Hi everyone, i'm a newbie on this particular forum so be gentle please! A friend of mine has a 2008 TD4 freelander2. Recently the tailgate has started to unlatch when either the front or rear washers are operated. Tried telling him it was a 'safety feature', but he wouldn't have it!Upon further investigtion if the washer motor is disconnected the taigate stays shut when the washer switch is operated,although obviously the washers don't work(!).I suspected an earthing problem, but where? Does anybody have any experience of this problem, I'm starting to get splinters in my fingers from scratching my head!!! P.S....the troublesome tailgate switch has been replaced in a vain attempt to remedy this fault. Many thanks in advance for any replies.... Si... i have a clear conscience.......... and a short memory

I would start with the tailgate switch, often corrode and require replacing, my old FL2 had this happen and spude my boot contents on the road behind me Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I too would suspect an earthing fault. i would trace the earth wires for the washer pump, headlamp pump of it has headlamp wash wipe and earth for the wiper motor, its possible the wipers and washers share an earth. I too have had similar issues with my blower fan speed increasing with using the wash wipe and indeed after 3 years the dealer has finally found an earth cable that when removed and had its resistance measured it varied with wiggling the wire and was found to be corroded inside the heat shrink !

Rover 25's used to suffer with tail gate releasing when wipers were used and that too was caused by poor earth.

If you find an earth point, connect an anoluoge volt meter to the cable just before the earth eyelet and the other end on the earth post of the battery and then operate the electrical item. The voltmeter should stay at zero and at most move by .03 volts. If it moves more than that then you have found your bad earth.
At one earth point on mine I had 3.5 volts across 2 earth points which pointed to a very bad earth ! My wipers used to trigger every time I hit the start button ! and the dash used to go berserk !
good luck

Hi everyone again, just a quick update on the spooked Freelander. It seems somehow the Body Control Unit had become spiked,we cleaned all the earth points we could find, replaced the corroded(!) earth/radio suppression lead on the tailgate and still the tailgate unlatched when the washers were used. At my work, we updated the software in the B.C.U, and voila! it now works correctly. It just seems odd that it suddenly went like this, but I guess that is the nature of modern cars. Thanks for the replies, even if you didn't read all of my initial post Mr modarator!!haha!! i have a clear conscience.......... and a short memory

Woodstock, welcome to the forum, glad your sorted, you need your own now

Pinky