Tailgate lock and window playing up !

Hi All
My otherwise very reliable 2005 TDi Freelander has decided to give me the runaround when it comes to opening the rear tailgate.

Sometimes the window doesn't drop and the latch won't release, then I walk away and come back to it and all is fine again. Then sometimes when driving along the latch will release itself ! .... which really freaks the doggies out as they don't realise the door will stay on the safety catch.

When the latch is playing up the window still winds up and down on the switch OK, which is good as it means I can hoike the dogs out the window if the door won't open.

Any ideas to the cause and what's required to fix it ?

Also, is there any way to get the door open if it won't open from outside ?

Sounds like the door handle micro switch has gone faulty. The door shouldn't open when moving more then 5 Mph though.

mine had a bit of dirt in it stopping the handle to act properly I squirted some lubricant up around the handle and all is good now for a while

Door handle spring? Is the handle springy or floppy?

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've just removed the number plate light and sprayed the electrics inside the handle with a good dose of WD40.

It's working fine at the moment so time will tell if that's all it needed.

How do the lights come out?
I have been having similar issues although it's been working fine for well over a week now.

There are two screws holding the light in. Simply remove these, the light drops down, then you can spray WD40 onto the components inside the door handle.

OK, so my WD40 fix didn't fix it.

So I took off the door liner and removed the door handle to find one return spring was broken. The larger part of the broken spring was still attached to the handle so I guess this was flapping around and getting in the way. That's why sometimes the door would open and close perfectly and sometimes it would play up.

I've removed the broken spring and all seems fine again. The one remaining spring doesn't look long for this world so I'll be ordering a replacement kit off ebay - £7.00 for 2 springs - and fitting them as soon as they arrive.