Cargo Cover — Repair

Introduction

When the cargo cover fails to retract, there are two common causes: the coil spring inside the retracting mechanism is broken, or the spring has separated from the plastic end piece it attaches to. This procedure identifies which failure has occurred and describes the correction for each.

Tools

• Drill and drill bit set
• Metal punch
• Rivet gun and rivets

Procedure

1. Carefully hand-roll the shade back into the cargo cover assembly.
2. Remove the complete shade assembly from behind the rear seat. Two large screws, one at each end of the shade assembly, hold it in position.
3. Place the assembly on a flat work surface.
4. Locate the plastic end piece cover on the passenger-side end of the assembly. It is held in place by a pop rivet. Drill out the pop rivet carefully, taking care not to damage the end cap around the rivet hole. Remove the end cover.
5. Slide the roller and shade out through the open end of the assembly.
6. With the roller and shade removed, carefully unroll the shade.
7. The roller is a hollow silver metal shaft slotted along its entire length, with white plastic end caps pressed into both ends.
8. Slide the end of the shade out of the slot in the roller to separate the shade from the shaft. If the shade does not slide out easily, stop and proceed to the next step rather than risk tearing the shade.
9. At each end of the roller, a white plastic end cap is pressed in and retained by three dimples pressed into the metal shaft. Using an electric drill with a bit matching the dimple diameter, carefully drill out the three dimples in the end cap on the spring side only. The drill will go slightly into the plastic end cap — this is acceptable. Remove only the end cap that has the central shaft attached to the spring assembly (the spring assembly is hidden inside the shaft).
10. Pull out the plastic end piece with the central shaft and coil spring. The spring and shaft are covered by a brown paper sleeve — remove the sleeve and set it aside for reassembly.
11. If not already done, slide the shade out of the roller slot.
12. Inspect the removed end piece and spring. The typical failure point is where the end of the spring attaches to the white plastic end piece — the spring end has likely separated from or broken off the plastic.
13. Repair the spring:
    • If the spring end has separated (not broken): Re-attach the spring end to the plastic end piece.
    • If the spring end is broken: Heat the broken end and allow it to cool, then re-bend approximately 1/8″ of the end into an "L" shape to fit into the recess in the plastic end piece.
14. Reassemble in reverse order. When re-securing the end cap, use a metal punch to create new dimples adjacent to the previously drilled holes (do not attempt to re-use the drilled holes).
15. Before inserting the roller back into the assembly, wind the spring inside the roller approximately 10–15 revolutions to provide the correct return tension. Fabricate a small hand crank from coat hanger wire to wind the spring — it cannot be wound by hand.
16. Reinstall the assembly into the car using the two large screws at each end.