2005 Outback.

 

Imagine my chagrin, and annoyance when I discovered my tailgate does not lock. I have no idea how long this has been going on, what between Moms health issues and mines, possibly many months.

 

The tailgate will close and the latch works. The tailgate does not lock. You operate the locks from the fob and you hear or feel nothing. Open the hatch the alarm goes off.

 

I havent see n this posted here before, so is this adjustable, rebuildable, or do i need an entire new latch.

 

I will have to say that NYC has gotten much safer, as my best bet is that this has been going on for maybe 5 months and no one has ever broke into the car while its parked.

Does it have a keyhole on the back?  If so try doing that.  My '96 Impreza OBS won't unlock from the power locks nor the key so I can feel your pain, even though it's the opposite.  Not locking can be just as frustrating as not being able to open it. lol

Nope no Keyhole (I just double checked) 

It sounds like the lock actuator is bad.  I would pull the lower trim pieces off the hatch and see if you can manually lock it.  This would at least give you some piece of mind.  If the Lock Actuator is not working once you have the hatch trim off you can monitor it and hear it directly.

 

If it doesn't appear to be working unplug it and through a multimeter on it (or even a test light) and see if when you click the fob if it actually gets power.  If it does then your actuator is probably dead.

This sounds similar to an issue I had with the rear latch on a 2008 obw. On the inside is there a small (3x2) plastic cover that could be pried off? If so ,pop it off, shine a light inside , look for a long white plastic arm on the right (drivers) side. flip it either up to horizontal or down and see if your hatch locks. Look for my post (on page 3) on 2008 obw rear hatch to see pictures and hear the saga .

Edited April 12, 201510 yr by montana tom

My 2000 OBW had a similar problem of not locking.  In my case you  could hear the actuator thunking when you pressed the remote.  It is a simple matter to remove the inside trim on the tailgate to access the lock and actuator.  My actuator was working but the plastic piece that attached the actuator arm to the locking mechanism had broken.

 

Being the pack rat I am I still have the actuator part #60319FA201.  It does not look like it is easily rebuildable.  Looks like that part number only fits up through 2004.  Wow $75 at online dealers.  I lucked out and got a new one on Ebay for $15 or so I my memory is correct,

Edited April 12, 201510 yr by wirelessenabled

On the 2005, does the entire trim peice in the tailgate come off as one part?

Never mind,wll ill be darned

 

 

And i looked and found the same broken wire.

Before I attack this, anyone have a wire supplier? Im thinking fo going same gauge multi strand so the wre would allow more flexing. To me this is inexcusable.

Edited April 13, 201510 yr by nipper

Going to start a new thread.