W204 (Estate) Electric Tailgate Problem

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Superdunx

New Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2014
Messages
11
Car
2011 W204 C200 Cdi Elegance Blue-Efficiency and 2000 W202 C220 Cdi Classic
Hello forum,

I'm having a problem with the electric opening tailgate on my 2011 reg W204 (pre-facelift) C-Class.

The tailgate opens and closes correctly and smoothly when I use the electric open/close, but when I try to open or close it manually the tailgate is very hard to move and makes a grinding sound. The tailgate used to feel like it would 'freewheel' shut when manually closed and used to have very little resistance when opening or closing manually. Earlier today it was so stiff I was concerned something may get damaged, though it shut smoothly and easily on the electric closer.

I'm in fear of a very expensive trip to a 'stealership' to be told that the entire headlining needs removing and the complete motor needs replacing (circa £600 plus labour?), So before I head off to the dealership, thought I'd see if anyone else has had a similar issue, and if so what solution was found.

I suspect that the motor has some sort of 'freewheel' clutch that allows the tailgate to be closed independent of the motor and am hoping that this may be a separate part to the motor itself, but without removing the motor I don't know what it looks like. As always merc service information is very difficult to find and no workshop manual is available to the public, so if anyone has any diagrams or information these would be very greatly received.

Many thanks in advance for any help and advice anyone may be able to provide on this!

Duncan.
 
wonder if you have inadvertantly set alower opening limit or some such. Try cancelling and reprogramming the tailgate height limit?
[YOUTUBE]Kmi6uVAPlqw[/YOUTUBE]
 
Hi Grobe and Jaymanek,

Many thanks for your responses. i have reset the opening height as per the video but no difference. as I say the boot was opening smoothly and correctly via the electric lift, its just when it is closed manually (i.e pushed shut or pulled open by hand) that there is an issue.

the tailgate has now seized solid to the motor movement and can only be opened and closed with the electric function. looks like I'll have to get this looked at.

I'm going to avoid the dealership and talk to my local garage. Seems there are a few 'guaranteed' second hand lift units from reputable breakers online, so this may save me several hundred quid.....

Once again many thanks, and if anyone else has had a similar problem I'd still be interested in hearing about how it was fixed and the cost.

Regards,
Duncan.
 
@Superdunx Long shot I know, but did you resolve this?

Mine has always been like this in my ownership, I just assumed one should always let the motor do its job!

Now it is somewhat jerky when closing, sometimes it is so jerky it thinks it has hit something and opens again.

Was it a new motor job? Do you need to drop the headliner or will it slide out of the upper door jamb?
 

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