Member Since: 09 Aug 2007
Location: Kent
Posts: 269
This is an excellent guide - thanks so much for the picture by picture run through.
My upper tailgate latch failed last week, followed the guide and bingo.
Took a while to (a) work out just how hard and where to lever the carpet and (b) how hard to push on the rubber bush that goes into the actuator to get the old cable out.
When I went to the Stealer they had the latches on the shelf. Not often they have parts on the shelf. Shows how often these must go...
FYI - I noticed the right angled nipple is of a slightly different design now.
£70 for parts vs. £250 plus to get the Stealer to do it. Bargain.D3 - 2008.5MY HSE, Stornaway Grey, RSE etc - all the toys
Grabber AT3s, Smoked Sweeping Side Repeaters
D4 Steering Wheel with BBS boards
IID BT Tool - happy to help with fault codes
2nd Apr 2015 6:03 pm
Biker Pete
Member Since: 23 Jan 2014
Location: Gateshead
Posts: 513
After seeing the warning in LRO about these last Saturday I thought I would change mine as a preventative measure........ it failed on Sunday
This thread was far far better than the magazines "how to" and the videos I found on Youtube. I probably wouldn't have done it myself without this.
Cheers Disco_Mikey.... you are a star sir
.... and I only made one finger bleed in the whole process
18th Apr 2015 7:29 am
1964landyman
Member Since: 21 Jan 2008
Location: Leicestershire
Posts: 24
Thanks to all the information on this thread, another Disco 3 weak link is sorted - How many more will come to light!
Below is a picture of my repair. Used the Allen key method with an electrical connector block but for added security you will see a crimp connector clamped to the cable which passes all the way through the connector block. I also notched the side of the Allen key for the screws to locate into to stop it potentially slipping.
Will be putting in an emergency release cable when I reassemble
2007 Series 3 HSE
2000 Series 2 ES
1997 Series 1 GS
22nd Apr 2015 1:55 pm
Iceman08
Member Since: 22 Sep 2014
Location: Hereford
Posts: 2284
Has anybody had this fail with their dog in the back and a full height dog guard fitted?
A concern of mine!!
10th May 2015 10:22 pm
eluijten
Member Since: 19 Mar 2011
Location: Hechtel
Posts: 198
I tried this approach to open my locked tailgate, it was quit fiddly to open up the carpet from inside, only to find out that the cable had snapped on the latch side, not the actuator side! Grrrrrr...
I find myself now with an upper tailgate half way stuck in the lock. can't open but won't close either...
Any ideas?
Thx...
Erwin
29th Jul 2015 5:05 pm
Dunkers6
Member Since: 25 May 2015
Location: Taunton, Somerset
Posts: 29
geoff. wrote:
yes its one of the returned latches with a stainless end silver soldered on and like mikey says very doubtful it will ever break
Thank you DM and Geoff for the info on the fix, it's looking like I've the same job to crack on with this weekend. As a relative newcomer to the site, I'm unable to message you privately Geoff to enquire how I go about getting an improved cable fix from you. Could you please drop me a line and let me know?
Cheers, Sean
3rd Nov 2015 10:06 pm
Eyeball
Member Since: 14 Jun 2011
Location: Essex
Posts: 81
Massive thanks for this post. Must have saved me £hundreds!!
Tip - you really need to give it some welly when pushing the cable out of the actuator housing - I ended up using a water meter rod and quite a bit of body weight to spring the sucker! You are pushing it towards the back of the car btw.
I have used the sacrificial Allen key and 30amp connector block as my solution of choice - have convinced myself it's working better than before D3 HSE 06 with all the bells and whistles
New engine at 80k!
Intelligent FBH
Pulling Sterling Continental 630
4th Nov 2015 12:53 am
cadburysparrot
Member Since: 24 Jan 2015
Location: Surrey
Posts: 30
Awesome instructions! Obviously took me twice as long as anybody else, but all done in a lunchtime.
14th Nov 2015 7:45 pm
Rob1969
Member Since: 17 Mar 2015
Location: Essex
Posts: 40
Another tailgate jammed...freed with fob and fiddling! Thought I'd be clever and did the ford eBay switch replacement. Now completely jammed. Will follow instructions but where do I obtain the stronger larch/actuator ? Any help gratefully accepted! Thanks
26th Dec 2015 11:05 pm
Rob1969
Member Since: 17 Mar 2015
Location: Essex
Posts: 40
Job done thanks for the guide! Also added emergency pull cord! Hope I don't have to use it! Just worn out actuator.
10th Jan 2016 6:30 pm
Rob1969
Member Since: 17 Mar 2015
Location: Essex
Posts: 40
Job done thanks for the guide! Also added emergency pull cord! Hope I don't have to use it! Just worn out actuator.
10th Jan 2016 6:31 pm
LRD414
Member Since: 28 Dec 2014
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 18
Manual Release Cable Attached Directly to Lock
For long trips I have rear drawers and a cargo barrier, so the potential for an inoperable tailgate has been bothering me. So recently I decided to proactively install a manual release cable directly to the lock with assistance from a friend who had already been through the experience after his electric actuator died. His is MY10 and mine MY14 but it seemed an excellent opportunity to do it early with assistance from someone who'd been forced into being an expert.
Some of the steps are of course already well covered in this thread. But what I haven't seen elsewhere is the use of a bicycle cable for the manual release. Using a bike cable rather than just a wire trace allows the cable to be run through bends and be tucked away and still be easy to actuate from the 2nd row area. And attaching the manual release directly to the lock seems like the best option because you will still have manual operation regardless of what element fails (cable or electric actuator).
Here it is under the 3rd row seats but I might even move this to under the carpet. The pull handle tucks under the 2nd row floor mat, not shown here.
Click image to enlarge
In this photo you can see the factory cable that pulls towards bottom left of photo.
The manual cable is added to pull opposite direction, which is the same actuation because it is the other side of the pivot.
You can also see how the bike cable is attached.
Click image to enlarge
Complete actuator and lock removed from tailgate. More details on the task included in the pdf document.
Click image to enlarge
Close up view of the bracket attached to the lock that hold the manual cable.
Member Since: 17 Mar 2015
Location: Essex
Posts: 40
Excellent better than my effort!
22nd Jan 2016 8:53 am
Landscapejohno
Member Since: 13 Jul 2015
Location: Melton Mowbray
Posts: 123
eluijten wrote:
I tried this approach to open my locked tailgate, it was quit fiddly to open up the carpet from inside, only to find out that the cable had snapped on the latch side, not the actuator side! Grrrrrr...
I find myself now with an upper tailgate half way stuck in the lock. can't open but won't close either...
Any ideas?
Thx...
Erwin
I think mines done the same now it's closed can't do anything with it
25th Mar 2016 7:37 pm
Roger62
Member Since: 19 May 2016
Location: Tiverton
Posts: 1
Broken tailgate
Hi, could someone please ask geoff to contact me as I am unable to pm him and desperately need one of his beefed up release cables.
Many thanks,
Roger
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