rear hatch won't unlock

For some reason the rear hatch on the 05 GT Wagon won't "unlock" from either the key fob or the drivers door.

It will lock from the key fob or the drivers door but will not unlock.

According to a wiring diagram there is only one wire that controls it (?) I'm not good with electrical so my Audi buddy found that only one wire controls it. Is he correct ?

You can move the lever down by hand and it will open from the outside when not locked.

I guess I'll have to price up a lock mechanism.

Any body have any thought's ?

Body integrated unit, that's a new one on me.

Where would that be located ?

I recently replaced the whole set-up as mine would not open either way...it was a broken mechanism cable!

Sounds different but maybe this is a symptom of what mine did in the end?

J

I recently replaced the whole set-up as mine would not open either way...it was a broken mechanism cable!

 

Sounds different but maybe this is a symptom of what mine did in the end?

 

J

Is that cable in the mechanism ? 05 Wagons don't have cable if I remember right. There are 2 connectors to yellowish plastic mechanism.

i was going to suggest maybe something simply got caught in the mechanism

I'll check when I'm with the car over the weekend. It's at my son's house, where 90% of our tools are. The tranny is out of it and I need to replaces the rear diff, but that's in a different thread.

FYI, Found this on the BIU doing a web search.

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/80-electrical-electronics/19097-biu-body-integrated-unit-location-print.html

Pull off the hatch trim and check for interference while pushing the unlock button.

Better that it get stuck locked, than unlocked. But a terminally locked hatch, turns your versatile wagon into the most inconvenient sedan in the world.

Is it locked closed?

Fold down the seats and crawl into the car. There is a lock access panel in the middle of the hatch. It's oblong shaped, and pops off with a panel tool or screwdriver. From there, you can use a screwdriver to pop open the latch and open the hatch. Then, pull the trim off and visually inspect the system. You should be able to disconnect the harness from here, and use a multimeter to probe and find out if voltage is going to the connector when unlock is pressed. If so, then it's a mechanism fault. If not, then it is almost definitely a BIU problem.

You can remove the rear trim piece off of the outside of the car, there are like 18 bolts to remove, you need a deep-well 8mm socket to get them out. Once that is unbolted, you need to unplug the license plate lights, the reverse lights, and pull the wiring harness out of the door (a rubber plug).

That'll give you access to the handle from the outside.

Then, unbolt the handle and replace the whole latch unit.

Looks like the PN is 63032AG00B for the latch and actuator, and should cost a little less than $50.

If you need to replace the handle as well, that PN is 63160AG00A which costs about $20 or so.

Thanks, Yes it was locked.

Yes we figured out how to get into the it from the inside and move the lever down to unlock it.

I sent your directions to my Audi buddy, I let him do all the electrical trouble shooting. He's real good with that kind of stuff.

If it's completely silent when trying to unlock I suspect the BIU but if it actually does something it's likely to be mechanical.

If I remember right it's pretty much silent. We'll play with it tomorrow.

Thanks for your help.

We found out the latch is getting power in both direstions. We removed the mechanism, the two brass colored screws. Didn't have to remove any plastic panels.

I'll order the mechanism Monday.

Just stopped by the dealer. $108.00 for 60319FA201 He gave me the copy of the picture that he printed "B12 Back door parts" the mechanism is #63100 in the picture.

I'll PM BAC5.2 and see if that's a good price.

$108 is a pretty raw dog price:

http://www.subaruparts.com/cart/?pn=60319FA201 - $85 shipped.

Thanks again

The part should be here next week somtime.

Just happened to me today too. Lock works but unlock doesn't. Thread is still useful nine years later.

P.S. Not sure what happened with Maxcapacity, but the Subaru catalog shows the part number he provided was for the 3rd gen Legacy. The actuator I found for 4th gen. is 63032AG00B.

I think I still have that 3rd Gen latch in the shed in the box it came with.

Mine ended up being the wire harness up in that area of the rubber grommet if I remember correctly.

Sorry, and I really hate it when people fix a problem and don't come back here and tell us what fixed it...I hate being that guy. LOL

From my experience at the dealership this was pretty common on this generation of outback/legacy.

Most common was the hinge on the handle itself becomes corroded, and then when the door is opened the handle stays in the open position. This will prevent the door from properly closing as it won’t latch but it will also prevent it from locking of course. I saw this all to often. Normally people didn’t want to pay to fix it so you just show them how to return the handle into the closed position and then the door will close and lock.

Next most common was like max capacity said. The wiring at the top of the door under the accordion rubber boot will go bad from flexing so many times over the years. Rear gate harness has to be replaced.

Hi guys.

Just registered here.

So central locking work just from switch inside car and NOT using key in fob.

So now... I found that rear gate actuator doesnt work and problem was about 7 wires in right rubber cover was cut.

So I soldered them and now iam only able to unlock (when pushing lever on actuator to lock) from inside switch but not lock from it. Any ideas ? Should i search for broken cables from drivers door to car ? Or it coudl be bad BIU ?

Thanks for any help.