Freelander 1 Problem with rear wipers and rear door

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Boot door issues can be a real pain to find. The connection to the handle can be poor, the cable can break at the hinge, the regulator can fail, The whole thing is controlled by the ECU so you can have issues with that.
It'll probably be simple when you find it though
 
I spent two days chasing an intermittent fault. :eek:
I metered all the cables right back to the connector in the rear quarter panel but the fault was a bad connection at the handle switch. Roughing up the pins in the connector sorted it but I was tearing my hair out trying to trace the issue. :mad:
 
Odd that the heated screen is working. I always thought the CCU cut that off if a fault was logged.
Can you feel any loose metal wire thread inside the rear door? That's what runs the window up and down. It should have no breaks and slightly taught to the touch.
Activating the motor require a 12v supply and looking at the diagram above posted by @Nodge68 . Just a brief touch would make the motor move, then it's a fuse or relay, if no movement, it's the motor. Getting at the wires is a bit more work than just saying it, sorry.
Mike


You must have put a curse on my FL.

The heated window has been working fine since my troubles began, but this morning on the way back home from work, the heated window is no longer working! :(

I find that very strange why it would stop working now and not when the troubles began.
 
I've had this problem on both Freelander iv'e owned, my rear door would not open for weeks at a time. The issue was related to the rear window reg, but I found taking the earth lead off the battery (black one) and leaving it for a min and reinstalling. This cheap fix got the rear door working again, but had to manually raise with window with the key.

Hope this helps, as it's very annoying with the tailgate doesn't work.
 
Sat here waiting for the new relay to arrive.
If it doesn't arrive today, I might just try that.
 
I started to strip out the tailgate side trim where the relay is located and then remembered that I needed to remove the bottom trim under the tailgate door before I could remove the panel.
As it was absolutely chucking it down prior to snow arriving later, I thought sod it, and checked all the cables inside the tailgate door as best I could. I found the connector to the regulator and gave it a good wiggle.
I was about to go in for a cup of tea when I thought why not try the switch and listen for the relay clicking.
So, I started it up and whilst squeezed in the boot area, I pressed the console button and I heard the click of the relay. I then realised I could hear more than just a click and noticed the metal frame holding the rear glass moving slightly as I jabbed at the button. I took the tape off that I used to keep the rain out and tried the switch again. The window came down fully, then I brought it fully back up. The rear wiper is now working again, so is the rear window heater.

So, I am guessing that the connector to the regulator was not fully making contact. When the rain stops I will unplug the connector and give it a good clean with switch cleaner and then some WD40.

I just hope this lasts. I didn't fancy having to drive it in the snow we are expecting with no rear wiper and no rear heated windscreen.

I then went indoors and there was a knock at the door. It was my replacement relay! :)

Assuming all keeps working well, a big thank you to all on here as usual for your suggestions and help. Much appreciated. :)
 
I started to strip out the tailgate side trim where the relay is located and then remembered that I needed to remove the bottom trim under the tailgate door before I could remove the panel.
As it was absolutely chucking it down prior to snow arriving later, I thought sod it, and checked all the cables inside the tailgate door as best I could. I found the connector to the regulator and gave it a good wiggle.
I was about to go in for a cup of tea when I thought why not try the switch and listen for the relay clicking.
So, I started it up and whilst squeezed in the boot area, I pressed the console button and I heard the click of the relay. I then realised I could hear more than just a click and noticed the metal frame holding the rear glass moving slightly as I jabbed at the button. I took the tape off that I used to keep the rain out and tried the switch again. The window came down fully, then I brought it fully back up. The rear wiper is now working again, so is the rear window heater.

So, I am guessing that the connector to the regulator was not fully making contact. When the rain stops I will unplug the connector and give it a good clean with switch cleaner and then some WD40.

I just hope this lasts. I didn't fancy having to drive it in the snow we are expecting with no rear wiper and no rear heated windscreen.

I then went indoors and there was a knock at the door. It was my replacement relay! :)

Assuming all keeps working well, a big thank you to all on here as usual for your suggestions and help. Much appreciated. :)
LOL, It was simple then, told you so! :p
Hope that's all it sorted.
 
Yes, if that was indeed the fault.

I shall leave it for a week or more before putting everything back together again in case it goes again.
If it does fail again, then I will carry out a methodical wiggling of wiring and connectors to try and nail down the issue.

I am happy that the car is fully functional again just in time for the snow which has started.
 
Just don't refit the door card until your certain its sorted. As I found out it's hard enough getting the damn thing open with the door card off but I wouldn't fancy having to do it with the card on.
 
Damn!

My rear door has just refused to unlock again. Luckily, I was not certain what fixed it last time so I have not replaced the door card.
We have had a lot of rain over the past two days, so I am wondering if that is why this has happened again.

Will wriggle into the rear area tomorrow. Not easy with sciatica. :(

Last time it happened, I just wiggled the power plug.
 
In my case it was a poor connection at the connection behind the handle. I just squeezed the pins with pointy pliers to make them rougher before pushing back together and haven't had an issue since. It took me nearly two full days to find the issue it was so intermittent. :oops:
 
The original time it happened to me as soon as I got the door card off, removed the rain shield and wiggled a few cables it was fixed. So I have no idea where exactly the fault was.
I will look for this connector immediately behind the door handle and clean it up. I don't think I actually touched that one last time. I assume the connection you refer to at the rear of the handle is easily accessible?

Breakfast first, then to climb inside and start fiddling. :(
 
All of a sudden the door handle started clicking as normal and the glass dropped slightly but not the usual amount.
It allows me to open the door but when closing the glass is outside the plastic trim at the top of the door.

I am going to try playing with whatever connectors I can get at.
If that fails, I might disconnect the battery for a while, but if the glass drops fully when I re-connect it Am I likely to be stuck with a fully open window?
 
All working normally now! :D

I unplugged every connector I could find (2 I think) and sprayed with contact cleaner. I also sprayed the two connectors at the rear of the handle and gave them a squeeze with the pliers.
I then disconnected the battery for a minute and all was ok after that.

I shall leave the card off just in case.

Is this issue an MOT fail? I have one coming up in August. Just wondering in case it happens again.
 
I don't think they ever open the boot for MOT, not here in NI anyway. You might be able to see the connector I'm talking about without removing the door handle but I'm not sure you can do much to it. I had the handle off anyway so was easy to fix.
It's the connection between the handle and the car.
 
Well if it happens again, I will take the handle off and look closer.

How bloody long do I wait now before replacing door card?
I will always be expecting it to fail again.
 
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