Freelander 1 Tailgate stuck shut, can't open at all

Hi guys, got a really annoying problem with my rear tailgate door. put the girlfriends bike in the back and shut the door, only to find out at the other end that the door wouldn't open again. Window goes up and down with the fob/internal switch/key in the tailgate handle lock.

When pressing the tailgate handle theres an opening click and a release clunk like normal. The window doesn't drop the 5mm or so for the boot door to open though, i can see the glass flex slightly so it's tryiing to do something but it just won't go down.

No open door alarm bleep when locking. Rear window wiper works as normal.

Really getting fed up with it now. Tried pushing, pulling, hitting slamming, soaking in wd40 through the gap in the door on the outside of the car to the actual lock mechanism, taken the interior panel off but can't for the life of me see how to remove the little plastic cover that coveres the locking system. There's two plugs at the bottom of the locking mechanism. The white one was wet, looked like water had gotten to it somehow. Removing that plug stops the handle click operation noise. Theres also a blue one with a purple wire coming out of it. Unplugging this cable seems to make no difference.

Any ideas before i buy a new door and take out my rage on it by angle grinding this one into little pieces to get it out?

Hawkeye will open the tailgae if you go in to security setting

Looks like its a trip to the dealers to get shafted for 2 minutes work then

Try disconnecting the battery for 5 minutes, then perform the rear door recalibration.

the white plug is for the actuator the blue links to the lock handle. you remove three screws 1 large two smaller types at the side. this allows the whole lock to drop. next to unplug both coloured plugs to allow you to jiggle free and take out.to separate actuator there is another screw midway that needs to be removed first. next is to rejiggle the actuator from the lock pull hook.
the other problem with the lock handle not releasing the window could be the grip over extending and just needs pushing back as there are two springs that weaken. hope this helps

NoDosh said:

Try disconnecting the battery for 5 minutes, then perform the rear door recalibration.

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Yeah, i tried that one. No joy

saxavordian said:

the white plug is for the actuator the blue links to the lock handle. you remove three screws 1 large two smaller types at the side. this allows the whole lock to drop. next to unplug both coloured plugs to allow you to jiggle free and take out.to separate actuator there is another screw midway that needs to be removed first. next is to rejiggle the actuator from the lock pull hook.
the other problem with the lock handle not releasing the window could be the grip over extending and just needs pushing back as there are two springs that weaken. hope this helps

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I've taken the two smaller screws out, but can't see the larger one. It looks like the whole thing is covered in some type of plastic protective shielding that i took the two small silver screws out of. It moves for the most part but is still really stuck in there.

Apologies cant count four screws two large torx for lock and two small Philips below. This will take the whole unit out once you remove the plugs. Then you can unscrew a single torx screw for the actuator.

Couldn't do this the other day and was really struggling in the dark with how much junk i had in the back of the car!! Gonna have another bash again today. Fingers crossed.

You said the window flexes a bit when you try to open the door. Could it just be the window is sticky (or the regulator is stuffed) Either way it might be worth trying to push the window down with your hand while operating the handle to see if it moves enough to let the door open.

when my wife's window got stuck I gently pulled the door and the window flexed and the door came open it was the dreaded wire problem on the window but all sorted now.

Well thats half the problem, its acting like its stuck when i pull that handle, as if something is wedged underneath the glass. You can see the glass move like its trying to go down but instead of going down it kinda flexes/twists a few mm instead and gives up. If i didnt know any better i'd say it was jammed, but then operating it via the centre console switch or holding the unlock on the key fob and it goes down perfectly like there was nothing wrong with it. Door wont even open with the glass fully down.

Never got round to checking it yesterday, life keeps me busy at the minute hopefully this afternoon

So i finally got round to doing this today. Was fiddly but i'm now working again!!

Turns out the plastic cover inside the door over the lock mechanism is to keep it all a little bit more protected. I couldn't work out how to get it off even though there didn't seem to be any more screws holding it in so i snapped it in half across the middle to find that the locking actuator has a rubber grommet to hold the metal door lock rod to the actuator. My rubber grommet, had split down the middle allowing my rod to fall out. This is why i could hear the actuator working as normal, everything was working but wasn't attached.

I pulled the door lock rod down and boom, door is open again! Took the lock out, made a replacement grommet out of some left over polyurethane and bolted it back into place. Door is "working" as normal now, save for the lazy window and its rubbish attempt at lowering when you open it.

saxavordian said:

Apologies cant count four screws two large torx for lock and two small Philips below. This will take the whole unit out once you remove the plugs. Then you can unscrew a single torx screw for the actuator.

Click to expand...

For anyone else reading this in the future, ^^^^ this is how to remove the lock when the door is open. Not much use if the door is stuck shut.