How to open a stuck California tailgate

[jonesbones]

Just wanted to share how I got my California tailgate open after a minor bump which dislodged the latch strut inside the door. In the end it's a 5 min job and very simple.

Unlike my 09 Transporter the California tailgate has the chair bag, chairs and door card covering the internal latch mechanism. My California also had no hole and rubber bung to give easy access like the transporter. Having reviewed all the forums and Youtube posts it seemed like I was going to have to hack all sorts of things to pieces to get the tailgate open and the latch strut reattached. There are some horror stories out there about what to do which involved trashing all sorts of bits of trim. I did some homework about the shape of the mechanism inside and worked out that if you drill a simple 6mm hole in the tailgate from the inside you can open the latch with a screwdriver in seconds. You don't even need to unzip the chair bag. The photo shows exactly where to drill, 40mm to the right of centre as you look from the inside, and 40mm above the lower edge of the tailgate edge at that point. When you have drilled the hole you can insert a small screwdriver and lift the latch arm inside to release the door. You could probably do this without taking the rear parcel shelf out and the subsequent hole can be covered with a rubber bung.

All T5's look to use the same external latch mechanism, some are powered, some manual but I think this fix will work for both.

I am posting this because it may save another owner hours or days or frustration, unnecessary damage to expensive parts, or a huge bill from a dealer.

Happy to share more details if required.

 

[ArunAlec]

Just wanted to share how I got my California tailgate open after a minor bump which dislodged the latch strut inside the door. In the end it's a 5 min job and very simple.

Unlike my 09 Transporter the California tailgate has the chair bag, chairs and door card covering the internal latch mechanism. My California also had no hole and rubber bung to give easy access like the transporter. Having reviewed all the forums and Youtube posts it seemed like I was going to have to hack all sorts of things to pieces to get the tailgate open and the latch strut reattached. There are some horror stories out there about what to do which involved trashing all sorts of bits of trim. I did some homework about the shape of the mechanism inside and worked out that if you drill a simple 6mm hole in the tailgate from the inside you can open the latch with a screwdriver in seconds. You don't even need to unzip the chair bag. The photo shows exactly where to drill, 40mm to the right of centre as you look from the inside, and 40mm above the lower edge of the tailgate edge at that point. When you have drilled the hole you can insert a small screwdriver and lift the latch arm inside to release the door. You could probably do this without taking the rear parcel shelf out and the subsequent hole can be covered with a rubber bung.

All T5's look to use the same external latch mechanism, some are powered, some manual but I think this fix will work for both.

I am posting this because it may save another owner hours or days or frustration, unnecessary damage to expensive parts, or a huge bill from a dealer.

Happy to share more details if required.

View attachment 81687

Very useful info, mines got a big bung central to the latch which, hopefully gives access!

 

[kurienp]

Just wanted to share how I got my California tailgate open after a minor bump which dislodged the latch strut inside the door. In the end it's a 5 min job and very simple.

Unlike my 09 Transporter the California tailgate has the chair bag, chairs and door card covering the internal latch mechanism. My California also had no hole and rubber bung to give easy access like the transporter. Having reviewed all the forums and Youtube posts it seemed like I was going to have to hack all sorts of things to pieces to get the tailgate open and the latch strut reattached. There are some horror stories out there about what to do which involved trashing all sorts of bits of trim. I did some homework about the shape of the mechanism inside and worked out that if you drill a simple 6mm hole in the tailgate from the inside you can open the latch with a screwdriver in seconds. You don't even need to unzip the chair bag. The photo shows exactly where to drill, 40mm to the right of centre as you look from the inside, and 40mm above the lower edge of the tailgate edge at that point. When you have drilled the hole you can insert a small screwdriver and lift the latch arm inside to release the door. You could probably do this without taking the rear parcel shelf out and the subsequent hole can be covered with a rubber bung.

All T5's look to use the same external latch mechanism, some are powered, some manual but I think this fix will work for both.

I am posting this because it may save another owner hours or days or frustration, unnecessary damage to expensive parts, or a huge bill from a dealer.

Happy to share more details if required.

View attachment 81687

Thank you for sharing. Yes, have heard many horror stories, but this is the first one which stated a confident 5 min job. Awesome work.

Are you able to share a pic from further away please? that shows the location of the drilled hole in relation to the rest of the rear door please?

Will take some time out this weekend to check the mechanism a bit more in detail and maybe drill a hole - and/or see how best to install an internal unlock mechanism.

 

[jonesbones]

If you've got the bung then you should be OK. You can pull apparently pull the bung off and push down the other end (LH) of the release lever to open the tailgate. The problem is that not all T5's appear to have the bung, mine has a powered lock and no bung so I was faced with having to start destroying the trim by cutting large holes in it.

I was pleased that after a few weeks of thought, and four hours in the boot, it turned out to be so easy! Wish all my California problems were so simple.

Will add a diagram with exact dimensions so that others can do the same if they suffer the same failure.

 

[jonesbones]

Here's the exact dimensions, 47mm towards the passenger (UK RHD) side, 31mm up from the return on the tailgate pressing. To be honest a hole anywhere in that region will allow you to access the lever and lift it up thus opening the tailgate.

The link rod that falls off has a ball joint at the top end and an 'L' shaped fold that is the bit that gets knocked out. If you take the chairs out you can remove the two central trim poppers and reach behind the trim panel to disconnect the ball (snap fit) and remove the link rod. If you then remove the the external latch mechanism from the tailgate (two tore bolts plus switch connector) you can reattach the link rod 'L', refit the latch to the tailgate, and reach inside behind the trim to snap the ball joint back on to the internal mechanism. No need to destroy anything other than drilling the one hole.

Hope that helps

 

[splitmike]

Absolutely perfect. Ive mangaged to undo the bag pull the poppers out only to find the connecting rod had come off. this now in my hands. I guessed id have to drill a hole to release the catch but this is perfect. I'll figure a way of attaching a piece of para cord 2-3mm to the latch and have that come into the cabin as it might save blushes if/when it happens again.

 

[splitmike]

I managed to find the time to try this last week while in leave. it took all of 10 mins. absolutely perfect. I even managed to connect a fine piece of para cord and feed it through to the cabin and can open the tailgate from within.
Thank you for your knowledge.

 

[JonnyH]

Here's the exact dimensions, 47mm towards the passenger (UK RHD) side, 31mm up from the return on the tailgate pressing. To be honest a hole anywhere in that region will allow you to access the lever and lift it up thus opening the tailgate.

The link rod that falls off has a ball joint at the top end and an 'L' shaped fold that is the bit that gets knocked out. If you take the chairs out you can remove the two central trim poppers and reach behind the trim panel to disconnect the ball (snap fit) and remove the link rod. If you then remove the the external latch mechanism from the tailgate (two tore bolts plus switch connector) you can reattach the link rod 'L', refit the latch to the tailgate, and reach inside behind the trim to snap the ball joint back on to the internal mechanism. No need to destroy anything other than drilling the one hole.

Hope that helps

View attachment 81701

Hi - my '08 van door has suffered what I think is the same issue - are you saying this hole can be drilled when the door is actually stuck closed? I have removed the bed shelf and opened the chair container zipper but I can't see how I could get a drill in??