S204 POWER TAILGATE PROBLEM.

[bigdee1954]

Hi just replaced the battery on my s204 2009 , now the power tailgate failed and nearly knocked me for six, it goes up and down ok, but when up starts to come down, checked the struts and can hardly compress them? so i was thinking is there a brake in the motor, or the struts not strong enough, or both? checked out with my icarsoft scanner nothing shows up on the tailgate circuit, so its down to you gents if you can help, not going to the main steelers. cheers.

 

[CarFan79]

Is it possible to disconnect the connecting rod from the motor to the tailgate? Then you can see how it operates manually to test the struts?

 

[MrGreedy]

I replaced a 'dumb' gas strut on my Insignia tail gate to improve the 'assistance' for tailgate opening and closing. I thought I would try to see if I could compress it by hand before fitting. Could I heck! These things are strong!

 

[markjay]

In my experience it is rare for both struts to fail at the same time. If one failed, it should be easier to compress it than the other. And yes they are very hard to compress by hand. But if the fault occurrd when you replaced the battery... I would look for a different explanation. Perhaps the tailgate needs resetting (like the electric windows do).

 

[markjay]

Found this:

"How do you reset a Mercedes tailgate?

To reset it, while in the open position press and hold till it beeps again, this resets. Then close and reopen, it should open all the way"

This may or may not apply to your car though....

 

[markjay]

This might also help:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[bigdee1954]

Is it possible to disconnect the connecting rod from the motor to the tailgate? Then you can see how it operates manually to test the struts?

I will give it a try thanks.

 

[bigdee1954]

Found this:

"How do you reset a Mercedes tailgate?

To reset it, while in the open position press and hold till it beeps again, this resets. Then close and reopen, it should open all the way"

This may or may not apply to your car though....

Yes that's what i was thinking it used to clunk when at the top, but changing the battery, doesn't do it now?

 

[jasons]

Yes that's what i was thinking it used to clunk when at the top, but changing the battery, doesn't do it now?

mine does the clunk at the top ever since i've had it and i have replaced the battery but its still there,i thought they all did it but obviously not sounds like i have a problem.

 

[bigdee1954]

This might also help:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Many thanks Markjay.

 

[SpikyMikey]

mine does the clunk at the top ever since i've had it and i have replaced the battery but its still there,i thought they all did it but obviously not sounds like i have a problem.

mine too

 

[bigdee1954]

I will give it a try thanks.

hi carfan, i did disconnect the motor strut and the tailgate did stay up but didn't take much movement for it to decend, i read about resetting to factory settings with the key supposed to hold both buttons for 6 seconds and key flashes twice, but mine only flashes once? i can see me removing the headlining to look at the motor.

 

[bigdee1954]

mine too

Yes mine used to and i thought it may be a fault, but apparently it should do?

 

[CarFan79]

hi carfan, i did disconnect the motor strut and the tailgate did stay up but didn't take much movement for it to decend, i read about resetting to factory settings with the key supposed to hold both buttons for 6 seconds and key flashes twice, but mine only flashes once? i can see me removing the headlining to look at the motor.

With the motor disconnected I'd expect the tailgate to stay up and require a bit of effort to get it to start going down. Try the reset and see how it goes from there?

 

[bigdee1954]

Is it possible to disconnect the connecting rod from the motor to the tailgate? Then you can see how it operates manually to test the struts?

I ran the icarsoft scanner on the power tailgate and it checked out the opening pawl lock, motor clutch mechanisim, now it stays open, dosen't flag up any fault but the rear handle won't open the tailgate until its opening, so fit a second hand handle and guess what will not open the tailgate, i'm a bit stuck now . May look at the wiring where tailgate opens see if there's a damaged wire?