is this on led or oem lights?
Barn-door To Tailgate Conversion
- Thread starter Ads_Essex
- Start date
it is to fit LED tail lights.
I think you’re asking whether you can use the loom from your barn door and install it in your tailgate? From memory, I think a tailgate loom is longer, so I’d say no. But I never measured mine because I sold the doors with loom included, so it’s worth a try, by all means.
no i can see that the loom in my 2 door car is easy to change only 4 Connectors in front With the bcm, so the question is that if i take out the loom from the crashed car, and put it in my car i think it will be as a oem tailving car...anyone tryed that? then i think it only should be to code the car,and all Connectors should be ok...
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I only started my tailgate conversion 2 years ago, but with time off and not being able to go anywhere I thought I would do a bit more.
The lower cover plates have never been fixed in, they can't fall out but do rattle. Remove the rear light and you'll see just 2 fixing holes at the top. Mark the hole centres and drill an 8mm hole.
Paint the holes with some rust proof paint. I used hammerite black smooth. Fix the covers in place using an expanding plastic rivet. The correct ones are black but are idendical to the clips used to hole the ply panels in place, so I reused them.
Job done. No rattles.
The lower cover plates have never been fixed in, they can't fall out but do rattle. Remove the rear light and you'll see just 2 fixing holes at the top. Mark the hole centres and drill an 8mm hole.
Paint the holes with some rust proof paint. I used hammerite black smooth. Fix the covers in place using an expanding plastic rivet. The correct ones are black but are idendical to the clips used to hole the ply panels in place, so I reused them.
Job done. No rattles.
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Next up is the tailgate support brackets. Without these the tailgate can wobble over bumps and causes a anoying squeek. It's supprising how much quiter the van is with them in.
Again, mark the centers and drill a 9.1mm (9mm with a wiggle), paint the body to protect it.
Use a rivet tool to insert 2 M6 rivet nuts.
Then simply screw the brackets on.
You'll notice the grommet hole for the harness to the rear barn doors is no longer used. I didn't have any grommets to cover them so I sealled them with some spare dynamat,
All done and much quieter.
Again, mark the centers and drill a 9.1mm (9mm with a wiggle), paint the body to protect it.
Use a rivet tool to insert 2 M6 rivet nuts.
Then simply screw the brackets on.
You'll notice the grommet hole for the harness to the rear barn doors is no longer used. I didn't have any grommets to cover them so I sealled them with some spare dynamat,
All done and much quieter.
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I've had a few people contact me to ask how to wire up the tailgate lock, so here's how.
Why it's different
The barn doors uses a mechanical lock similar to the front doors. When you unlock the van, the body control module (BCM) sends power to all the locks for a fraction of a second which moves a solenoid in the locks to unlock them.
The tailgate uses electrical switched on the outside and inside of the tailgate, and sometimes one in the front door to tell the BCM to open the tailgate lock. Even though these switches are pressed, the BCM will only open the tailgate if the van isn't moving and the doors are unlocked.
How do you do it?
The wire telling the lock to unlock on the barn doors can't be used and needs to be cut and taped up. This wires does go back to the BCM but is still needed to unlock the front doors so don't change this wire on the BCM.
You need to add 2 wires to the tailgate connector from the BCM, one for the switches, and one for the lock.
Connections.
The tailgate has it's own harness with a 17pin connector joining it to the van.
1 - LOCK - From Pin14 on the tailgate 17pin connector to Pin10 on the black plug of the BCM.
2 - Switch - From Pin13 on the tailgate 17pin connector to Pin23 on the black plug of the BCM. (If you want any additional switches to open the tailgate, just add another switch in parallel earthing Pin23 from the BCM)
3 - The tailgate needs an earth. Pin 15 needs connecting to the earth point down the D-Pillar near the rear light.
Coding
Now you need to tell the BCM that a tailgate is fitted and it needs to look for the switch signal.
Using VCDS, go to Module 9 Central Electrics and enable these.
Byte 01 Bit 5 Central Locking/Rear Lid: Contact controlled on detent
Byte 01 Bit 7 Central Locking/Rear Lid: Rear Lid Locking/Unlocking via Central Locking
Byte 07 Bit 5 Central Locking/Rear Lid: One-Motor-Lock installed
(This is from memory, hopefully someone can check it)
Testing
Hopefully at this point your tailgate is working correctly.
