2007 ML63 - Power Tailgate Not Closing

[E55BOF]

According to 7Zap, which I use as a parts checklist, all the part numbers on the car when I got it are correct for the car, but some or all are quite possibly not the ones it came out of the factory with.

The rear SAM has been replaced, and everything works except the tailgate closing, so it seems likely the rear SAM has been coded correctly. The REDC (Rear Door Closing Module) has been replaced, but the car still has a problem with tailgate closing.

I don't know whether the REDC on the car when I got it was replaced before the SAM. Does the REDC need to be coded to the car/rear SAM? I don't know. If it was replaced first, does it need to be coded again, to the replacement SAM? Again, I don't know.

I replace the REDC, but do nothing else, but the tailgate problem is unchanged. However, the datastream values are different from those from the REDC on the car when I got it, which was not the one it came out of the factory with.

I think it is probably a coding issue. If the REDC needs to be coded to the car/rear SAM, change 'probably' to 'almost certainly'.

Thoughts, anyone?

 

[E55BOF]

Found the info relating to a 2009 ML550, and yes, the REDC does need to be coded to the SAM.

 

[E55BOF]

Sorted.

The brand new pump was actually faulty - an extra ball bearing ball in a cut off valve passage - but stripping and reassembling it properly solved the problem. Much cheaper than a new pump from MB (£1100)...

The second-hand replacement SAM fitted was also faulty - a bit of corrosion on the circuit board, but stripping and cleaning it up, and remaking a couple of connections, sorted that too.

The replacement tailgate support struts, which are very strong - not quite Tower Bridge, but much more so than those on the black one - actually overwhelmed the closing on the new pump on first use, when everything had been baking in the sun all day, and it wasn't quite strong enough to overcome them. I'll swap them over with those on the black one, and whoever buys that car can develop their upper body strength a bit...

Terry's best guess on the original fault is a problem with the soft close feature, but can't be sure. Throwing parts at it just made it worse after that...

Doesn't matter now, anyway; it's fixed. Woo Hoo!

(It turns out the exhaust has been modded, too; nothing too radical, back boxes still original, but noticeably a bit less of a stealth AMG than the standard car, but not even slightly antisocially so. I've no idea what's been done, but there's no drone, just a little more sound in the cruise, and rather meatier at idle and when the red mist comes down...).

 

[ToeKnee]

Ref tailgate struts, could you fit one new one and one old to assist the lifting? I appreciate they will probably be different strengths but wouldn't thought it would harm a metal tailgate?

 

[E55BOF]

The hydraulic setup struggled to close it, so the struts are too strong. The ones on the old car are less so, but still strong enough to hold the tailgate up.