How to lock tailgate if no central locking

[g4gxl]

My OH just called (she's away with the kids in the Bongo).
The central locking has stopped working (or is very intermittent).

She cannot work out how to lock the tailgate. We have a bodykit so any external lock is covered.

Is there any way of locking the tailgate manually from the inside ?

[jaylee]

The easiest option (If the environment allows.?) is to back the vehicle up against a wall..!

If the CL doesn't lock manually from the drivers door all round? It could be a broken wire in the drivers door loom...?

If not?

You could try using a volt meter on the sliding door pillar with the one of the two static door pins, locking & unlocking the drivers door you should get a brief 12v pulse..? If the voltage is constant? then it maybe the CL relay behind the glove box, above the ECU...? If it is disconnect it because the locking solenoids don't like a constant voltage.. They could burn out!!?

If your other doors are working..? It could be a broken wire from the tailgate to th body??

Hope this helps..?

[Muzorewa]

If the lock is disabled from the outside, once it's closed it's locked, surely?

[jaylee]

Muz, i blew up g4gxl's Bongo avatar to take a look... It looks like a flat panel job with the latch handle still there..?
It dont look like a total handle-less boot popper type like you might see on some pimped hatchbacks. The key lock might not be there on g4gxl's Bongo, but the remote mechanism for locking is... I think!!

[briwy]

Could it be locked manually by taking the tailgate panel off and operating the latch mechanism. Bit messy with all that black sticky stuff though.

[Diplomat]

Slight consolation is that the tailgate is probably the least likely to be tried by opportunists, they would normally be looking for front doors with the button up.

Frank

[jaylee]

To add to Frank's remark. Most people don't have a clue where the latch handle is anyway..!

[Velocette]

Tie it tightly shut from the inside to the back seat lugs or thge seats themselved or even the front seats. might have to pop the bottom of the door card to find something to tie to.

[g4gxl]

Thanks for the replies.

The custom trim was covering the key lock on the tailgate but the 'opening handle' was clear. There is no way for us to lock the tailgate other than with the central locking.

I just spent an hour fixing the wires in the loom on the drivers door hinge. I've had the Bongo for over a year now and should really have looked earlier.

Sure enough the wire carrying the central locking signal from the driver's door to the other doors had broke. So the central locking is now fixed.

I also found that the drivers door mirror left/right control had broken. The 'foldaway mirrors' had never worked - and now they do !

Another 4 or 5 wires had been repaired by twisting the strands together. They were all badly oxidised. I wasn't aware of any other faults, but all the wires are now soldered and taped just in case.

I'll be adding a gas soldering iron to my mobile tool kit - these repairs took just a few minutes and having a non-locking tailgate for a week could have been very expensive