Tailgate Woes

[Pecky]

I have a 2010 Forester with a LED light strip on the tailgate which normally comes on automatically when the tailgate is opened.

On a recent trip it stopped working and I noticed the tailgate open warning light had also stopped working so I figured it must have been the switch that was common to both. When testing the switch with the multimeter I touched something which shorted and there were no interior lights at all. I also lost remote locking, radio with GPS and reversing camera, dash lights, OAT/clock/fuel economy, and puddle lights which was unusual.
I started by checking the illumination fuses and audio fuses and they were all ok so I continued pulling fuses trying to find the right one, and testing each one with a multimeter. This wasn't successful so I went searching through the wiring diagram to see if there was a common fuse and found a 20 amp one in the engine bay fuse box labelled B which was a Backup. It was blown and after much anxiety the problems were fixed.

Later I started having some troubles with the external handle to operate the tailgate. This was not actually a handle but was an electric switch with a rubber cover over it which had started to tear.
This meant to open the tailgate I had to climb into the back of the car to remove the square plastic cover (circled in the photo) and operate the manual release mechanism (it’s in your owner’s manual).
So I decided to replace both the tailgate latch and the switch. The latch was straight forward but I could not buy the switch separately and had to replace the whole wiring loom in the tailgate. Afterwards I found that the XV does have a separate switch which may have worked for half the price.
I have now covered the rubber over the exterior switch with a piece of Gaffa tape which should protect the switch from getting dirty or wet and increase its working life. This may be something worth considering for your car too.

David Peck