Freelander 2 Tailgate pops open

Help please......

The tailgate latch pops open for no reason when ever the other doors are unlocked with engine running or not. The electronic lock chatters when opened, and during the recent freeze the whole rubber release in the handle has filled up with ice. i suspect that water is getting in and may be causing the problem. How do I get into the back of the handle, I assume that the internal black plastic door liner has to come off but how ?

there is a write up on here if you do a search

howardo said:

there is a write up on here if you do a search

Click to expand...

Thanks Howardo
I am a newbie to this (well actually quite an oldie really) do you mean a search of the posts? of course you do, just having a senior moment. looks like I am talking to myself as well.

fookin ell this took some searching

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/freelander-1-tailgate-handle-84698.html

sorry too much whisky didn't realise you had a freelander 2:doh::doh::doh:

Well Howardo

Know just what you mean, even more fooking difficult when you are looking for FL2. Sound advice though, like the rest of my life I will improvise. Thanks for the trouble taken and sorry not to have got back sooner, my scotch ran out at 1-30am so I went to bed.

Have a Happy new year.

since the water got in it has messed up the switch circuitry, new switch probably needed, and i thought it had been sorted on this forum in the past, if under warranty lr should sort as it is a known issue.(water in switch that is)

That is what I was thinking "Freelance". As usual out of warranty when these things happen. So it will be me in the tailgate replacing the switch and looking for the water leak. Thanks for your comments. I have searched High and low on the Forum and can only find reference to Freelander 1 which has a different tailgate. But hey ho it can't be that difficult a job it is only a Freelander after all..........

When you do the job, can you put up some helpful hints on the Freelander forum. Some photo's would be nice too. Thanks.

Yes will do, will have to be after today, my head hurts........

Happy New Year to one and all.

My Freelander 2 is doing this too (boot opening randomly unless central locking on). You can feel the ice in the rubber part when pressing the boot switch. I was thinking of cutting a small hole in it, when the ice thaws, and draining the water. Perhaps I'll try to to remove the rubber part and drain the water out without resorting to cutting the rubber part - any ideas as to how this is done?...anyone...

you will have to dissassemble to clean / replace switch anyway, i think sealing the whole thing to prevent water ingress is the way forward, dealer certainly managed to seal mine up, it has not been a problem this winter, even in essex we had some prolonged cold weather.

Check the wires that go to the rubber boot that enters the tailgate along the top aren't chaffing through too.

The switch module can be bought online for £20 but does anyone know how to replace the switch eg do you have to rip off the black cladding of the tailgate. I guess I could get it off but not sure if it would ever go back the same way.

it will go back the same way if you don't rip it off, tis only held on clips.

Hello! Just posting this as I had an identical problem as above, the boot started popping open when unlocking the car, or refusing to open when operating the switch on the unit. I replaced it with the switch mentioned on Ebay; LAND ROVER FREELANDER 2 TAILGATE RELEASE SWITCH TD4 I6 | eBay for a total of 26 of her Majesty's pounds. Fitting was surprisingly easy, taking about half an hour or so.

1. Get the switch, which will look like this when shiny & new;
The Green connectors plug into the lights in the boot handle, the red connects to the vehicles main circuit. Before you crack the vehicle apart, remove the fuse from the compartment in the passenger footwell (or disconnect the battery if you prefer).



2. Pop the interior cover off, this is just held on with two screws inside the grab handles at the base of the tailgate. After that just ease it off one popper at a time (just run you finger around the edge and it'll come free. The poppers are the white things as below, with metal connections along the top; these come off the same way.



3. Underneath looks as below, the circled red connection is where the connector from the switch links to the vehicle. The six holes below the windowline are where the boot handle is bolted to the tailgate, a standard screwdriver socket head will take those out.



4. The boot handle will come free now, feed the wire out with the red connector to seperate it. Unclip the green connectors marked, and unclip the switch itself from the housing and remove the switch unit.



The new switch goes in the same way, you can seal it in to prevent it getting moisture damaged in the future, though I've not done so myself. It's still working fine however so jobs a good 'un. Hope this helps!

Good effort pal

Go and introduce yourself in the relevant part of the site, and welcome to Loonyzone

Thankyou Abominable doughnut for taking the time to post. I followed your advice and have fixed the same issue on my Freelander.

A really big thank you to those who gave me the benefit of their experience on this site, and particularly Abominable doughnut for the pictures of the process. I ordered the handle mechanism which arrived really quickly and I fixed the problem. Brilliant thanks

Massive thanks to abominable doughnut, I'm having the same problem too. But does anyone know if the switch is the same one for the SD4?