My 85 740 gle is in near mint condition in and out - one cracked door pocket and a little nibble out of the plastic on the leading edge of the tailgate latch loop is all that I have found amiss. (the portion of the tailgate latch attached to the car rather than the door) The cracked door plastic has obvious ramifications, but I am not sure about the loop.

The tailgate doesn't latch fully. The first click does take, so one can't open the door without squeezing the handle. The second one, that would keep it from rattling on bumps, does not engage.

Looking in the owner's manual, it seems as if the kiddie door lock isn't quite exactly the same as the one show - but it is a line drawing in the manual, so I am not sure about that. In the manual it looks as if the kiddie door lock operates within the plate of the latch housing whereas mine moves along one edge. So it could be a mismatch.

The other possibility is the aforementioned plastic on the leading edge of the loop. It has the tiniest gouge out (1/4 long, 1/8 wide, 1/8 deep), but it looks to be right at the point where pressure needs to be exerted on the actual latching piece, so perhaps the missing 1/8" of depth is keeping it from activating the lock?

Does anyone have any experience with mis-functional tailgate latches? Which of these two possibilities is the better bet? Any tricks for building up that plastic edge without replacing the whole piece?

Thanks for any help,

Adam

Hi , Can you make sure the latch on the car is adjusted correctly ( pic below)
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/3122/pic0018hs0.jpg

This is adjustable so try and slacken of the screws and draw the latch slightly towards the rear of the car.

Just looked at mine and its the only thing i can see that prevents it from DOING that second click.

Regards

AF

I ended up having to go back AND left, but it works great now - thanks for the photo and advice. I never would have guessed that that thing was adjustable looking only at the top.

Ahh well done, glad you got it sorted.

Regards

AF