Tailgate will not open

[Keithy P38]

Hey guys

I haven't driven the Rangie for a few weeks, last time I did was when we had a few inches of rain (so I'm blaming Mother Nature for this one). My tailgate won't open now! No noise at the back when you press the magic button. It lives in the garage, so it only got a good soaking while being driven and has been parked up for the rest of the time in the garage.

Initially, I was going to blame something at the back end, but also noteworthy is that the BECM is not recognising the drivers door as being open when I open it.

All doors unlock fine, I can get in and drive no worries. First step I've taken is to swap my battery over with my aux (both are 760cca and 105ah) even though I had 12.63v at the battery. I also cleaned up the battery terminal clamps (went from 13.93v to 14.05v while running now).

I'm guessing the next step is to remove the trim panel and check the connectors are ok. Having used the search function, most issues I can see relate to the drivers door lock not operating - which in my case is not the issue. It's simply not seeing the door as being open.

Any other input would be appreciated!

Cheers
Keithy

[wayneg]

Please dont think this flippant, Have you tried pushing the button and lifting the tailgate at the same time. A few weeks back I had a similar experience and was thinking the worse. Whenever I had pressed the button before there was a mechanical sound and the tailgate lifted a few MM. This time no sound, no movement so major panic, BECM failure, door lock dead and any other worse case entered my head. Next day went back prepared to strip the interior out but thankfully tried the push and lift and all was good. I think the Gas Pistons are on their way out.

[Keithy P38]

I'm guessing that I might have found the problem, ill need to jump on RAVE first!

There is a single black wire that comes off the loom in the drivers door, it has a connector and then continues to somewhere in the unknown casm of the door (perhaps near the striker judging by its relative position).

The wire has detached from something and will need to be soldered back on. I can't see in there well enough to work out where it belongs though!

Ill post a pic once I jump on the laptop.

Cheers
Keithy

[Keithy P38]

Thanks for the suggestion Wayne.

It did not result in success!

[Scouse]

The tailgate and RHF door lock are linked. The tailgate is inoperative unless the RHF door is unlocked.
I would imagine the loose wire you've found should be attached to a micro switch in the latch.

[Keithy P38]

I think you might be onto something there!

I'm loading up RAVE now.

I don't know why I even made a thread up on this - perhaps for sympathy! It should be a simple fix once I determine where I need to make this little black wire go!

[Keithy P38]

This is the culprit...

I'm going to remove the door actuator and see where it attaches and fix it up tomorrow. Too late in the day to be playing with wires!

It is the "door ajar switch" - I can't seem to find any diagrams of it on rave...

Anyone else seen this wire in their travels and remember where it ends?

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=72850&d=1392356826

[Keithy P38]

I removed the passenger door trim. It appears that the wire feeds back into the same loom. It must have been an after-thought on land rover's behalf... It eventually runs to the actuator.

Tomorrow I will solder it back to its other end.

The window was the reason the wire snapped - caught it on the down-stroke.

[Scouse]

I'm not sure if the door ajar switch is the same switch that tells the tailgate that the door is unlocked. If it is, it must have 2 inbuilt switches because 'door ajar' just affects interior lights, EAS....not the tailgate.

[PeterH]

If the wire does not solve the problem, I would suspect the drivers door latch, as scouse suggested earlier.
Mine plays up when it's hot or parked in the sun, the door locks can jump up and down on their own, as well as the tailgate not operating as you describe.
I have been able to open the tailgate by pressing and holding the button for a few seconds and usually that will activate the tailgate to unlock.
I'll get around to replacing my drivers door latch one day, it's on the list!

[Scouse]

Of course, it could just be a dicky tailgate switch.


One of mine was intermittent for a while & & had to remove the trim to access the mechanism (luckily it worked the first press & I had the upper tailgate open.
I now have a piece of string sticking out of the tailgate, out of sight, to activate the release if need be.

[Pete38]

Of course, it could just be a dicky tailgate switch.


One of mine was intermittent for a while & & had to remove the trim to access the mechanism (luckily it worked the first press & I had the upper tailgate open.
I now have a piece of string sticking out of the tailgate, out of sight, to activate the release if need be.

Piece of string. Now thats a good piece of engineering ha ha.

Peter

[Scouse]

I've applied for a patent but feel free to copy the idea.


Of course, it hasn't mucked up since.
:)

[Keithy P38]

To provide a follow-up on the issue, I soldered the wire back on and the tailgate now opens as normal. It was a 2min soldering job, only had to undo the striker/latch in order to move it out of the door cavity.

I did not disconnect anything from the striker (door lock button, door handle rod, etc), just took the battery terminals off.

The becm is also acknowledging the drivers door as being open when it is open.

Cheers
Keithy