Difficulty closing AUIII wagon tailgate?

[captain]

May sound strange, closing the tailgate on our wagon seems to be a difficult task! Slamming it down will eventually lock the tailgate.

Interestingly when the keypad failed and using the key to lock the doors the tailgate was more difficult to close even after several slams and these are excessive tailgate throwing slams. Having a door open sometimes appeared to help. (Note we have a perplex cargo barrier). Not that I would expect that to cause the problem. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance for any advise.

[ladderman]

I've had a similar thing occasionally, when the tailgate won't latch when closed. This is disconcerting when it happens with a wagon full of stuff out on the highway somewhere.

It seems that when you hit the release button, the latch unlatches, but doesn't return to it's ready position. When working normally, you get two distinct sounds when you hit the button. It seems that when I've had the issue, there is only one sound.

I've figured out that if you hit the button again (dash or key fob) maybe more than once, the latch will sort itself out, and the door will latch.

When I complained about this at my last warranty service, they said that they lubricated the latch to address this problem. So I guess that maybe the latch is getting clagged up and not working properly.

Hope that helps.

[Umineko]

As Ladderman suggested it sounds like the latch needs lubrication, it's one of those things that often gets ignored till the original factory lubrication dries out and the thing starts to stick, occasionaly the striker plate can creep inwards with time also making the tailgate harder to close correctly but I'd try the lube first as getting striker plates to line up correctly can be tricky. Opening a door would help but won't address the original problem, All Fords from EF onwards had double seals on the doors, when the EF was developed these worked so well that it was darn near impossible to close the remaining door when the other 3 were closed, they put a pressure relief valve / flap to get around that problem, the perspex cargo barrier is possibly not allowing the air to move quickly enough through the cabin to enable you to close the tailgate with sufficent force.

[Mechan1k]

Had a similar issue in my Territory ... the locking actuator in the tailgate can be tempramental at times ... I had mine replaced under warranty.

[au2sw]

i wouldnt imagine that the problem would have anything to do with the perspex cargo barrier as the pressure relief flap is in the cargo area (against the wall behind the moulded carpet)get a can of silicon spray or spray grease and spray the internals of the latch liberally. while your at it, do the rest of your doors and hinges (including the bonnet). a stick of dry lube to run over the strickers is also a good idea.

[GK]

I'd go a little silicon spray on the struts as well.

GK

[atec77]

Originally Posted by captain

May sound strange, closing the tailgate on our wagon seems to be a difficult task! Slamming it down will eventually lock the tailgate.

Interestingly when the keypad failed and using the key to lock the doors the tailgate was more difficult to close even after several slams and these are excessive tailgate throwing slams. Having a door open sometimes appeared to help. (Note we have a perplex cargo barrier). Not that I would expect that to cause the problem. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance for any advise.

Either the latch is dry or you need to crack a window ,