Panic - tailgate wouldn't close.

[R-Design]

@ChrisLF: could you please let us know the part number of the RH side of the new, updated tailgate strut design? The old one is 31690986, but because it allows water penetration (which leads to corrosion and eventually spring breakage), I will replace this with a new strut. Thanks.

In my case, the water froze during the winter, and damaged both the spring (rust and crack) and the plastic tubing, allowing even more water intake. The tailgate didn't want to close due to extra resistance, but oddly enough, it was closing when the car was turned on (presumably due to extra power).

Opened the strut, cleaned and regreased it, and now it works despite the cracked spring. Will replace the whole strut. It's frustrating that a car in this price segment has such an obvious design flaw.

[gedger]

Deleted Post

[gedger]

Thanks Andy. Have you got the plastic bodied ones on yours?

Difficult to photograph (well, using my tablet) but my effort attached.

Are the latest models fitted with this type?

That looks the same as mine.

[gripross]

They look the same as in my R Design Pro model which i took delivery of in October 2021

[ChrisLF]

Ok, tried photographing but no joy as very small brown lettering on the black background.

Anyway found two numbers, for RH 32357574 and AEGFW 08022022 200139
for LH 32357573 and AEGFW 05022022 080805.

Hope this helps.

Would probably be best to replace both so that they are balanced and no doubt the other will fail as well.

Just did a search and the first number is the part number.

[Stovo]

Well here’s a ‘curved ball’. Checked my struts this morning, and lo and behold they are exactly like the ones in your photo Chris, and are metal! My car is a MY 20 R Design, which I bought as an ex demo (3 months old), so they either had a problem in those 3 months and replaced, or the car was fitted with updated version. Either way this was in 2020.

[eugen61]

Well here’s a ‘curved ball’. Checked my struts this morning, and lo and behold they are exactly like the ones in your photo Chris, and are metal! My car is a MY 20 R Design, which I bought as an ex demo (3 months old), so they either had a problem in those 3 months and replaced, or the car was fitted with updated version. Either way this was in 2020.

Photo of my original MY2020 failed strut. The part sliding in is same as Chris’ replaced strut and same as yours. The only visible difference is the rubber cover protecting the contact between sliding parts. The 2020 / old design is bigger (see below), the replaced one / new design is smaller (picture from Chris).

[Stovo]

I’ll take another look, how is it the one in your picture is chrome in appearance. Had you removed the black covering?

[eugen61]

It’s a picture sent to my Volvo dealer some time ago, your “curved ball” was intriguing enough to look it up. I didn’t remove any cover from the strut, slide-in part chrome appearance could be light reflection or rust dust from inside the strut.

[ChrisLF]

Stovo - are you viewing on a phone? On my tablet it's clear that it's bright light reflecting off the black strut.