Hi everyone,

I have a 2016 Ford F150 XLT. I have only had it for a couple of months and one of the items that would be nice to have is a locking tailgate to secure items under the cover.

I read the owners manual, and there does not appears and they should manual and electronic tailgate locks, but also state "if equipped." There does not appear to be any keyhole or button anyplace to manual lock/unlock the tailgate which was one option in the manual. I also tried locking/unlocking the doors and this does not impact the tailgate. BTW, my FOB does not have a dedicated tailgate button. I checked under the truck by the tailgate to see if any plugs were loose and I didn't see any. However, my backup camera works fine.



Tonight I took off the tailgate access panel, then tried locking and unlocking the doors via the FOB and nothing on the tailgate mechanism moved.

Is there another way to determine if this mechanism needs replacing? I have read on a number forum postings on this topic on different opinions on the tail gate locking: some folks think all models in 2016 have tailgate locks, some think it is certain models, some think it is an option for certain models. I guess I would like to know before I buy the tailgate lock actuator if it is even possible to get this tailgate to lock.
Any advice is greatly appreciate.
Rob

 

Look in the instrument cluster settings. I had to enable the option there to have my tailgate lock and unlock with the doors when I use the fob.

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I checked in the instrument cluster and did not see an option under locks for the tailgate. An image of that menu is shown below.

Rob

 

Looking at the photo it appears that you do indeed have a locking tailgate. The white plastic part being held in with two torx screws to the right of your photo is the lock actuator. There is a plug going to it, check to make sure that it is fully seated. If it is, try unlocking and locking your truck and put your ear right next to that actuator. Is it making noise, even a faint clicking noise? If so then it is most likely a bad actuator and the lock assembly will have to be replaced. If it is not making any noise, then you should check underneath the truck. There is a harness that you can undo if removing the tailgate. Check that the harness is securely plugged in. If it is, and the actuator is still not making any noise, disconnect that harness and check for signs of corrosion, clean and retest. If you have a voltmeter, you could also check at the actuator plug as you cycle lock/unlock.

I had to replace the lock assembly on my truck, and that fixed my problem, but everything above was what I tried before replacing. If you do end up replacing, there are 2 different lock actuators. One is for the higher trims that have a remote tailgate release, you do not want that one. Instead you'll need the manual open lock assembly. The Ford part number is HC3Z-9943170-C.

Hope this helps.

 

A quick update: I took Madd Dogg's advice and tested the power coming from the connection to the tailgate actuator and it seemed to work fine. I then order a replacement part from amazon ( ) at ~$52. This was easy to replace and got the tailgate locking when I used the remote.

Thanks for the advice.

Rob

 

Thanks for following up.

 

Glad to hear you got it working! Enjoy the truck!