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SO, i picked up a 2004 105k mile E500 4Matic wagon.. $5000..
it came with a few issues (as usual) but most have been dealt with..
the car had a severe gasoline smell passenger side rear wheel..
the local dealer replaced the missing inner fender liner (which should have been a clue, read on)..
so the local dealer replaced the gas tank under a recall.. no charge..
still gas smell though not as bad.. and more intermittent.. computer code said something like a gross leak in the stupid vapor control system or something like that..
all 4 rotors were like potato chips and had hard spots so took the car to the local exotic car wrench turner who did that for about $800 including another new oil filter and mobil 1 oil change (i figured even thought the dealer had done that it was probably a good idea to do it again)..
NOW to the issue..
when we picked the car up from the wrench turner and got it home the power tail gate would not open all the way as it had been doing..
a phone call to the wrench turner ensued and he says he did not do anything to it and has no idea why it would suddenly not fully open..
he then said something like the hydraulic cylinders are starting to leak and that why it won't open all the way..
(HUH? how would he know this if he did not do anything to it!!?)
and the cost to replace them is about $650..
so, now, here i am for advice on what might be going on..
if this plea for help yields nothing i'll fire up the star diag thing and try to wade through it but it is so cryptic that will take a week..
there are a few other minor issues but this is the first one i will air here..
i should add here that i replaced all the top cylinders on my '97 SL600 (which is still for sale) so cylinders and such are not a mystery..
Try releasing tailgate from locked position. Not convinced struts are your problem nevertheless, inspect for leakage. If it your intent to replace see attachments.
hello and thank you for the graphic..
i tried gently pushing down on the tailgate.. it moves to whereever i stop pushing.. both up or down.. i press the close button and it will close.. i pull the open lever and it will again open to the 2/3 open position..
whatever i do, when i open it it opens only to the 2/3 position..
it IS good to know this..
it is not the struts, it appears to be stuck in the open to 2/3 up mode..
On ours there is a setting you can access through the steering wheel in convenience features I think. Something about tailgate limit. I know I switched it once and from then on it wouldn't open all the way. Check that first. If they disconnected the battery that might have changed that setting or reverted to a default setting.
thanks guys..
the local mechanic (who has been very good) claims to have done nothing to the tailgate.. only looking at the cylinders from the rear, which i did and observed oil weeping from the passenger side cylinder, and saying it'll be about $650 to change cylinders and labor..
he denies doing anything to the tailgate..
wife took the car to the gym so i'll take a look at the pump and oil reservoir to be sure there is not a low oil condition..
konigstiger, i found the tailgate limiter portion in the dash/steering wheel part and turning it on and off had no effect on the tailgate.. still opens 2/3 only.. i'll check the codes when wife gets home.. :-)
coming back to this issues, it is still doing the same thing..
i DID swap out the defective latch with a new one, so now the driver side tailgate door switch will raise the tailgate first to the 2/3 open position and then, if i lift the again to the fully open position..
Last edited by bill morrow; 06-09-2018 at 02:22 AM.
konigstiger, i found the tailgate limiter portion in the dash/steering wheel part and turning it on and off had no effect on the tailgate.. still opens 2/3 only.. i'll check the codes when wife gets home.. :-)
Did you confirm again that the display shows that the tailgate limiter stays off? The tailgate, windows and sunroof also have a safety feature where they will stop if enough resistance is encountered while deploying.
just to finish up this thread, i replaced the tailgate latch and thereafter the tailgate, after more than a few opening and about a week the tailgate now opens all the way..
not sure why but i guess the latch had something to do with it..
@bill morrow , You said that you replaced the latch? and the tailgate itself? Please explain, I am also having this same issue, and I am sure others are also.
I thought that I was going to have to replace all 4 of the Gas Struts.. but don't want to shell out the $$ if I don't have to.
I am also having the "button" on the remote and drivers door NOT opening the hatch at all. But the latch on the liftgate allows it to open.
@bill morrow , You said that you replaced the latch? and the tailgate itself? Please explain, I am also having this same issue, and I am sure others are also.
I thought that I was going to have to replace all 4 of the Gas Struts.. but don't want to shell out the $$ if I don't have to.
