Tailgate will not open warm weather

[Never Bored With A Ford]

Hi parked car the other day when the weather was really warm tailgate refused to open the heat had expanded rear light cluster fouling the lighting on rear hatch because the gap on o/S a lot closer than n/s bucket of cold water required

[Edge of Reason]

I assume you hadn’t realised the tailgate was squint before this ?

[eddiek]

On 5/15/2018 at 6:16 PM, Never Bored With A Ford said:

Hi parked car the other day when the weather was really warm tailgate refused to open the heat had expanded rear light cluster fouling the lighting on rear hatch because the gap on o/S a lot closer than n/s bucket of cold water required

Hmm !  noticed mines is the same, (tighter gap at o/side) not had it stick yet.  What ever happened to quality control ?  For a £40,000 + car it`s not good enough.  My Last Kuga was same tailgate and o/side rear door not aligned properly.

[simonb65]

I've had a few instances when it failed to pull in tight and lock and I found that the plastic housing for the latch on the lid side is tapered on the outer edges. This taper fits into a corresponding taper in the latch in the boot floor. If this gets dirty or expands in warm weather, it doesn't allow the lid to close far enough for the latch motor to be able to hook the lower latch and pull the door tight ! Clean these tapered surfaces and apply a touch of silicon grease ... works wonders! Don't think the material is the best for a friction slide or maintaining its dimensions with temperature changes.

 

Never had an issue with the light clusters becoming a tight fit though!