[Fi30cw2009]

SOLVED: it was corrosion in the wiring harness connector between the rear door's harness and the assembly for the numberplate lights and the boot handle switch. See my response #15 for more details and pics.

Original problem:

So I have a 2009 i30cw, and for a while now the boot door has been tricky to open from the outside. Sometimes the mechanism works, sometimes not. At first it was happening in hot weather, but recently it's stopped working at all. Climbing over the back seats and manually tripping the mechanism from the manual release always works, so there's nothing wrong with the catch mechanically.

During my annual maintenance this year I asked them to look at it, and they said that the "rear door cable set" (takakontin johtosarja - I live in Finland, so I'm trying to translate it as best as I can understand). They also said that it would cost at least 500 euros for the replacement part, plus installation, which is outside of my budget right now.

I'm just wondering if anybody else has experienced this sort of failure, and if anybody might have some advice (up to and including where to find a spare part, as I know there are Finns on these boards - but in any case I'm guessing I'd probably have to source a rear door from a wrecked car, and have the garage swap out the cabling).

I'm even willing to open it up and poke around myself if anybody has any good ideas. Right now, all I can think of is running a cable around the inside of the car for pulling at the mechanical release from a distance, and forgetting about being able to open it from the outside at all. The annoying thing is that we have a few months old baby, so we need to open the boot regularly to get the pram in and out. Grr.

[eye30]

There are several posts about door cables.

If you try the search function by typing in such as door cable, door sticking, or some other phrases associated with this issue you should get some hits.

Also, i recall there may be an official recall on door cable.  Again this should show up in search.

[Phil №❶]

What cables

Unless the cw is different to the hatch, I'm not aware of any cables for tailgate door lock. Ours is a solid metal lock by the feel of it.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. 

[Dazzler]

They use an actuator as far as I am aware. Which is like a solonoid switch. If it was a broken cable you wouldn't be able to open it sometimes. These actuators are known to play up on Hyundais from time to time. My friend's Veloster had one replaced in her boot twice. First replacement still didn't work. I've got the impression there is a bit of work in switching them out. Our super techie @cruiserfied should be able to tell us more....

[Phil №❶]

Hmmm 

[cruiserfied]

@Dazzler i havent had an FD tailgate apart for ages.
I cant remember if its cable or rod between outer handle and latch. Im guessing its cable, rods rarely fail like that.
Cheapest and easiest would be trying to source a replacement cable. But you'd need to be sure you know what you need to get.

[cruiserfied]

Wait a minute. Arent they electric release? Im so confused (my own brain not by o/p)

[Phil №❶]

So if battery is dead, you can't open the tailgate. 

[eye30]

You can.
There is an emergency release behind a panel you need to prise out

[Dazzler]

Wait a minute. Arent they electric release? Im so confused (my own brain not by o/p)

Yeah I thought they were electric?

[sundiz]

I have one extra rear door license plate assy, if that is the thing you need. Comes with the lights and boot release switch. I could sell you this one or give hint where to order one quite cheap (takes about month to deliver). I may be able to find you instructions so you could do it yourself. Give me PM if you are interested.

Light lenses are old (fixed). Switch and cables are new.

[Fi30cw2009]

They use an actuator as far as I am aware. Which is like a solonoid switch. If it was a broken cable you wouldn't be able to open it sometimes. These actuators are known to play up on Hyundais from time to time.

I can only go by what the garage told me (coupled with a possibly dodgy translation). For a while it was working intermittently, generally failing in hotter weather. Now it seems to have failed completely.

There is an emergency release behind a panel you need to prise out

I've been using that for the last year or so (I'm almost at the point of wiring a cable to it, so that I can tug it easily). I've been regularly climbing over the back seat to release the catch. Annoying when there's a pram or other ungainly junk filling the boot.

I cant remember if its cable or rod between outer handle and latch. Im guessing its cable, rods rarely fail like that.
Cheapest and easiest would be trying to source a replacement cable. But you'd need to be sure you know what you need to get.

I have one extra rear door license plate assy, if that is the thing you need. Comes with the lights and boot release switch. I could sell you this one or give hint where to order one quite cheap (takes about month to deliver). I may be able to find you instructions so you could do it yourself. Give me PM if you are interested.

Hmm, I've no idea if it's part of the same electrical assembly. I might prise open the boot door inner covering and have a look. I'm definitely interested though, in any case - my rear license plate light covers are shattering (one has vanished, the other is hanging by a single screw) and one of the bulb holders' metal springs has partially rusted off due to exposure. Currently the bulb is held in place by solder, hot glue, and luck. It's not a pretty sight, but the cheapest replacement I found (on eBay) was 45 euros...

[sundiz]

This is just me thinking aloud: I would assume there are 3 "most" possible causes for the failure.

1. Broken microswitch. This is part of the license plate light assy. You should be able to test it short circuiting the microswitch lines from the connector which comes to the assy. I need to check the electric wiring from repair manual tomorrow.

2. Bad or loose wire in the connector. Just connect it again.

3. The wire has broken somewhere near at the hinge due repeating movement. You would need new wiring, not light assy.

Of course there is a possibility that the problem is somewhere else...

[ibrokeit]

Yes - it is an electric release (with manual 'emergency' release internally accessible inside a small cover panel in the trim panel the height and width of the boot under the rear window).

[ibrokeit]

 

@sundiz - I think that is good advice on possible causes, how to detect and/or action to take, I would add one more though...

• It could be the actuator has become faulty - the issue is, of course, testing for that... if you have multimeter you could possiably check for coil resistance, etc..   Of course if 2 or 3 in sundiz's post isn't the cause then - when the test for 1 (shorting wires out) is done it should indicate if it is working or not.   Trouble is knowing that 2&3 are not involved.

And yes it is part of the same electrical assembly - the boot door release for i30cw is part of the number plate loom... plugging into a connector.   Mine got replaced under warranty - after an apprentice (seemingly) put higher wattage bulbs that the ones rated - caused the lenses to crack and bulb surrounds to melt.

[Fi30cw2009]

So it looks like I found the problem. I had to replace the number plate light assembly in any case, and the door handle is part of the same assembly. I got one from sundiz, and when I got back, I disassembled the rear door plastic (an easy job, just a couple of screws and some plastic catches).

When I came to disconnect the light assembly from the rear door's wiring harness, however, it started to get fun. Pulling out the connector generated a small flow of powder, and when I looked at the connector, I could see that the inside of it was green with corrosion, and at least two of the pins had disintegrated completely. This explains why the door handle function had been erratic before failing entirely. I didn't have a new connector block for the harness side, so after replacing the assembly, i simply chopped off both connector blocks and soldered the wires together. I noticed that the corrosion had worked its way up inside the insulation of some of the wires - the copper was tarnished black inside. I cleaned that up a bit before soldering, in order to make a good contact. Works perfectly now!

I'm just wondering about that connector block. It seems like a QC failure - nothing else was damp or damaged, so there was probably some damp inside the connector at assembly time, which has been slowly corroding away ever since. Disappointing.

[Dazzler]

 

[The Gonz]

I do love a good diagnostic post.

[sundiz]

 

Nice to hear that you got it fixed.

[Dazzler]

Nice to hear that you got it fixed.

Great to see one member helping out another with hardware.