2001 v70 t5 "tailgate open" message, can't lock tailgate

[jruberto]

Have scoured the other related posts and I suspect the microswitch in the latch.

The facts:

- Tailgate will not lock, with remote or door button.
- Getting "Tailgate Open" message (now almost always, was intermittent)
- Rear courtesy light does not illuminate when tailgate opens (checked with multimeter, no current)
- Visual inspection of wire bundle in top left tailgate hinge does not show any worn or broken wires.
- Fuse 6 in the cargo area (Opening tailgate, Unlocking tailgate 10A) was blown, is now replaced. Upon replacing it, tailgate actually locked a couple times. Stopped working after a couple successful lockings, and fuse is currently not blown.
- Locking with remote appears to arm alarm system ** tho opening tailgate which never locked itself does not trigger alarm.
- At one point, opening tailgate did set off alarm (correlated with no "tailgate open" message), and I also have had alarm go off for no reason a couple times. Have resorted to leaving car unlocked lest my neighbors get too annoyed with me.

** blinking light on dashboard, but normal flash of exterior lights at arming only happens intermittently

Questions:
- When locking / unlocking the car I hear lots of relay activity in the cargo electrical panel but hear nothing when pressing tailgate button on remote. Is there a chance a relay has burned out? Is there documentation on what each of those relays do?
- If there is a "tailgate open" message, I assume there is logic somewhere that prevents lock/unlock. True?
- Is there a way to shoot the microswitch with contact cleaner or wd40 without disassembling the door? Is it safe / reasonable / a completely bad idea to just shoot the whole mechanism through the couple of access points? I really suspect that the sensor switch is just gunky and needs to be cleaned.

Thanking you so much in advance. ~j

[jruberto]

still no solution, but further info:

current status:
- tailgate still won't lock
- 90% of the time i don't get a "tailgate open" message anymore
- (same) 90% of the time i'm able to properly arm the alarm system (complete with flash of external lights)
- thankfully, alarm has not gone off for no reason like it was doing
- removed the panels & inspected the wire bundle all the way from the latch until it disappears into the headliner, seems okay.
- at one point i had it so that i could see the "tailgate open" message going on and off when i had the tailgate open about halfway & i moved it slightly (is that sensor an electrical/magnetic switch or is it some kind of mercury switch? weird.)
- (new!) rear windshield wiper is blowing fuse (has happened twice)

i know the last 2 items point more toward a short somewhere, but i'm not so sure. while i had the back interior panels off, i ran the windshield wiper while wiggling the wire bundle at a bunch of different places and could not cause the wiper to stop or short or anything like that, nor could i cause the "tailgate open" message to change by wiggling wire bundle.

i'm likely to just have the latch replaced next time i'm in for service, tho i could sure spend that couple hundred on some other stuff.

cheers, j

[jda2000]

check the wire bundle at the hinge of the tailgate. Common failure in these wagons after a few years of use.

[Dell+]

I had an itermittent tailgate open light. I began by removing/inspecting the latch and cleaning the microswitch. No help. I also had to replace two tail light bulbs the next week. I then got a "check brake light" and thought I better check the wire bundle at the left hinge. (Remove interior trim panels as needed to undo connection located above rear speaker). Upon visual inspection, it looked fine. I removed the braided cover and electrical tape, pulled the cover down and found 5 of the 11 wires cut! The hinge somehow wedged the wiring in between the hinge and body of car and cut some, others had insulation missing and were likely the reason for intermittent shorts/warning lights.

I repaired the wires, taped everything up and pulled the cover back over wiring, and everything works, no tailgate message and my tailgate wiper works again with a new fuse. Over time and thousands of tailgate shuts, do yourself a favor and check this wiring. I almost bought a new $170 latch and $85 used wiper motor! Instead I fixed it for free. One tech told me that it was "definitely the latch". He was wrong.

[TRuck]

hmph....thanks for this...my tailgate light has been on for over a year now...it shuts but rattles a bit and locks....haven't gotten around to tracking down the problem...will try this...thanks