hi all.

i need to replace my tailgate door seal, it's the one on the chassis not the one on the door. theres a 5 door freelander in my local breakers yard. problem is the doors closed & he's no keys to open it & the engine/batt are all missing from the vehicle..

does anyone know how to open the tailgate from the inside of the car ?? is there a safety unlock/opener anywhere on or near the tailgate door locking mechanism to allow you to manually open the tailgate ?? I've had the cover off it but cannot find a release mechanism on the lock..

any suggestions greatfully received..

thanks

The lock is electronic and there isnt a safety release.
The only way i can think of doing it is take a 12 volt supply of some type and a few bits of wire. You will see a couple of wires connected to the handle assembly which you can take off from inside the car by removing the 3 bolts holding it on. Then stick the wires onto the 12 volt and cross your fingers.
Other than that, if he hasn't got the keys anyway he might let you use an angle grinder on the rear door

Have fun

Skinny Mike said:

The lock is electronic and there isnt a safety release.
The only way i can think of doing it is take a 12 volt supply of some type and a few bits of wire. You will see a couple of wires connected to the handle assembly which you can take off from inside the car by removing the 3 bolts holding it on. Then stick the wires onto the 12 volt and cross your fingers.
Other than that, if he hasn't got the keys anyway he might let you use an angle grinder on the rear door

Have fun

Click to expand...

ta,
apart from the broken glass the rear doors in good nick really, cant see him letting me do this either.. ahh well fleabay it is for the seal..

The rear door can be released from inside once the trim panel is off using a hook fabricated from strong wire, tent peg/ skewer are good. look at the door release linkage which is operated by a solenoid. The hook is used to pull the linkage manually.

Dann said:

The rear door can be released from inside once the trim panel is off using a hook fabricated from strong wire, tent peg/ skewer are good. look at the door release linkage which is operated by a solenoid. The hook is used to pull the linkage manually.

Click to expand...

Cheers bud. i hope to go on tuesday & try this, someone has already had the electric motor off it so the side/ doors panels are all off it already. hopefully the seal will be a good one & i can replace mines that has been all chewed up where the lock is, as the rear panel had been taken off & not put back on right it looks like & i suspect there has been water getting in this way too..

part of the joys of buying a 2nd hand car is fixing all the botched jobs other people do on it..

It's a bit of an effort crawling around the boot (even with the back seats folded) if your a certain age/weight/fitness too.. we'll see if it was worth it..