I have a tailgate switch that doesn’t seem to work, and I want to replace it.

Can I just pry it out from the outside (and if so from what side/angle)?

Or do I need to access it by removing the interior panel?

Mk3 Fabia hatchback 2018.

23 minutes ago, xbn said:

Can I just pry it out from the outside (and if so from what side/angle)?

You can but I wouldn't as I when I did that to save taking the plastic interior panel off the small metal clip sprung off to inside the hatch door cavity and I had to remove the plastic interior panel anyway to remove the metal sprung clip as it rattled about and I found removing the plastic interior panel was very easy and quick whereas prying the switch out was a bit of a PITA. If you want to try prying out then pry from the left side of the switch (looking at the car from the rear.

Putting the plastic interior panel back on just requires placing over the shut mechanism and locating the plastic pegs in that area first to help line up the plastic interior panel for easy tapping in of the other plastic pegs, then of course remember to screw back the pull handle.

BUT - are you sure that it is the switch that is faulty, test it (another PITA fiddly farting about job) as the wires at the top left (and right) that come from the car's body into the tailgate through the trunking are prone to splitting their insulation and thin wires breaking (thank you VW engineers).

HTH, good luck.

Thanks, I’ll get a pry tool and take the panel off.

I still don’t know if it is the switch or faulty wiring, so my initial plan was to get the switch out, and somehow short circuiting it manually to see if it works.

The rubber surface of the switch is broken, don’t know if that can lead to moisture ruining the switch, but should be replaced anyway. It was in for oil change recently and the shop told it is a faulty switch and quoted around 250€ to fix it.

The swich is a tiny microswitch against a metal(?) flexible strip that is covered by plastic/rubber?, if the covering is off I suppose water might get in and cause issue. You could try a spray of lubricating water repellent to see if that does any good, it won't do any harm on a dead switch. To test wiring and the connector is a real PITA as the connector is so small and wires so thin, pins on a low wattage wired bulb might work(?). You can test the switch too again a PITA fiddlle job

because of the tiny sunken pins on it.

Does the boot open by using the button on the remote(s)?

Just buying a new switch and trying it is the quickest and easy option and if you need a replacement anyway try that and let us know how that turns out.

Just the switch replacement is easy work even if the switch is over priced but a new switch won't obviously solve any wiring issues these VW (German engineering) cars have.

Good luck.

I haven’t seen the switch from the inside yet.

Yes, it locks and unlocks with the remote, and long pressing the middle button on the fob opens the gate.

Finally got a new switch, and it was easy to replace. It didn't solve the problem however, and upon inspecting the wiring I may have found the fault.

Replacing the switch was easy, except the license plate frame was blocking it from coming out. And of course the plate was blind riveted to the frame, so that took some prying.

18 minutes ago, xbn said:

It didn't solve the problem however, and upon inspecting the wiring I may have found the fault.

Yeap very common, VW German quality engineering !

21 minutes ago, nta16 said:

Yeap very common, VW German quality engineering !

Even good enough for exporting to CZ!

I spoke with someone that used to work on UK VWŠkodas who went over to one of the Czech Republic plant and the great set up they have there with three generations of the same families working there and the Porche bodies that were sent there for spraying. Werll know that the quality control is higher there than the German plants, same as back in the day when Nissan was really Nissan that the Japanese wanted the British made Nissan because of the higher quality! (I wonder if Renault put a stop to that.)

German engineering (mass) car quality dropped decades back, certainly last century for Mercs and not that far behind for BMW and VW.