Liftgate finish handle, trim busted off

[VerbalK]

Man, really love everything "important" about my 2013 SE, but jeez, all the trim pieces are crap.

 

Notice the lift handle was separating on right side.  Fixed with some gorilla tape.   and now about 3/4s of it popped off.  Looks like the whole assembly is attached to four clips with thin strips of paperthin plastic.

 

Looks like the part is about $100, but I don't know if that include the adhesive to attach to life gate (or how to remove the old adhesive without destroying finish.

 

Anybody have a way of jury rig this (preferably without a roll of gorilla tape)

 

http://www.oepartsstore.com/p/Ford_2016_C-Max/Release-handle-Rear-wo-rear-camera/54097336/AM5Z5843400AAPTM.html

[scottwood2]

You might want to look for service bulletins on this.  I had this same problem with my Scion xB and Toyota eventually offered repair or reimbursement of the cost. 

[jmk]

Yup. Just happened to me/us this past week. 4 tiny little plastic 'straps connect the top of the cover the the lower, and the lifting force of the tailgate pulls the lower joint apart (someone ought to show Ford engineers how to use a free-body diagram for calculating lifting forces...oh wait, some noob used computer generated code to create a mesh and 'analyzed' it....kid engineers these days...no practical sense...end rant). So what I did is drill and counter bore a small hole on the underside of the cover. I also drilled 2 small holes in each of the plastic 'straps' very close to the end that separated. Besides some clamps and tape to hold the shape while curing, I used my go-to-for-broken-Ford-plastic (I have a 2006 Mazda...works on that too) adhesive - Gorilla Glue. I was sure to let it ooze through the holes I bored, in addition to making sure the broken (and cleaned) seams were addressed. Doing a 24hr cure. Will see. I've seen the part on the 'net for <$90 not incl shipping, but then I'd have to paint the tri-color platinum white. Glue first....buy and paint if I have to. What a miserable design detail.

 

Like to pic a few pics, but no can do...

Edited July 23, 2017 by jmk

[SnowStorm]

That thing has worried me as our catch has been hard to release unless its kept greased.  I've yanked up rather hard at time but it hasn't broken (may be a bit loose though).  Will stop doing that now and keep it greased!  Totally agree with any rant about lousy design of stuff like this.

[rmlow_76]

I had my release handle tear off completely one night.  Ford quoted about $450 to paint and replace with a new handle.  Found one at a salvage yard for about $70 shipped.  Unless i figure out how to remove all the interior trim to get to the mounting bolts, I'll have to pay Ford to install it.

[BIG ROCCO]

I guess this might make the electric liftgate a nice feature?

[714jpp]

Having the exact same problem. Darn handle coming off the right side, been asking family members to be careful lifting it gently thinking in time I was going to fix it by taking off the trim off and tighten up some screws.

 

Anybody thought about reaching out to Ford for a covered service replacement?  

 

I'm out of warranty but thinking they may still cover such a poorly design flaw. 

Edited September 25, 2017 by 714jpp

[plus 3 golfer]

About a year ago I'd had the right side seem loose.   After looking underneat, the "apparent" plastic tab under the far right broke off.    When lifting the tailgate there was considerable separation between the handle and body of the lift gate on the right side.  Here's a pic of my solution.

 

 

Note the two strips of clear packing tape.  I used a putty knife to try to push the packing tape tight against the handle first by holding the tape away from the body of the liftback and then pressing the tape against the body.  In this way there is very little gap between the handle and body.  Even though the left side of the handle is solid, I put packing tape on the left side also.  This seems to be working out fine as there is virtually no movement (separation) of the handle from the body when opening the liftgate.

Edited September 25, 2017 by Plus 3 Golfer

[714jpp]

Thanks for posting your solution. 

 

Wondering how difficult it is to remove the trim and trying something more permanent through there. 

[plus 3 golfer]

IMO, for a foot or so of tape, the handle now appears solid and it should mitigate the likelihood of additonal plastic tabs breaking.  My wife and I are also now careful not to jerk the hatch open.

 

Here's how you get to the 4 bolts that hold the handle in place.

[714jpp]

IMO, for a foot or so of tape, the handle now appears solid and it should mitigate the likelihood of additonal plastic tabs breaking.  My wife and I are also now careful not to jerk the hatch open.

