My 85 740 gle is in near mint condition in and out - one cracked door pocket and a little nibble out of the plastic on the leading edge of the tailgate latch loop is all that I have found amiss. (the portion of the tailgate latch attached to the car rather than the door) The cracked door plastic has obvious ramifications, but I am not sure about the loop.

The tailgate doesn't latch fully. The first click does take, so one can't open the door without squeezing the handle. The second one, that would keep it from rattling on bumps, does not engage.

Looking in the owner's manual, it seems as if the kiddie door lock isn't quite exactly the same as the one show - but it is a line drawing in the manual, so I am not sure about that. In the manual it looks as if the kiddie door lock operates within the plate of the latch housing whereas mine moves along one edge. So it could be a mismatch.

The other possibility is the aforementioned plastic on the leading edge of the loop. It has the tiniest gouge out (1/4 long, 1/8 wide, 1/8 deep), but it looks to be right at the point where pressure needs to be exerted on the actual latching piece, so perhaps the missing 1/8" of depth is keeping it from activating the lock?

Does anyone have any experience with mis-functional tailgate latches? Which of these two possibilities is the better bet? Any tricks for building up that plastic edge without replacing the whole piece?

Thanks for any help,

Adam

 

Usually when the latch fails to engage fully the above part needs slight adjustment. Loosen the retaining screws sufficiently to move the loop. Unfortunately, this is a question of trial and error so it may take some time.

The kiddie lock should have no bearing on this problem as it is only there to stop the tailgate being opened from the inside.

 

Take it apart and adjust it with your hands. I had the same thing happen to my 850. With 10 miniutes worth of tinkering I got it to work perfectly.

Nick

 

Thanks for the tips everyone. I wouldn't have guessed that the loop was adjustable looking from above, but it sure is, and my hatch works like a charm now. (one $10 set of torx bits later)