Ford Focus wagon tailgate lock cannot open by remote

[hansyin]

I'm new to here, hopefully I'm posting at the right place and thanks for any help in advance.

My 2005 ford focus wagon tailgate cannot open suddenly, I cannot open the lock with the remote, cannot open it with the button on the dashboard, and cannot open it with the button on the tailgate, the only way I can open it is inserting my key to the key hole on the tailgate. The remote works for all other 4 doors, and I can hear a tita-tita sound under the dashboard when I click the tailgate button on the remote.

After google for long time, I think problem is my tailgate lock motor. I spent another two hours to remove my plastic trim on my tailgate, took a close look at my tailgate lock motor, cannot see any problem, unplug the cable and then plug it again, problem is still there.

Anyone could tell me how to detect/confirm the lock motor get broken and I have to replace it to a new one? and, how to replace it, any tip? Or, I might be totally wrong, there should be another problem?

Thanks a lot!

 

[Belle427]

A voltage check at the motor terminals while operating the lock is the first place to start. A cheap multimeter is all you need to do this.
The clicking under the dash may be a relay, when it operates it should only click once. If it chatters (clicks a lot) it could be knackered

 

[hansyin]

Thank you. I will go to buy a multimeter tomorrow.

I can see the cable connector(connecting to the lock) has multiple pins(4 or 5), which pair of pins' voltage should I check? can I assume it's OK as long as one pair of PIN's voltage get changed(responsed) when I press the tailgate button? then problem should be the lock(motor?), otherwise problem is on the cable?

If it's lock motor, where can I buy the replacement? which part name/number should I ask the shop crew? or, if buying online, how can I confirm the parts are matching?

Thank you very much!

 

[hansyin]

I'm confusing now, bought a multimeter from Canadiantire today, check the voltage between any two pins of all that 4 pins in the connector(connect to the tailgate lock), and clicking the tailgate button on the remote at the same time, I can see voltage between on pair of pins get changed from 0.9v to 1.1v and then go back. other pair of pins looks like no voltage at all(xxx mv). Is this correct? I thought the voltage should be at least 12V when I click the tailgate button on the remote. (I can see 14v voltage between the Pins for tailgate wiper)


If the voltage is not correct, what can I do for next step? I did my best to checked the wires(as long as I can see) but did not find any problem.

the di-da sound under the dash looks good, every time I push the tailgate button on the remote, or tailgate button on the tailgate, I can hear the "di-da" sound for one time.

Any other potential problem? how about fuse? I can see the fuse box, but don't know which fuse is for the tailgate lock, and don't know how to check if it's good or bad.

Help!!! Thanks for any ideas.

 

[Belle427]

would expect to see battery voltage at motor terminals, check how the wiring gets to the motor through the tailgate ie is it through a rubber grommet at the top or has it got the old fashioned sprung contacts in the slam panel area?
wiring can break in the rubber type grommets

 

[hansyin]

Thank you,ch427, you're right. the problem is in the rubber grommet at the top of tailgate, I opened the rubber grommet and cannot believe my eyes, there are three wires get broken and most other wires get hurted and may finally get broken after some time. How can those wires can be hurted so much?

Now the problem is how to fix it? It's really hard, both sides of those wires are so tight, no connector, looks like the good way to fix it is remove the whole wires, but then it needs to open the cars totally and re-setup all wires. I cannot do it!

Finally, I found out the broken wires which is for the tailgate lock, re-connect it with a short wire, tight them with tape. Because there are very small space there, I can only do this for one wire and have to leave other two broken wires. now the tailgate lock problem get solved. I believe other two broken wires are for tailgate glass heating, I don't care it so much.

I know that's not good way to fix it, it may get broken again after some time. If any of you have better idea for fixing this, please tell me.

Thank you guys very much!

 

[Diyisfun]

Good job that wasnt a service call out..
That was a transatlantic fix