Power tailgate not working after battery disconnected
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Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 17
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From: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
2001 Mercedes SLK230 & 2011 Mercedes GLK350
Power tailgate not working after battery disconnected
I replaced my ESL motor this weekend and had to disconnect the battery for about a day since it involved removing the airbag.
After reconnecting the battery, I noticed the power tailgate no longer opens or closes by motor. Pressing the trunk button on the keyfob, driver's side door, or button on the trunk latch all successfully unlatch the trunk but the power tailgate motor doesn't seem to be doing anything.
I checked the fuse 61 and it appears good.
Is there any chance the tailgate isn't working because the battery was disconnected and it needs to be reset or something? It seems like odd timing that the motor would just suddenly die without having any problems beforehand.
And are there any guides for replacing the motor? I wasn't able to find any online which makes me suspicious that the motor isn't a common point of failure. Most of the posts I could find about the gate failing talked about the car being new or the gate only working intermittently before failing.
After reconnecting the battery, I noticed the power tailgate no longer opens or closes by motor. Pressing the trunk button on the keyfob, driver's side door, or button on the trunk latch all successfully unlatch the trunk but the power tailgate motor doesn't seem to be doing anything.
I checked the fuse 61 and it appears good.
Is there any chance the tailgate isn't working because the battery was disconnected and it needs to be reset or something? It seems like odd timing that the motor would just suddenly die without having any problems beforehand.
And are there any guides for replacing the motor? I wasn't able to find any online which makes me suspicious that the motor isn't a common point of failure. Most of the posts I could find about the gate failing talked about the car being new or the gate only working intermittently before failing.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 17
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From: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
2001 Mercedes SLK230 & 2011 Mercedes GLK350
I was hoping someone here would have an idea because the next obvious step is to take it to a shop that can hook up a Xentry or Star - whatever the Mercedes diagnostic computer is called - and see if the module has an error that they can read.
I pulled some more fuses the other day to check them but they all seem fine.
I have one of those iCarsoft i980 readers but I don't think it sees the module that controls the lift motor because I wasn't able to find anything that seemed relevant.
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2014 GLK350 base model (active) ; 2001 E320 base (retired); 2001 Wrangler soft-top
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 17
Likes: 6
From: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
2001 Mercedes SLK230 & 2011 Mercedes GLK350
Unfortunately, I don't see anything in the literature to indicate a different fuse for the liftgate or a relay labeled "liftgate."
If I find a different fuse popped, I'll update the thread for posterity.
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i know this is an old thread...
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 17
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From: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
2001 Mercedes SLK230 & 2011 Mercedes GLK350
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