I am also having the "button" on the remote and drivers door NOT opening the hatch at all. But the latch on the liftgate allows it to open.
Thanks in advance.
just the latch assembly.. it cost about $200+ but NOT the entire tailgate.. did not replace anything else.. my remarks above were in-artful as it could be taken that i said i replaced the entire tailgate.. sorry for the confusion..
it took some time for the car to realize it was now whole..
@bill morrow Thanks for the reply..
Just the latch assembly on the tailgate.. and it then allowed it to open 100% and not 2/3 as it was in the past?
I wonder if that would allow it to work with the buttons on my remote and door panel?
I would rather do that than 4 struts.. if possible.
@bill morrow Thanks for the reply..
Just the latch assembly on the tailgate.. and it then allowed it to open 100% and not 2/3 as it was in the past?
I wonder if that would allow it to work with the buttons on my remote and door panel?
I would rather do that than 4 struts.. if possible.
the door button started working just after replacing the latch assy..
it took a while for the tailgate to return to the former full open..
there are more than a few posts here and on the other mercedes forum about how the tailgate can be opened half way..
there must be such since cars can be in a limited overhead height situation where one can not open the tailgate fully..
IRT struts, i don't remember any struts on the tailgate but the wife person is out now with her car so i can't go and look..
besides, struts are cheap unless you get a mercedes branded part and you can still search for the part number and find a lower cost source..
IMO all these damn computers on these new cars need to work together and when they don't problems happen..
the best mercedes i had was my '71 280SE 3.5 kabriolet.. just a standard car with AC..
not the TV confusion cluster in the center where you must take your eyes off the road to just change the temp..
give me knobs i can reach for and still watch the road..
@tjts1 Yes, the "limit function"? I have not gone thru the submenu to find it yet.. but will see what it is set to..
Also, I am thinking about oiling the latch/lock and hinges and other bits to see if that helps. =)
I have searched on here and the net.. not findting much info.. or solutions.. Your post about replacing the latch/lock was one of the only ones with an update on what "fixed" it. and not 9 years old.
Also, I have been searching on the struts.. and it does look like there are 4.. 2 without springs and I can get those for like $15-22 each.. the other 2 have springs and I have seen prices from $78 - $198 each. So.. even the cheap route would have me at $180ish for the struts.
But when I see a thread like this, makes me rethink if I need to do all 4.. I mean the car has 166k miles on it and it is an 07 AMG E63 Wagon (I have an 08 E63 AMG wagon also), so I know the struts are "OLD" and I just had to replace the hood struts.
I just really appreciate the response from everyone.
Also, I have been searching on the struts.. and it does look like there are 4.. 2 without springs and I can get those for like $15-22 each.. the other 2 have springs and I have seen prices from $78 - $198 each. So.. even the cheap route would have me at $180ish for the struts.
But when I see a thread like this, makes me rethink if I need to do all 4.. I mean the car has 166k miles on it and it is an 07 AMG E63 Wagon (I have an 08 E63 AMG wagon also), so I know the struts are "OLD" and I just had to replace the hood struts.
I just really appreciate the response from everyone.
There are 2 conventional gas struts, 1 hydraulic ram on the driver's side and 1 position sensor on the passenger side. The gas struts can be replaced with some effort as seen in the video. But the car in the video didn't have the power lift gate mechanism. There are some extra wires running through the inner covers that make access more difficult.
Wanted to give you an update on my "not opening to the full position issue"..
After reading and researching.. I discovered that if you open the hatch to the full position manually.. then hold the "close" button on the hatch for 2 full seconds, you will hear an audible beep.
Now, hit the button again to close.. then open the hatch again.. and viola.. it will open to the full position.
Nice and simple.. I hope this helps someone.
I am happy I do not have to screw with expensive struts right now..
As far as the "button doesn't open the hatch" issue.. that still remains.. but I am going to be oiling the crap out of the latch and see if that changes anything first.. If that fixes it I will use this thread to update.
E320 wagon W211. My remote unlocks the back door of my estate wagon. However I cannot Open the door. Is there another way in to examine the mechanism? There is no key lock feature on a wagon.
05-20-2018, 03:04 AM
