OK, the tailgate lock power is on when in the tailgate is fully in up positon, but as it moves down to the last 2 feet before latching, it powers off.

Where do I start to look? How do I fix?

Thanx.

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03 CLK430 Cabrio 211K Pweter Silver/ Oyster Leather
90 300SEL 214k Pearl Black/ Alto Grey/Black Leather

Prior: 85 190E, 88 300TE, 89 300TE, 90 300E 2.6, 90 300TE, 92 300E 2.6, 91 and 93 300SL, 87 Ferrari Mondial Cabrio

Look at the electrical wiring near the driver's side tailgate hinge.

This typically fails and the best solution is a new wiring harness.

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Kent Christensen
Albuquerque
'07 GL320CDI, '10 CL550. '01 Porsche Boxster
Two BMW motorcycles

Kent,

Sounds expensive and complicated. How do I access this area to inspect it? I already took apart the facia and lowered the headliner (I was installing lift cylinders as well) and found nothing at the "screw on contacts end" that looked out of the ordinary (no burnouts, blackend connections, etc.).

I also tried to find the part at Fastlane, but couldn't. Is this a dealer-only item?

Thanx.

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03 CLK430 Cabrio 211K Pweter Silver/ Oyster Leather
90 300SEL 214k Pearl Black/ Alto Grey/Black Leather

Prior: 85 190E, 88 300TE, 89 300TE, 90 300E 2.6, 90 300TE, 92 300E 2.6, 91 and 93 300SL, 87 Ferrari Mondial Cabrio

The wires will break inside the harness where they bend every time the door is lifted/lowered.

When I replaced one 4-5 years ago, cost was about $110 for the part.

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Kent Christensen
Albuquerque
'07 GL320CDI, '10 CL550. '01 Porsche Boxster
Two BMW motorcycles

it's possible to repair the harness harness also. once you remove the top trim cover and expose the big terminal block, you can probe all the wires at each end of the harness and figure out which one(s) are bad. i did this on my wagon, not so much because i wanted to save the 100 bucks for the new harness, but because i had everything apart and wanted to fix it at that time.

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punkinfair

I'm just celebrating having all the electrics working in my 1992 300TE.

The soft close tailgate, rear wiper washer and centre stoplight stopped a couple of years ago.

It seems 90% of tailgate problems are with the LHS wiring as it passes through the grommet. When I removed the rear roof trim I found 4 wires that were obviously broken and then 3 others that were also about to fail. The other 6 tested OK.
I still can't believe that there's 13 wires going through that grommet!
After repairs and shrink wrap the toughest part of the whole job was pulling all the wires back through. I managed it 2 and 3 at a time with a wire coathanger hook that I kept covering in electrical tape to stop it ripping the grommet to pieces.

Good luck to any who try it. Good idea to search for a wiring diagram first as well.
Cheers
Stu
1992 300TE