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2008 GL550 tailgate will not latch!

3K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  bhatt 
#1 ·
Hi guys, I have a problem with my GL550's tailgate. It goes up and comes down on its own power, but it will not latch. You hear it hum for a while after it comes down but it doesn't latch. I had this same problem fixed under warranty 2.5 years ago, now it is doing the same thing. Do I have to pay to fix it or can I take it back to the dealership and complain. I guess I don't understand why it fails though. It is the tailgate and it hardly ever gets opened, so why should it fail to lock? I took it to an Independent mercedes shop and they gave me a quote of over $800.00 which kinda pisses me off. The motor works fine, it goes up and down, it just won't latch! Can I go complain to the dealership? (It is out of warranty now).
 
#2 ·
There was a fix in a bulletin by Mercedes that worked great for me.

When you open the hatch and look down (just above the bumper) you'll see a silver "striker" latch. That latch is actually adjustable.

You need to remove the plastic panel. I think it pulls up but there may have been some torx screws. Can't remember. Pretty sure it just pulls up/unhooks. It's the large piece with a hole in it that the striker peeks out through.

Once you have it up, you'll see two torx screws that allow you to move the striker.

Here's the fix from Mercedes (believe it or not). You don't actually adjust the striker till it closes properly. You adjust the striker as far inward as it will go (ie. towards the FRONT of the truck) and then tighten it down.

The mechanism in the hatch can adjust once it grabs the striker, but if the striker is too far rearward it will fail and the hatch reopens. So you adjust it all the way forward. The mechanism grabs it, and pulls the door shut.

Mine used to fail about 1 time out of ten. Then became 1 time out of 4.

After adjusting the striker (more than 2 years ago) it has never failed yet, not even once. Hundreds and hundreds of openings and not one problem!
 
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