williecba
Member
I have had recurring problems with the tailgate soft close not working. It happens after something goes in the back that it is too long which obstructs the tailgate so the soft close won't work. The control unit for the soft close notices this and then stops trying to use the soft close part of the sequence. I have repeatedly fixed this but it is a pain in the arse and I recently modified the van to make it quicker. I intended to work out and list the precise sequence of events in order to give a definitive set of instructions but unfortunately I had an intermittent loose wire problem while the van was dismantled and managed to confused myself.
Behind the left side rear panel are the control units for the tailgate and the locks and soft close. There are two control unit mounted on a steel bracket and it is the smaller one that controls the soft close. Basically this needs to be unplugged, either the ignition or the engine switched on. Then turn the ignition off. Plug the control unit back in, and then hopefully it works. It maybe that you also have to take the trim piece off from over the rear latch, 6 torx T20 screw, and unplug the soft close mechanism as well. I find by using a flat blade screwdriver underneath I can release the plug from the lock mechanism without unscrewing it. You can see how in the picture in the post above.
However, to get the side the side panel off you have to undo the 3 screws holding the tailgate motor cover and then with a 3mm allen key and a small trim tool remove the 18 panel pins. The control modules are mounted on the rear of the wheel arch and it wouldd be nice if you could unplug the modules in place but i have found it impossible so I need a T30 torx on a socket spanner to remove the bracket and units as one so that I could unplug the single cable from the smaller unit.
When I get to this point and have unplugged it I find that pushing the close button on the tailgate has no effect. I then go and start the engine, let it run for a couple of minutes then turn it off. I then plug the module back in and see if the gate will shut and the soft close will work. If it doesn't I repeat the process. If that fails I remove the cover over the soft close lock so that I can unplug it. Then repeat the ignition, start engine, engine off sequence. Once the soft close starts working again I very systematically put things back in place, 1 step at a time and checking the soft close after every step. The problems I had working this out were to do with a suspect bad contact as I twisted the control units to get them back in place.
To speed the whole process up last time it happened I cut the bottom off the side panel and used one of the extra trim clips in a new hole to stop it slapping. I then used 2 Riv-Nuts in the old trim clip holes so that it is now just 2 screws to access the control units.
As far as I can see what has to be done is firstly make the control unit sense that it is not attached to the soft close mechanism and then after it is reattached it has to reset itself so that it orperates normally. When I have some time spare I will deliberately block the tailgate and disable the soft close and hopefully be more precise about whether the soft close mechanism needs to be unplugged as well.
Behind the left side rear panel are the control units for the tailgate and the locks and soft close. There are two control unit mounted on a steel bracket and it is the smaller one that controls the soft close. Basically this needs to be unplugged, either the ignition or the engine switched on. Then turn the ignition off. Plug the control unit back in, and then hopefully it works. It maybe that you also have to take the trim piece off from over the rear latch, 6 torx T20 screw, and unplug the soft close mechanism as well. I find by using a flat blade screwdriver underneath I can release the plug from the lock mechanism without unscrewing it. You can see how in the picture in the post above.
However, to get the side the side panel off you have to undo the 3 screws holding the tailgate motor cover and then with a 3mm allen key and a small trim tool remove the 18 panel pins. The control modules are mounted on the rear of the wheel arch and it wouldd be nice if you could unplug the modules in place but i have found it impossible so I need a T30 torx on a socket spanner to remove the bracket and units as one so that I could unplug the single cable from the smaller unit.
When I get to this point and have unplugged it I find that pushing the close button on the tailgate has no effect. I then go and start the engine, let it run for a couple of minutes then turn it off. I then plug the module back in and see if the gate will shut and the soft close will work. If it doesn't I repeat the process. If that fails I remove the cover over the soft close lock so that I can unplug it. Then repeat the ignition, start engine, engine off sequence. Once the soft close starts working again I very systematically put things back in place, 1 step at a time and checking the soft close after every step. The problems I had working this out were to do with a suspect bad contact as I twisted the control units to get them back in place.
To speed the whole process up last time it happened I cut the bottom off the side panel and used one of the extra trim clips in a new hole to stop it slapping. I then used 2 Riv-Nuts in the old trim clip holes so that it is now just 2 screws to access the control units.
As far as I can see what has to be done is firstly make the control unit sense that it is not attached to the soft close mechanism and then after it is reattached it has to reset itself so that it orperates normally. When I have some time spare I will deliberately block the tailgate and disable the soft close and hopefully be more precise about whether the soft close mechanism needs to be unplugged as well.
