Citroen C5 tailgate wiring fault

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michael maurice
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Citroen C5 tailgate wiring fault

Post by michael maurice »

I have a 2003 (52) C5 estate.

Today I went to open the tailgate and its not opening its in the locked position.

I've had this before together with several faults caused by the wiring loom in the tailgate failing. An Auto Electrics place near me has repaired the loom on each occasion.

I'm now wondering what to do. Do I order a complete loom from Citroen or do I try and repair the loom myself or go to an auto electrician.

More to the point how do I unlock the tailgate?

It seems to me that the wire needs to be extra flexible.

I'm an electronics engineer by profession but have always shy ed away from Car electrics.

Can anyone help? I'm in Wembley NW London
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Re: Citroen C5 tailgate wiring fault

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Re: Citroen C5 tailgate wiring fault

Post by michael maurice »

Thank you Alisdair, but the PDF refers to the rear window not opening, my problem is with the whole tailgate!
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Re: Citroen C5 tailgate wiring fault

Post by Stickyfinger »

From memory this is the way

Small flat bladed electrical screw driver .
You will see a small hole to the left of centre at about 10 o’clock in the lock (from inside).
Insert the screw driver into the hole and rotate the driver till you find what feels like a slot, now turn the screwdriver, this should now spring the latch open, you may have to try this a few times as its a bit of a fiddle.

The usual reason for the door not opening is the thin wires break as you know. I replaced the whole section through the gate with new wire, I de-trimmed the boot and did the tailgate at the same time...
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Re: Citroen C5 tailgate wiring fault

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

When the tailgate glass bit failed to open on my C5 I found that water had somehow got into the release switch and its wiring. I believed the release mechanism worked (it had up to a point, sometimes releasing when I opened a door), so I got the replacement part from Citroen (about £40, IIRC), and then carefully cut the old switch out, and stripped back the wires (this was how I knew about the water ingress, one of the wires was blackened, but not through heat as the insulation was still good). I rubbed this off, touched them together, and the glass popped open. I replaced the switch mechanism, and it has worked properly ever since. I have packed a load of Vaseline around the switch, to try and protect it.
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Re: Citroen C5 tailgate wiring fault

Post by michael maurice »

Thanks for all your replies.

It seems that I need some extra flexible wire or even 6A wire which would be better than what I've got at the moment.

Does anyone know where in NW London, Herts or South Bucks that can do a good job at a reasonable price?
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