Tailgate hinge bolt snapped

[Aardvark4Design]

One of the bolts holding the plate to the hinges on my auto-open estate tailgate has sheared off, so it looks like a tialgate off completly job! Is this a difficult job? Has anyone heard of this happening before as there appears to be only one small bolt either side.

[G0rdon]

You know what, mine did exactly the same only a few weeks ago. It's a 2006 model and the bolt on the right hand side has sheared. It's the one that connects the black bit that looks like part of the opening / closing mechanism to the main hinge. Opening seems fine as it effectively pushes it but, on closing, you can see that this bit isn't doing anything and all the load is on the other side.

Was trying to figure out if it was easy just to undo the bolts holding it altogether on the affected side, drill out the sheared bolt and replace, but haven't got around to doing anything as yet. Guess the tailgate would have to be supported somehow if this was the course of action? Also, wonder if it could be welded in situ?

Notwithstanding the car is out of warranty, I'm guessing a dealer would class it as 'wear and tear' so would have no comeback? It's obviously a part under a lot of stress which has eventually caused it to shear.

[Aardvark4Design]

Dealer quoted me 3-4 hours labour + parts (89p for 2 bolts!) but I managed it in 25mins. Feel free to PM me and I'll give you my number and you can give me a call and I will talk you through it.

[G0rdon]

You'll have to PM me if you don't mind as I'm getting the message: "Note: Until your post count is 10 you will be able to send PMs to Staff only."

Doh!

[mywifespassat]

This just happened to our Passat wagon and I slightly baffled on how to remove the remaining portion of the bolts (both sides are snapped). The access is VERY small so drilling/tapping seems out. I'm thinking of either lowering the door slightly and trying to angled the screw portion so I can manage to back it out (or go forward) OR remove the damn hinge completely and support the tailgate and remove the screw.

[Aardvark4Design]

This just happened to our Passat wagon and I slightly baffled on how to remove the remaining portion of the bolts (both sides are snapped). The access is VERY small so drilling/tapping seems out. I'm thinking of either lowering the door slightly and trying to angled the screw portion so I can manage to back it out (or go forward) OR remove the damn hinge completely and support the tailgate and remove the screw.

Feel free to give me a ring and I will talk you through it.
07843 913 723

[mywifespassat]

Feel free to give me a ring and I will talk you through it.

Firstly, A4D is a great guy to talk to, and he was very gracious in scheduling our overseas chat

So the idea is to remove the hinge to get access to the portion of the snapped bolt that's still in the threads since the access to this portion is pretty much impossible as installed. The top portion of the hinge that connects to the actual tailgate has 2 screws with a hex head (will post size when I do it), and the lower portion that connects to the car has 2 ROUND-headed bolts that I initially thought might be rivets but "Aardvark4Design" indicated that on the reverse side there are nuts. How to get to the reverse side? Well if I understood correctly, there's some plastic trim near the dome light below the area where these nuts would be accessible. It looks like it could be removed but I played with it a bit and I didn't find a way to do it without breaking it. Also, it's not clear how those lower bolts can be removed without having those ROUND heads turning too. A4D? I'll also take some pics because I feel this is bound to happen to others since heads snapping is an odd failure unless they're safety bolts, which they don't seem to be. In my case BOTH bolts are snapped, probably at different times as A4D pointed-out.

PS: Sorry I couldn't PM you, the site won't let newbies send PMs.

[Aardvark4Design]

Firstly, A4D is a great guy to talk to, and he was very gracious in scheduling our overseas chat

So the idea is to remove the hinge to get access to the portion of the snapped bolt that's still in the threads since the access to this portion is pretty much impossible as installed. The top portion of the hinge that connects to the actual tailgate has 2 screws with a hex head (will post size when I do it), and the lower portion that connects to the car has 2 ROUND-headed bolts that I initially thought might be rivets but "Aardvark4Design" indicated that on the reverse side there are nuts. How to get to the reverse side? Well if I understood correctly, there's some plastic trim near the dome light below the area where these nuts would be accessible. It looks like it could be removed but I played with it a bit and I didn't find a way to do it without breaking it. Also, it's not clear how those lower bolts can be removed without having those ROUND heads turning too. A4D? I'll also take some pics because I feel this is bound to happen to others since heads snapping is an odd failure unless they're safety bolts, which they don't seem to be. In my case BOTH bolts are snapped, probably at different times as A4D pointed-out.

PS: Sorry I couldn't PM you, the site won't let newbies send PMs.

top trim.jpg
This is the trim to remove, you may have to remove the side trim also. The bolts between the hinge and the car are retained/fixed to the hinge so will not spin when you undo the nuts from the other end.

[celindho]

Do i just pull the trim in order to remove it or is there some kind of special trick I need to know about?

Thanks in advance.

[Aardvark4Design]

Do i just pull the trim in order to remove it or is there some kind of special trick I need to know about?

Thanks in advance.

You just need to gently pull it down.