 

Here's how you get to the 4 bolts that hold the handle in place.

Trim 1.JPGTrim 2.JPGTrim 3.JPG

Very much appreciate you posting these, will be very helpful to me.  

 

So let me see if I got this right, you just applied a good heavy duty clear packing tape to the handle and body and by using a putty knife to first press agains the separation and then to the rest of the body and it's holding up for you. ? 

[plus 3 golfer]

Very much appreciate you posting these, will be very helpful to me.  

 

So let me see if I got this right, you just applied a good heavy duty clear packing tape to the handle and body and by using a putty knife to first press agains the separation and then to the rest of the body and it's holding up for you. ? 

Yes, it's 3M, heavy duting, packaging tape. 

 

The tape is very sticky and because it's a 90 degree angle between the body and handle, you need to keep the tape from touching the body and handle at the same time to minimize the separation.  You will not be able to use the putty knife to press against the seperation if the tape is adhered to both the body and handle as the tape does not stretch.  It took me a few tries to push the handle towards the body to minimize the seperation while holding the putty knife against the tape and not having the tape touch both the body and handle until the gap is minimized.  Perhaps, a second set of hands would help.

 

The key though is to lift the handle up when opening the hatch and not to pull out on the handle when opening.  Not doing so, is likely why the tab broke in the first place.  So, given this, the tape is holding up. 

 

Edit: also, there are slight curved surfaces involved.  After a few attempts, a couple of shorter tape strips is easier to apply than one long strip per side.  There are less wrinkles in the two short strips.

Edited September 29, 2017 by Plus 3 Golfer

[714jpp]

Yes, it's 3M, heavy duting, packaging tape. 

 

The tape is very sticky and because it's a 90 degree angle between the body and handle, you need to keep the tape from touching the body and handle at the same time to minimize the separation.  You will not be able to use the putty knife to press against the seperation if the tape is adhered to both the body and handle as the tape does not stretch.  It took me a few tries to push the handle towards the body to minimize the seperation while holding the putty knife against the tape and not having the tape touch both the body and handle until the gap is minimized.  Perhaps, a second set of hands would help.

 

The key though is to lift the handle up when opening the hatch and not to pull out on the handle when opening.  Not doing so, is likely why the tab broke in the first place.  So, given this, the tape is holding up. 

 

Edit: also, there are slight curved surfaces involved.  After a few attempts, a couple of shorter tape strips is easier to apply than one long strip per side.  There are less wrinkles in the two short strips.

 

Very much appreciated the thorough explanation.  Will be giving this a try until I can either fork $500 or find another way to fix it. 

[GaryM]

My son just went to open my hatch last week and I heard the crack and the handle tipped a bit.

 

It was not too tough to remove the inside trim, just 2 screws to remover the handle at the bottom right side. Then I took off the covers where the bulbs are, and saw all the snaps. Just carefully pull and pry a bit and it all snaps off. 4 nuts and the outside handle comes free.

 

What a weak crappy design. The 4 bridges from top to bottom of the handle trim piece ar about 1/2 inch wide, but only contact the bulk of the handle with a strip about 1/16 of an inch thick. Looks like one was cracked by the factory and was glued with a putty. 3 of my 4 were cracked through at the bottom, including the one with the putty that was broken loose again. I cleaned it all up and used a coarse sandpaper to make a rough area under both ends of each plastic ridge. I also roughened up the back side of the bridges. Since one end of each was still intact, I had no trouble getting them lined up where they belong. I used a fair sized ball of "Quick Steel" Epoxy putty at both ends of each bridge, even where it did not break yet. I got their kit for fixing plastic tanks. They claim it will seal up cracks in radiator end tanks. If it can take that kind of pressure and temperature swings, I figured it should hold this handle. All of the repair work is inside of the handle so the outside still looks all original, I also used some clear coat touch up paint where the handle hits the hatch. I could see a few places where it had rubbed through into primer. I tried to get touch up paint, but Dupli Color does not have the Candy Blue. None of the marks are visible as the handle covers them, so the clear coat is there to make sure it does not rust. 

 

I can't understand how they could figure the design of this handle would last at all. I am shocked mine made it 4 years with how flimsy it looks.