Please help: Confused Tailgate

[richslay]

Hi guys & gals,

Finally got around to giving the car some TLC over the festive period and the car showed its appreciation my developing a fault kind of its xmas present to me.

When i set the alarm it bleeps to say its closed and then a few seconds later does a mini bleep to let me know that something isn't closed properly. After some investigation it appears that the car is not registering the boot as closed. Infact it appears to be registering it as closed when it's open and open when its closed!?! The interior boot light coming on when the boot is closed! I've checked all the connectors and nothing is loose, it just seems as though it is confused and got things the wrong way around!

Another bizarre thing: The boot registers as being closed when a pin on the car body engages into a hole on the tailgate. If i leave the boot open and insert a screwdriver into the 'hole' the car thinks that the boot is closed and the alarm works ok.

I wonder if the thing is just confused and needs resetting somehow? If anyone has come across this before or has any suggestions, would be really useful?? Thanks in advance, Rich

[topsparky]

try changing the door switch on the tailgate to see if this works.has it always done this.could be wrong switch ie normally open or normally closed.i'm sure it should be normally closed so when the tailgate is shut it opens the circuit so the light switches off

[Jas11n]

Check the wiring between the tailgate and the body (top right IIRC) seems to be a common problem on both the coupe and avant.
Wiring insulation breaks down over time with all the opening and closing of the tailgate and causes short circuits.
Can remember Ben ("S2avant") sorting Tim's ("S2avant95M") at Combe this year.

[pastures16]

do you mean last year ja
its top left corner and a right pita to do

[s2avant95M]

yeah, my alarm was being set when i closed the boot and the central locking locked. when i put the car in reverse gear my fog lights would come on, as well as the wiper motor not working. all fixed by ben and some nifty rewiring.

[BRY]

When I try for rear wash wipe the interior lights come on!
Must be the end of the life span for the wiring loom in that area and others ie doors?
Any pics or how to get the offending wires out into the open?