To test the lock, you can manually trigger it using VCDS.
VCDS monitors if the latch is fully engaged or not. Select Measuring Blocks Group 006:
To check if the BCM is
getting the signal to open the lock, the statu
s shown in Group 008, field 4. Just indicates that the switch is pressed or not.
Could someone following this let be know if I've made any errors and I'll correct this post. Thanks to MMI to helping me understand this and getting mine working.
Why it's different
The barn doors uses a mechanical lock similar to the front doors. When you unlock the van, the body control module (BCM) sends power to all the locks for a fraction of a second which moves a solenoid in the locks to unlock them.
The tailgate uses electrical switched on the outside and inside of the tailgate, and sometimes one in the front door to tell the BCM to open the tailgate lock. Even though these switches are pressed, the BCM will only open the tailgate if the van isn't moving and the doors are unlocked.
How do you do it?
The wire telling the lock to unlock on the barn doors can't be used and needs to be cut and taped up. This wires does go back to the BCM but is still needed to unlock the front doors so don't change this wire on the BCM.
You need to add 2 wires to the tailgate connector from the BCM, one for the switches, and one for the lock.
Connections.
The tailgate has it's own harness with a 17pin connector joining it to the van.
1 - LOCK - From Pin14 on the tailgate 17pin connector to Pin10 on the black plug of the BCM.
2 - Switch - From Pin13 on the tailgate 17pin connector to Pin23 on the black plug of the BCM. (If you want any additional switches to open the tailgate, just add another switch in parallel earthing Pin23 from the BCM)
3 - The tailgate needs an earth. Pin 15 needs connecting to the earth point down the D-Pillar near the rear light.
Coding
Now you need to tell the BCM that a tailgate is fitted and it needs to look for the switch signal.
Using VCDS, go to Module 9 Central Electrics and enable these.
Byte 01 Bit 5 Central Locking/Rear Lid: Contact controlled on detent
Byte 01 Bit 7 Central Locking/Rear Lid: Rear Lid Locking/Unlocking via Central Locking
Byte 07 Bit 5 Central Locking/Rear Lid: One-Motor-Lock installed
(This is from memory, hopefully someone can check it)
Testing
Hopefully at this point your tailgate is working correctly.
To test the lock, you can manually trigger it using VCDS.
VCDS monitors if the latch is fully engaged or not. Select Measuring Blocks Group 006:
Field 2, field 3 = "Open", "Open" = when rear lid fully open
Field 2, field 3 = "Closed", "Open" = when rear lid ajar (at first latch).
In the picture below the lid was obviously closed.
To check if the BCM is
getting the signal to open the lock, the statu
s shown in Group 008, field 4. Just indicates that the switch is pressed or not.
Could someone following this let be know if I've made any errors and I'll correct this post. Thanks to MMI to helping me understand this and getting mine working.
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Connecting the Heated Rear Screen.
This sounds easy but it was a pain. You need to change the heater controls for a matching unit but with the extra button for the heated rear screen. This is simply plug and play and no wiring is needed. It uses CAN to send a message to the BCM to turn on the rear screen or not.
I brought a unit from an old Golf for £10 and took minutes to swap over.
You now need to run 1x 2.5mm^2 cable from Pin73 of the white BCM plug to Pin 17 (check, it could be pin16). I'm assuming you already have the earth cable attached or you won't have the brake light or number plate lights.
I couldn't find the correct terminal to go in the BCM. It's the largest size pin 6.3 mm wide. If anyone knows where to get this terminal, please post on here. I used a pin from a BMW who I work for, but it doesn't click in correctly.
This sounds easy but it was a pain. You need to change the heater controls for a matching unit but with the extra button for the heated rear screen. This is simply plug and play and no wiring is needed. It uses CAN to send a message to the BCM to turn on the rear screen or not.
I brought a unit from an old Golf for £10 and took minutes to swap over.
Using VCDS, go to Module 9 Central Electrics and enable Byte 15 Bit 7 Heated Rear Window installed.
You can check with VCDS through adaptions if the switched is pressed and recognised by BCM.
