1 i've finally much to my wallets dismay, bought myself a door latch and handle and am currently waiting for it to arrive!!

Anyway i have a few questions?!

1 the rear tailgate doesn't work, i've been told it grounds through the door latch?

2 fuse 12 or 15 can't remember blew when the latch went bust, is this par the course?

3 Is there a sequence to fitting this latch? do i do it with the battery disconnected?

Oh and i'm uber excited, hopefully i'll get to hear the V8 after a year of sitting!!!!

Cheers all!

Presumably you got one of Marty's refurbed ones and not a full price new one?

1) Yes, the tailgate release takes it's ground connection from the drivers door latch. So if the drivers door is unlocked, it will open, if it isn't, it won't.

2) Fuse 15 supplies power to the tailgate latch release but it shouldn't take out the fuse, it is only the ground that goes through the latch, not the power.

3) Remove door trim, remove old latch, fit new latch, replace door trim. Nothing complicated, no need to disconnect the battery, just make sure the electrical connections are clean, tight and clipped away so they don't get caught in the window.

No not one of marty's I got a 2n'd hand one, tested with a 30 money back guarantee.

He also has 100% positive feedback. so i'm not too worried.

When i pressed the tailgate button the fuse went pop!

and it kept going pop until i disconnected all the wires in the tailgate.

rear wiper, rear release button and associated wires.

Which was odd as she worked perfectly the day before!!!

If the fuse blew when you pressed the button, the tailgate latch motor has gone short circuit. The circuit is arranged in this order, power, fuse, motor, pushbutton, door latch switch. So a duff latch switch (which would normally fail open circuit anyway), won't cause the fuse to blow.

Oh so it's most likely the latch motor that has failed in the tailgate causing the fuse to blow?

Would the Drivers latch and tailgate be connected in some way?

For both of them to fail at the same time?

FWIW....
Remove the latch, open the screws holding it together and you may find that the “grease” used on the gears has hardened and binding the thing.
Give the lot a shot of lube, put it back together again, connect the wiring and test it.
Not saying it will work but two of my three P38s have had latches “fail” because of this...