgate locks/unlocks quite normally. However twice in the last month or so I have found that it opened by itself when parked outside my house. Anyone had this problem or have any suggestions?

[Tatsfield]

Could this be inadvertent operation of the tailgate opening button on the key? If you inadvertently operate the locking button and do not enter the car within a specified period, factory default is 30 seconds, the car re-locks itself and you would be none the wiser that the key had been operated, but once the tailgate is open it cannot re-close itself automatically.

[5062mike]

Originally Posted by Tatsfield

Could this be inadvertent operation of the tailgate opening button on the key? If you inadvertently operate the locking button and do not enter the car within a specified period, factory default is 30 seconds, the car re-locks itself and you would be none the wiser that the key had been operated, but once the tailgate is open it cannot re-close itself automatically.

Thanks. Have just experimented with the remote key as hadn't realised it work at such a distance 20m+ That is a nuisance! Is there any way of disabling the function on the remote key that you know of? Can quite happily live wit the other methods of opening it.

[Tatsfield]

I suspect that there is a lead in the tailgate that you can disconnect to eliminate the remote opening but it might also stop the dash button working. My only experience is fitting the Russian tailgate remote close mod which utilises these leads but it wasn't a success on my car and I have yet to investigate whether it is my fault or a failing in the mod. Can anyone say if there is an ability in VIDA to disable the remote tailgate?

[Mr R Design]

Originally Posted by 5062mike

Thanks. Have just experimented with the remote key as hadn't realised it work at such a distance 20m+ That is a nuisance! Is there any way of disabling the function on the remote key that you know of? Can quite happily live wit the other methods of opening it.

If you think the distance is good that it works at as standard stand even further away than normal, press the fob against your skull and then press the tailgate open button.

Your yead acts as a magnifier and it will work from even further away.

[Tatsfield]

Jeremy Clarkson demonstrated that on Top Gear long ago but he did say that he couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't fry your brains! (I'm sure he was joking! I hope so!!)

[ThomasG]

Of course it wouldn't fry any brains..
Just look at Jeremy- same before and after..

Nothing fried, then..

[apersson850]

Hahaha. The skull, or rather the water in your body, acts as a ground plane. Every antenna needs one. In the traditional car aerial, you use the sheet metal in the car as the ground plane and the rod is the aerial. The ground plane also have a directional effect. If you mount a conventional aerial at the center of the car roof, you'll get about the same sensitivity all around the horizon. If you instead mount if at the rear left side of the car, you'll get best sensitivity across the car body, so aiming your car's right front corner towards the transmitter is then your best choice.

This is also the reason for why antennas painted on the windows in general have inferior sensitivity. They typically have a less well defined ground plane.

[Simon Jones]

Originally Posted by 5062mike

Thanks. Have just experimented with the remote key as hadn't realised it work at such a distance 20m+ That is a nuisance! Is there any way of disabling the function on the remote key that you know of? Can quite happily live wit the other methods of opening it.

Surely the simplest solution is not to fiddle with the remote when you're in the house .

[pierremcalpine]

If you pop off the left hand side panel in the trunk you will see that the power operated tailgate has an antenna plugged into It. I think that if you unplug the antenna you may be able to disable.