Locked inside !!! tailgate does not open from inside?

[womp]

So we have a new Transit custom DCIV and the wife closed the tailgate whilst in the back and could not get out, luckily i was around to let her out.
Am i missing something or can you not get out from the inside

[Sparkeselectrical]

According to the handbook, you can open the standard barn doors from inside but there is no reference to opening the tailgate from inside so I would say that you can't

[Meyer automotive]

That's right you can't, i locked myself inside to, luckily i had removed the bulkhead between cabin and load area.

[moley551]

On Ebay you can get a Landrover bonnet release cable for £8... you could quite easily adapt it to open the tail gate from inside, the only problem, depending on the lock setup would be if the van was double locked......I had slam locks on a T4 that were soon modified after potentially dangerous lock ins...sod's law dictates that you wont have a phone with you on a hot day!!!....one of my lads went to the van, after an hour we went looking....you can guess the rest...a near miss

[hitech-donk]

I fitted a push button inside mine to allow it to be opened. Just spliced into the existing button.

[jasonx]

I fitted a push button inside mine to allow it to be opened. Just spliced into the existing button.

Good idea

[arf33]

yeah...good idea...I will copy it.

anyway I would like to installa also a mechanical sistem in order to unlock the door in every emergency case.
In my old A4 there was a such kind of red plastic strip just behind the emergency triangle compartment.

before our "on the road" holiday in august I will do all this jobs..

[AllAboardTheWolfBus]

That is an unbelievable oversight. I mean it's potentially fatal!

[JasonK87]

I should of bought a custom, might of had some peace for a few days

[knighty1981]

was half way through typing something else and then realised that even if you add an extra handle inside linked to the outside handle arm on the lock.... if the door is locked that still won't work ?

front doors unlock when you pull the inside handle.... if the back door is only make for an outside handle it won;t have that feature ?


if you're lucky, maybe the lock in the back door is just a normal door lock turned sideways ? - would make sense for for to do that, saves having to design and make a special lock for the limited number of up and over back door vans they make ?


only way to tell will be to have a look I think?

[hitech-donk]

I can't see any cable/mechanical connection to the lock. Granted if you are in the back and the van is locked (fully by the remote) the additional button won't work as the external button wouldn't either. I added it with the assumption that I would have the keys on me if I was working in the back and had shut the door due to the pissing rain and wind!

[Derbymark]

First day I had my van I nearly locked myself in and only just spotted no unlocking mechanism from the inside. It was 25 degrees outside and it would not have taken long to cook. Since then have had a button fitted by an auto electrician to the inside of the tailgate that pops the catch just like pressing the button from the outside. Major oversight in my opinion on behalf of Ford and they ought to have these fitted as standard.

[Mussels]

First day I had my van I nearly locked myself in and only just spotted no unlocking mechanism from the inside. It was 25 degrees outside and it would not have taken long to cook. Since then have had a button fitted by an auto electrician to the inside of the tailgate that pops the catch just like pressing the button from the outside. Major oversight in my opinion on behalf of Ford and they ought to have these fitted as standard.

I guess the designers couldn't think why anyone would chose a tailgate when it wasn't compulsory (as it is in the Tourneo), then marketing decided it was something else they could sell.

[adventurerhk]

I am going to fit a button inside but can't work out which wires to spice in to. There are three. Can anyone help? Thanks.

[hitech-donk]

2016-02-07 14.37.07.jpg

Just connect in parallel with these two wires. Remember that if the van is locked this new button won't work either!