ajg617

Just went through this with my 06 Avant and Audi. One Audi dealer replaced the struts. 2nd Audi dealer replaced the latch (which also has a sensor in it and may be the culprit with the hard drop - that's what the dealer told me). At that point, the only thing left was the motors. Bingo - problem fixed. Motors are $1200 and are replaced in a set. If your tailgate opens OK (mine would not - only open a couple of inches than shut again), I'd suspect the latch sensor which adjusts the motor speed to close the final few inches. I think that was under $300 installed.

Good Luck!

cebo0650

I've been dealing with the hard drop issue forever. A while back the dealer replaced both motors and the gas filled shocks (under extended warranty), but that did not solve the hard drop issue.

Do you happen to have the part number for the latch?

ajg617

8P4-827-505-C

Latch was 126.20 parts 187.50 labor

And, I complained to the service manager that it shouldn't take 2 dealers, 2 diagnostic costs, shocks that didn't solve my problem, and latch that didn't solve my problem (no warranty) at my cost to properly diagnose the problem. He agreed and AUSA paid for the motors and reimbursed me for the latch and diagnosis.

Good Luck!

Pastmodern

Temps have been well below 0F and the power tailgate on my 2006 A6 is stuck all the way open. It's happened before in extreme cold but if I hit button a few times it would always close. Now it won't and I don't want to force it.

Is there any way to manually override the power so I don't have drive around with the thing wide open?

zen_

DO NOT try jamming the tailgate shut if it's stuck open. Believe me, my father did it once and it ruined the motor, and it's not cheap. I have had the same problem with the inside button not always working, more so in the cold, and the first thing to try is shutting it with outside button above the plate holder. If that doesn't work it will sometimes randomly start working after awhile and pretending like you're somehow going to fix it. In my case it's only be completely stuck once when it was like -10f outside, and I had to take it inside to warm up before it would close.

No luck finding some sort of manual override. I know there is a TSB related to this issue somewhere. The Audi dealer has been no help to me, and the indie mechanic I take it to that's been extremely good couldn't duplicate and fix the problem either because it's so random.

As for the original video posted, that's how my gate always closes, but sometimes it does not open completely, or open at all when it's extremely cold...but I'm about sick of the gate issues! Only major annoyance I've had with this vehicle.

Narnargoon

I'm having the same problem. Do you remember how you fixed it? Thanks