LR4 Tailgate not opening

mikem said:

I saved installing the emergency release cable for another day .

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mikem said:

Hi all.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with this issue. I was able to fix my tailgate issue using parts from Atlantic British.

A few things that came up from the project:
- Like some of you I had an issue where the key fob was not activating the latch. I also had an issue where I'd unlock the vehicle from inside but I could not open the tailgate. One thing that was consistent was that I got one shot at opening the tailgate when I restarted the vehicle. In this instance I would hold the tailgate switch and firmly pull the tailgate in one motion.

- I was concerned that I might have been experiencing a wiring issue but was able to verify that the actuator was receiving 12 volts when I pressed the release button on the tailgate.

- I was also able to see clearly that the old actuator was not retracting fully when compared to the new actuator.

- I did come across the Powerfulukltd videos, including using the less expensive actuator, but was unable to find the actual FoMoCo actuator and didn't feel like messing with the third party units. The actuator from AB is OEM and has been working great.

I found this video helpful as well:

. He's working on an LR3 but pretty much the same process and he also goes over replacing the tailgate switch.

I saved installing the emergency release cable for another day .

I'll update if have any issues with the new unit.

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ryanjl said:

They were just the two wires that came off the switch. You can start by removing the switch and cleaning it out to see if it's just dirty. Early versions of the switch would purportedly get corroded inside.

I wound up removing the interior trim and the rear handle piece (that holds the license plate lights) to get at the harness. I had ordered a cheap liftgate switch off amazon and plugged it into the harness. It worked, so that let me know the problem was in my wiring. The amazon switch was too cheaply made for me to want to make it a permanent solution, so I replaced the wiring on the Land Rover switch instead.

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CRYA said:

Ugh so this issue has now struck me as well. No access to a multi meter so I stripped the trim and inspected the loom. All appears in good order with no obvious signs of breakage or bad connection. I’ve ordered a replacement switch to splice I’m hoping that it’s the switch itself. It would fire every so often but after tearing it all down and reinstalling, it’s d-e-a-d. fingers crossed the new switch does it. Oddly, the switch itself was actually clean too.

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ryanjl said:

I may have stated it earlier in the thread, but something that should have been a dead giveaway to me is that when I took the wires than ran into the switch and "shorted" them together, nothing happened. At the time, I wasn't sure whether the switch just essentially made a connection between the two wires when activated, but now I'm pretty sure that's all it does.

So, if you short the wires together and it activates the latch, then the switch is probably the culprit. If nothing happens, it's probably not the switch but rather the wiring or the latch itself.

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