General Changing Lock Barrel in the Tailgate of a Weekend

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General Changing Lock Barrel in the Tailgate of a Weekend

Roberto

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Hi guys,

Well, the latch mechanism on my tailgate eventually gave up the ghost the other week resulting in me being unable to open the tailgate from the outside. Bit of a bugger as it had decided to fail just as I was about to load a bed in the car !

Anyway, I dismantled it and it appears that a split ring has popped off and now the latch mechanism is a bit loose, causing a part to drop free and render the handle useless. I tried some new split rings to no avail and eventually gave up on the idea.

Thankfully, one of my compatriots from the Bravo Owners Organisation had someone breaking a Weekend nearby and managed to get me a whole new lock and handle section (including the outer glossy plastic part) for £20 !

All I need to know is how easy it will be to swap the key barrels over. The guy who was breaking didn't have the key but I had been told it was a fairly simple process.

Has anyone done this ? I know that the sticking latch is a common problem.

I only received the parts today and haven't had a chance to dismantle everything again, so I was hoping a kind soul might give me a few pointers before I venture out in the cold tomorrow to have a butchers.

Many thanks in advance,

Rob.
 
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We have exactley same problem with our Weekend - Was hoping local garage would be able to fix it as it is a pain - I have not been able to use the boot of ours for about a month.... May get hubby to rig something up as if the handle coes down it works fine - it is just when the handle gets stuck up it is impossible!
 
Yeah, it's one of the few common faults with the Weekend. It's mainly down to the poor seal between the central plastic part and the metal of the tailgate. It allows water in after a while and this in turn rusts up the return spring in the handle. Mine was like it for ages, but I could live with it. One thing I did do was thread a loop of wire through the handle which gave me something to pull it back down with.

Anyway, I'll be having a look at this in more detail today, that's if I feel better as I'm in the throes of this damned flu type bug that's going round :(
 
Thanks for that Rob - My brother had a look at it at the weekend - he stripped back the rubber seal ( that was all coming away) and put a screw in - voilla - a working boot - found half the Christmas shopping in it right enough.....
 
Well, it's Sunday, it's cold, so it must be time to dick around with the car ;)

I've decided that the best thing for me to do is remove the existing part, replace all broken parts with the bits that I bought from my colleague at BOO and then see if that fares better.

I'll maybe try and take some pics as I know this is a fairly common issue with Weekends.

I'll keep you posted.
 
Well, it's done and I now have a fully operational tailgate again ! I also managed to sort the issue where the central locking did not unlock the boot, so a Brucie Bonus there !!

Sadly, I didn't get any pictures. Firstly, it was all a bit too greasy and I'm not getting my camera dirty, and Jackie wasn't around either and secondly, I was too wrapped up in not losing all the tiny springs, split rings and levers.

Basically, I took the "new" parts that I bought, removed the latch and lock, dismantled it and then removed the existing parts from mine, and rebuilt a new entire piece using the new parts as a base. This meant I retained my own lock barrel but swapped over all the levers and springs from the "new" parts.

Suffice to say, the bits I bought saved the day and I was able to construct a fully working latch from both sets of bits.

It's great to have a boot I can use again properly at last :)
 
I was lucky with mine that just taking it apart and greasing it cured it, and first time it happened a good thump on the handle freed it. There was a thread on here started by me about where all the fasteners are hidden to get the trim off in case it puzzles ayone elses.
 
Yeah, I tried the lubrication method a while back which worked but the problem that eventually caused me to change the parts was due to internal failure of certain parts of the lock mechanism. However, once repaired, it got lots of lovely grease to keep it working for some time yet ;)

As for removing the trim and parts, it is indeed a bugger. Firstly, you need to remove the internal trim which is easily done by removing three screws, two of which are hidden behind the reflectors in the corner. You can then pop the piece off.

Next, I would advise removing the wiper motor (3 hex socket bolts) and wiper arm (1 hex nut). The central locking motor is held in place by two screws and easily comes away. There are two hex nuts at the far ends to be removed followed by two hex socket bolts which are cunningly "hidden". One resides behind the large oval rubber grommet which surrounds the locking arms and the other a little to the right, behind where the wiper motor resides. These are better seen if you face the tailgate away from the rear of the car. Finally, there are two hex socket bolts on the external side, up between the number plate lamps.

The entire piece should now slide out, and you can disconnect the number plate lamp leads.

Once removed, the lock mechanism sits centrally and is held in place by four small screws. Removing these allows you to pop it out and it exposes all the levers and springs. It's a very simple mechanism but beware of tiny springs and washers and not losing them.

The only thing I never worked out, and thankfully never had to, was how to remove the actual key barrel. If anyone could tell me that, I'd be most grateful, especially when the inevitable happens again.

To refit, simply reverse the method described above.

Word to the wise....

As with most things, ensure all functions work properly before bolting things back and covering them up. I did it once, only to find the bulbs had gone in the numberplate lamps !! Doh !!

Finally, I would recommend finding a suitable, non permanent, waterproof seal to go around the lock/wiper trim piece, to prevent water falling in and causing the whole thing to fail again. FIAT fit a foam rubber seal which degrades after time. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Well, I hope that's of some use to some people in the future. The cost of a new part from FIAT is £101 and some odd pence. This cost me £23 and about an hour of my time :)
 
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