TD4 Tailgate - broken handle AND dropped window

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Hi there,

I have a double whammy - my rear window won't re-calibrate, so won't stay up, and the springs have gone in my tailgate handle, so trying to make the micro-switches work properly is pot-luck. I think I can't fix one without fixing the other, but...

There are lots of threads explaining how to replace the rear handle on a Freelander 1, but they require the window to be in the 'up' position, to access the nuts from the inside, once the card is off. My window drops the minute I unlock the car, and I can't re-calibrate it. I have a feeling the broken tailgate handle (springs went a while ago) isn't helping with the re-calibration, but I can't take it off with the window dropped, as the glass covers the bolts. The only way I can get the window to stay up is to lock the car with the tailgate shut, and use the key barrel switch to raise it. (Thanks breakdown recovery man for changing my battery without checking that the tailgate re-calibrated!)

So my question is - if I remove the card, shut the tailgate, and lock the car so that I can close the window, having left the bonnet open, and then disconnect the battery, so that I can open the side doors without the back window dropping, can I access all the bolts to remove the tailgate handle from inside the car? Anything I need to unbolt from the side of the tailgate before I close it?

I fear if I go at this half-baked I'm going to end up with the handle off and the window down, with no way of closing my tailgate ever again...

I did reverse into a concrete pillar, and slightly stave in the tailgate, which now presses against the window a bit. Still goes up and down, but could the added pressure from this be preventing the calibration procedure to work? I'd happily disable the tailgate window altogether if the top lintel could be removed while maintaining a weather seal against the glass. That design was destined for failure...
 
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