Tailgate - Nasty Occurrence

Good evening. Whilst the underlying fault may have been covered already on here - but I can't find the exact same features - I hope someone can point me in the right direction.

This afternoon, having visited the shops, I placed several items in the 'boot' and shut the tailgate and all seemed fine i.e lock engaged, window closed fully. A mile or so up the road I pulled away from some traffic lights and the tailgate swung open. Fortunately, no loss of items from the boot and no damage to the vehicle behind me. I managed to pull over safely and investigate. Shut the door and all seemed well although the interior light remained lit. Drove further up the road and stopped in a lay-by. As I pulled to a halt I heard the sound of the tailgate window 'disengage' as it does when the tailgate release is pulled. Had a look and found the tailgate was in the 'half-shut/open' position. Shut it again and all seemed well including the interior light extinguishing.

Drove home and pulled up on the drive and same thing happened at the moment that the car finally stopped i,e the window disengaged and the door was half shut/open. Closed it all up satisfactorily and came indoors and here I am.

Initial analysis suggests that power is getting where it should (no fuse or motor failures) and the fact this 'feature' occurs when the car is jerked (for want of a better word) when pulling away or stopping suggests a loose connection or something similar.

I'd be grateful for suggestions as to the likely culprits and where these are located - I assume behind the tailgate door panel ?

Many thanks

The latch of the rear door has a small spring inside which is prone to rust.

I suspect that yours has succombed to the rust worms and has fallen in bits with the result thet the finger pull part is loose enough that the contacts can touch so actuating / operating the part that releases the door striker.

If you remove the screws holding the numberplate light fitting you might just see the spring or parts of it.

Its a little titchy thing like inside a ballpoint pen - no thickness at all.

To do a proper repair you need to remove the complete handle and numberplate light fitting.

There are 3 nuts which are accessed after removing the rear door card (several large screws at the bottom) and carefully peeling back the plastic membrane at the top righthand corner.

The assembly suffers badly from rust caused by salt and water not draining out of it fully.

Thank you for that - I'll take a look tomorrow. Is the spring a specifically designed 'Land Rover' part of can I get away with something similar? You described it a like a ball point pen spring - would that work?

eBay is your friend for this...just search Freelander tailgate handle and you'll find a listing for the repair springs for £7.50 a pair.
Be careful taking the handle apart as sometimes they can become brittle depending on the age of your hippo.

Thank you for the tip. eBay is a wonderful place. Just bought two springs just in case.

My thanks to the two guys who provided advice regarding the springs. I changed them today and yes, one of those in situ had all but rotten through so was pretty useless. However, having put it all back together, the same problem remains in that for no apparent reason the rear door lock kicks into life, the window drops and the door is in the half open/shut position. Not all the time but intermittently and sometimes when I get the door open the lock 'motor' keeps clicking and 'scrolling' (for want of a better word). Does that suggest there's a soleniod in there somewhere that isn't behaving as it should? If so, is that the item bolted into the door adjacent to the location of the handle assembly and can it be repaired with a bit of fettling?

Any advice will be gratefully received.

Thanks

How about removing the handle assembly again disconnect the wire to latch and take it for spin and see if the problem is resolved if so then maybe the micro switch in handle is faulty. You can always open door by bridging the wires. I know you will not be able to do this at night time as number plate lights are a issue

booboodag said:

How about removing the handle assembly again disconnect the wire to latch and take it for spin and see if the problem is resolved if so then maybe the micro switch in handle is faulty. You can always open door by bridging the wires. I know you will not be able to do this at night time as number plate lights are a issue

Click to expand...

Have to agree with above........sounds like dicky micro switch.

micro switch

Not sure if the passenger version is the same as my commercial but i have a door release button inside on the rear right hand side that you push to obviously open the door from the inside, that was to blame when mine popped open a couple of times, stripped it, cleaned and lubed it and its been fine since, but like i say i dont know if the passenger freelander has it

This maybe of no help to you if not

no the 5 door does not have this option

Once again, thank you to all that have replied and the overwhelming view that it must be the micro-switch. I have found one on eBay that comes as a 'repair kit including 2 springs' (Land Rover Freelander Tailgate Handle Microswitch Repair Kit Springs | eBay) for £15 incl postage. It's been ordered and I'll do the job when it arrives. Lookslike I'll have spare pair of springs!

Thank you all for your help.

Just to finish off this thread, here's the outcome. The replacement microswitch arrived and was fitted and the problem has been resolved.
For anyone with the same problems and for information, the microswitch is supplied together with the actual release mechanism that fits within the handle assembly. When I say 'release mechanism' I refer to the part that you squeeze, under the handle, when opening the tailgate. It is attached to the handle assembly by two small cross-head screws.
Three wires are attached ( are part of]) to the release mechanism - one has the connector on the end that couples with one of the wires coming from the door (you'll see what I mean when you take the handle off) - the other two (about 8 inches long) have the micro-switch on the end. The micro-switch is very small and is mounted in a half inch square block of plastic with two small tangs/prongs on the top. When you look at the micro-switch you are replacing you will see that those tangs/prongs have been 'welded' into the handle assembly. Removal is eased by using a soldering iron to melt the 'welds' and the old micro-switch can be carefully levered away using a small screw driver, leaving two holes in the mounting point. To fit the new switch simply push the tangs/prongs into the holes and using the soldering iron, melt the tops of the tangs to form a weld. The micro-swich is then secured. The rest is the reversal of the handle removal assembly. I hope that helps anyone tackling the job. Cheers all

Glad to hear you got it fixed, mate.

Thanks too for coming back and sharing the info.