Motorised tailgate operation issue

[krio1987]

Hi there,

I have a Citroen C4 Grand Picasso MK2 (66 plate) and recently one of the struts in the motorised tailgate broke. The clip in the ball joint fitting snapped clean off, making it useless.
I’ve purchased and fitted a new one. But I’m finding that, with the new strut fitted, the boot will only open around 2 feet before beeping and stopping.

The strut part number is 9812130080. Would somebody be able to confirm that this is correct? My vin number is VF7**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff]

Is there a way to reinitialise the mechanism so that it will function as expected?

Many thanks
Adam

[mickthemaverick]

Have you purchased Citroen original or aftermarket parts?

[krio1987]

Hi mickthemaverick,

Thanks for coming back.
I think this might be after market. I didn’t buy it directly from Citroen. It’s an eBay item, from a shop on eBay. They list my car as compatible, and it’s listed as new. It does work through manual operation but not motorised.

I was wondering if I need to use a diagnostic tool to calibrate it or something?

Many thanks
Adam

[mickthemaverick]

Not as far as I am aware but that doesn't really mean much! If you compare its exact dimensions with the broken one is there any chance that the 'balljoint' sockets are slightly out of line or the strut a couple of mils longer or shorter? I am thinking that there is too much resistance in moving it to operate the tailgate so could it be a tad out of line? I believe the system has a safety monitor to stop the operation if there is too much resistance. It usually happens if the gate is obstructed or a strut gets slightly bent?

[Paul-R]

Maybe there's an intermediate setting stored?

[krio1987]

Thanks for coming back guys, turns out that the part was incorrectly advertised and was 'similar' but not quite the right dimensions. Which leaves me with the same issue as before. Now that i've moved the strut about it is not worse and falls out much more easily.

I'm attempting to locate a replacement strut but i'm finding it difficult. The part number on the strut is 98 040 689 80.

Does anybody know where I can source a replacement that doesn't involve me going to the dealer?

Many thanks

Adam

[mickthemaverick]

You could try Chevronics although the car may be too new: https://www.chevronics.co.uk/shop/

[Paul-R]

Five results from Ebay using the number off the strut.*

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw= ... &_osacat=0

They're not cheap, are they? Maybe the S/H one? They're open to offers as well.

*The first number you gave seems to be for the Grand Picasso.

[krio1987]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for coming back. Yea it was Ebay I went for the first time. The part number I gave in the first post was off the strut I bought from ebay after it was listed as the correct part. But interestingly didn't list the part number on the listing. So I won't be making that mistake again!
Yes indeed, they are not cheap at all. I think mine is classed as the Grand picasso mark 2, before they changed the name to 'space tourer'. Ideally I was hoping to replace with a new part, mostly because i'm suspicious that it might have the same issue. I think the balljoint mount on these is a little defective. I can see on the otherside, that someone has soldered/welded around the clip previously in an effort to keeping it in.
I'll have a look at the listings you've posted, although the first one appears to have the "snapped clip" issue I've got with mine so i'm a little surprised they are selling it for that much, since it would be useless without welding/soldering :O

Many thanks
Adam

[krio1987]

Ok so I’ve replaced the damaged tailgate strut with a genuine part based on my vin number.
It fits and will open and close manually correctly.
However, when using the motorised function it opens about 1 foot and a half before stopping and beeping 3 times.

I plugged in a diagnostic tool which had a program to open and program to shut the tailgate. When I run them, it will open to full height and close correctly, so I know that the hardware is fine. But I can’t seem to get it to open fully on the motorised operation normally,


I’ve opened the tailgate manually to the top and then held the button on the tailgate for 5 seconds. It beeps 3 times but that doesn’t store the position.

I noticed that the button on the tailgate is flashing I assume that means it thinks there’s an obstacle

Any ideas?
Cheers
Adam

[PaulC5]

On the second page above from the hand book it shows how to cancel the intermediate position - did this work when you tried ? Something you could do is check the battery voltage, if low it might give problems but is probably not the issue.

[krio1987]

Hi There sorry for such a delay. I ended up buying a new tailgate strut, that didn't work, so I replaced the other one. Now £600+ later it all works fine. I think the old tailgate struts had worn out, when one went and I was opening the tailgate manually I think that put too much pressure on the other and made that give out to.

Once installed everything started working as expected without recalibration.

Thanks for all your guys help