You can check with VCDS through adaptions if the switched is pressed and recognised by BCM.
You now need to run 1x 2.5mm^2 cable from Pin73 of the white BCM plug to Pin 17 (check, it could be pin16). I'm assuming you already have the earth cable attached or you won't have the brake light or number plate lights.
I couldn't find the correct terminal to go in the BCM. It's the largest size pin 6.3 mm wide. If anyone knows where to get this terminal, please post on here. I used a pin from a BMW who I work for, but it doesn't click in correctly.
Dave Williams
New Member
Hi, we've just done this conversion to our van, but have found that a genuine tailgated van has a much stronger (thicker, 3mm double-skinned plus the spreader plates) roof/closing panel - where the tailgate hinges go.
So even with the genuine spreader plates fitted, there is still way too much flex as you open and close the tailgate.
I'm concerned that after some use it's going to seriously weaken/fatigue it.
Has anyone else noticed this? The whole point of the conversion for me was to add a genuine or fiamma bike rack, I'm not sure about the extra weight now!
Has anyone converted to tailgate and then added 4 bikes?
Thanks!!
So even with the genuine spreader plates fitted, there is still way too much flex as you open and close the tailgate.
I'm concerned that after some use it's going to seriously weaken/fatigue it.
Has anyone else noticed this? The whole point of the conversion for me was to add a genuine or fiamma bike rack, I'm not sure about the extra weight now!
Has anyone converted to tailgate and then added 4 bikes?
Thanks!!
I did notice flex when I was using uprated Gas struts, but hadn’t measured the difference between a barn-door and tailgate van.
Again, not sure what the solution would be.
Probably worth adding this here:
www.t6forum.com
(Coding the van to accept the tailgate LED numberplate bulbs)
‘Light Out’ warning on after tailgate conversion.
I've converted my barn doors to a tailgate with LED lights. But I have a orange warning for bulb out on the instruments. VCDS scan showed no fault codes. If I go into 17-Instruments and go into measured values, what should I be looking for? The only concern I've found is "Status on input...
(Coding the van to accept the tailgate LED numberplate bulbs)
Copied from another of my posts.
Wiper Stalks.
Wiper Stalks.
You don't need new steering column stalks unless you want the text. If you take the controls off and open them, you'll see a little plastic tab stopping the arm being pushed away into the rear wiper position. File it off and the controls will work. As far as I can tell, all wiper stalks have the contacts for the rear wiper.
You'll need to run 2 wires from the wiper talks to the tailgate, and another from the fuse box.
Washer Jet
You'll need a new washer jet pump with the 2 outlets. The wiring is the same for all vans and doesn't need changing. The pump spins one direction for the front, and the other direction for the rear. When you change (or mod) the wiper stalks, the screen wash motor will work. The washer bottle remains the same, its only a new pump and a hose that is needed.
You'll need to run 2 wires from the wiper talks to the tailgate, and another from the fuse box.
Washer Jet
You'll need a new washer jet pump with the 2 outlets. The wiring is the same for all vans and doesn't need changing. The pump spins one direction for the front, and the other direction for the rear. When you change (or mod) the wiper stalks, the screen wash motor will work. The washer bottle remains the same, its only a new pump and a hose that is needed.
Can anybody confirm this?
I'm really interested in this retrofit but don't want to get 2/3 years down the line and have a mechanical failure of the roof mounting points due to fatigue of the metal around the hinges.
I too would be interested to hear the answer.
For what it’s worth, my van doesn’t show any fatigue after three years. With uprated struts and no weight on the tailgate, some flex was evident; with a Cali blind + chairs mounted to the tailgate, no flex is visible.
I would never think that VW would have 2 separate basic bodies for Tailgate & Barn-doors, my '16 Barn door has the holes pre-drilled for both TG and BD. So in a manufacturing world it's more efficient to keep the panels the same.
Otherwise why would they be drilled for both?
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so where do you run (white wires) Wire 50 from the door release motor, wire 5 from the door latch, wire 52 from door latch trigger, wire 5 and 202 from the number plate lamps. Or are they all just to the earth pin ? @Littleblackflash
Hi there, which washer pump did you buy? Was it a generic one like this or do you know the VW part number? VistaPro Washer Pump | Euro Car Parts
