How to Open Land Rover Discovery 3 4 Locked Tailgate With Failed Actuator From Inside

When your tailgate actuator fails on your Land Rover discovery 3 / Discovery 4 you will find yourself in a spot of bother as there is no way to open the boot / tailgate. In this video we show our method to remove the rear carpet from inside the car and then release the upper tailgate. Part number for the actuator is FUG500010

[ryancomer]

I just completed this step and followed your guide to replace the actuator as well. Thank you for the help! I didn’t have the specialty cable tool and found that a 30 cm flat crow bar did the trick to dislodge the cable from the steel housing with a little leverage lined up properly (no hammering necessary). Cheers

[keithswaddling]

Thanks guys you've saved me a ton of time, blood, sweat and tears, oh and maybe some colourful language. great informative videos as usual.

[fourjaw]

Thanks guys for all your efforts on these experiments you do, it really does help the discovery community world wide, keep up the great content 🇦🇺👍👍👍👍

[johnspear]

Thank you for hammering your car for my entertainment / education.

[kiwibrett]

My D4's has started getting intermittent, so a Fiesta activator is being put in an envelope in China - lets see if it can get to New Zealand before I get complete shutdown! I did notice the latch was quite stiff, so have liberally applied penetrating oil - it appears to have relieved some stress on the actuator. Thanks for the videos.

[mohammedambusaidi]

Thank you, brother. ❤️
After following your explanation today I was able to change the lock of my car by myself 🤗🤗🙋‍♂️

[davidsimos]

Thanks for posting this video, it just happened to my Discovery 4, so I guess it's climbing into the back with a mallet and wood for me 😂

[zurx]

Can’t even open the trunk to do this 😢

[precision_shooting_keiran]

Very helpful video. Thanks so much I just had to get into the tailgate of my 2014 D4. Thanks again. 👍🇦🇺

[ThomasSommeregger]

You are the best! I fixed my LR4 exactly this way today. Including the replacement actuator piece from Ford, that you recommended. :) 🙏🏼💯 Love your content!

[Timcot]

My tailgate failed a few days ago but to my surprise it opened this cold morning so I took advantage and stripped the mechanism out.
The latch was sticky but the motor had no torque. I stripped down the solenoid/actuator and tested the motor. It seems that motor inside has a inbuilt stall protection system which is probably a series thermistor. It runs for a few seconds before the current drops from around 2A around 150mA then rotates at a crawl. Reversing it makes no difference.
The motor is Chinese with the part number FC 280SC 22125. 9 tooth pinion £2.49 each with postage of around £4 from Aliexpress.
I have had good service from Aliexpress in the past but things take a bit longer than most.
A slightly different version of the actuator is the Ford 1481081 which is fitted to the later Fiestas and similar.
I guess the working parts could be swapped as the moulding is the same. FoMoCo P454K
Thanks for the video, I was lucky I didn't get the grief that you went through.

[Sayecra]

Thank you soo much for your videos, you really helped me out

[mvirdi]

Hi 👋 this is a great tool to open the door/gate ❤️❤️👍👍
Thanks 🙏 for

[safiramal]

Thank you, after having the same problem, I followed your guide to replace the actuator as this morning.
A tip though "Regarding losing the mojo as you described 🙂" , found out that some times if you wait you might have a chance of actuating it one more time in the morning. This helped me open the tail gate this morning and saved me a lot of time.
After that the installation went exactly as you guided Thanks you all 🦾

[dr_dr]

I added a second cable to mine connected to the original (made from an old bicycle brake cable) that comes out under the top trim of the tailgate so if I get either of these failures, all I have to do is fish out the second cable end and tug it to release the upper tailgate. The main problem is that I know I'll be doing that for months until I get round to fixing it properly 😀.

[guypickrell]

My tailgate stopped opening and locked me out. I found that tapping the area around the mechanism (on the inside) with a rubber mallet helped get it open. Going to look for the video on fitting a new actuator.

[johnpierce]

Thanks so much ! Followed your steps and fixed it however just my cable broke at the end where it elbows….my actuator might of been ok but I replaced it anyways and just super glued the end of the cable in there since the elbow was broken off lol. Some Alabama rigging so fingers crossed the glue holds ! But hey thanks to y’all I know how to get into the tailgate if it locks up on me again…CHEERS

[sebilata]

Great video! I think someone should make a template for the hole in the actuator where to push the cable holder to open the tailgate without removing the inside panel

[fredberrin]

Hello, thank you very much for your video and your very detailed advice.
I have a 2007 D3 and I have this problem with a blocked trunk. I followed all your advice but when I released and pulled on the cable (the elbow end was actually broken), my upper tailgate did not open. No effect on the cable, impossible to pull it.
Do you have another solution to help me out?

[bornshamir]

Lazy solenoidz my new band name! Lol ! Thank for the detailed vid. Let me try now.