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Accord Tourer 2006 Tailgate dangerous situation

S

Simplydag

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Honda Accord tourer
Hi all,

I am a new member but had to share this with everyone as I could see a dangerous situation here.
I have a Honda Accord Tourer 2.2ictdi 2006 exec.
Love the car and everything about it until today.
I am a Police Officer with Greater Manchester Police and I work as a Police Dog Handler with 2 search dogs (Labrador for explosives and Spaniel Drugs dog).
The job supply a dog cage for your car and I have a metal TransK9 type which basically is made to fit your specific car and fill the boot space.
Today at the end of my shift I came to let the dogs out of the police van and went to put them in my car to find that the tailgate would not open via the dash button, key fob or handle on the external part of the tailgate.
The problem then was that with the metal dog cage being in the boot I was unable to get to the manual boot release catch situated on the inside of the tailgate.
I was unable to get access to this lever even with putting the back seats down and trying to slide the cage forward to allow me to climb in the back.
I got it as far forward as I could until it hit the rear of the front seats. Still not enough room to get in the back.
My thought at this stage was thank goodness the dogs were not in the cage especially in this weather
I then went to Stretford Honda and found the technicians had finished and although the guy was helpful from the showroom he did not have any ideas.
A trip then to my Dads as he is quite clued up and whilst I was there his neighbour appeared with his 9 year old grandson.
After a quick explanation the young lad was quite willing to climb through the very narrow gap into the back and with a screwdriver took the panel off and operated the boot release.
HOOORAAAAAYYY!!!!!!
I have now managed to remove the dog cage and after a look at this forum managed to find the battery cable off reset whilst leaving the tailgate up.
Sure enough it is now working again but the question is for how long.
I thought I could use this should it happen again with the dogs in but apparently the tailgate needs to be open to reset it.
The worry I have now is how to move forward. If it happens again I would need a small boy in my toolkit :)
Wonder if Honda would listen with the potential danger to animals in the boot?
Any thoughts much appreciated.
 
Just a thought..... could you weld a bracket with a wire to the manual release then route it to behind the rear seats. Kinda like a bonnet release! In the event of it happening again just drop the rear seats and pull the wire. Might be a ball ache but possibly worth it?
 
donk_3030 said:
Just a thought..... could you weld a bracket with a wire to the manual release then route it to behind the rear seats. Kinda like a bonnet release! In the event of it happening again just drop the rear seats and pull the wire. Might be a ball ache but possibly worth it?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Chris,

As we speak I am dismantling the lock mechanism to see if there is anything obvious.
I then wondered if I could run a cable from the manual lever to somewhere around the number plate (preferably hidden behind it) so that I can operate from outside the car if it happens again.
Will keep you updated .
 
They make you use your own car for work?

This fault is an example of whey they should supply you with a proper dog van with aircon for the pooches.

Electric tailgates are nasty when they go wrong, also when the struts wear out, the tailgate can slam so hard it'll chop off limbs....

Hope you get it sorted. All the best.
 
That's quite worrying Ian - thank goodness the boot wasn't occupied. I have to say it's not a problem I've come across before as normally people can access the emergency boot release... keep us posted.
 
Hi all and thanks for the comments so far.

In answer to above we used to be able to bring the dog vans home but after one was petrol bombed on their drive they decided we should use our own cars!!!

After a mornings work at my Dad's we have it sorted.

Started off by checking the locking mechanism and all seemed to look okay. The springs were tight , everything well greased so I didn't mess about with it any further.

As I did not want to put the dogs at risk I decided I needed a fail safe override mechanism.

I started by finding a suitable cable that was coated in a rubber tube (one my Dad had lying about in his garage).

We then drilled a hole through the metal release catch and the outer white plastic housing. We were then able to pass the inner cable through this hole and crimp an electrical fitting to the end to stop it pulling through ( see picture)

http://i39.tinypic.com/2n87wgi.jpg
 
Next stage was then to drill a hole through the tailgate (yes a bit scary) but we managed to find a spot next to the tailgate release catch next to the number plate light. This was both hidden and under cover for the elements.

I then passed the cable and outer rubber tube through this hole.

A handle was then required so I decided to create a loop and add the rubber tubing to it so that is doesn't cut into your hands.

We then managed to crimp this loop and that was it.

Several test were then carried out and RESULT , it worked!!

I was then able to push the cable and handle up into the gap above the number plate so that it could not be seen.

The tailgate is working and hopefully it will carry on but at least I now have an emergency rip cord !!

Here are the pics.

http://i42.tinypic.com/osd24m.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/99nkv8.jpg
 
Good work there mate. Hopefully I wont need to do this to mine but its good you've made something up for us to follow if needed.
 
Good work there mate. Hopefully I wont need to do this to mine but its good you've made something up for us to follow if needed.
 
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