Rear Door Window Madness

Its summer again and we have an awful lot of rain and high humidity...


New behavior:

During driving all of a sudden the rear window is going down (no button pressed).
The window can go down all at once but most of the times
the window is lowering 4-6 increments
It starts opening an inch.... then a few seconds later it is lowering another couple of inches, then a few seconds after another 4 inches and so on until the window is entirely open. Once down chances are high that I cannot close the rear window with the button (button not operational)

First I experienced the auto lowering during driving. But it can happen also after the car is parked successfully (with the window back up.... in case I was lucky and managed to close the door before I park... which I will describe later).
When I come back the window is (most possibly) fully open.

The auto opening of the rear window is always accompanied by wild clicking action of all 5 door locks. The clicking is not in a regular frequency but a wild irregular pattern. The clicking can go away after a certain time but it goes on for a long while (I have not figured out what might stop the clicking)

I have experienced this madness since 10 days now and nothing has improved (as it did 2 years ago) or stopped.

After the rear window is down the push button for rear window up is typically not working. The button may work after some minutes again.... or I need to turn the engine off and restart and then the window will be able to close with the button.... then the game is starting again.


I need help!
Either I can solve the issue somehow .... Or I am going mad as well....
Or I am dumping this otherwise great car.

Martin

(only caveat of the Toyota in the North East is the rust- as you know-... but rust I can understand and handle .... now that electrical madness is something else...)

My first suspect would be the control module for the rear hatch, which is located ON the rear hatch. It possibly got wet somehow or has corrosion on the circuit board. I'm totally guessing tho.

This is the part I'm talking about - 2003-2009 TOYOTA 4RUNNER Tailgate Liftgate Multiplex Control Module 89222-35010 | eBay

That shows a picture of it and the OEM part #. It is not mine.

If it's not a control module, check your battery. When mine started to go bad, I'd have dash glitches and radio glitches but the car would otherwise run fine.

I was coming here to suggest the same. Can't count how many stories of electrical gremlins were resolved with a new battery. It's a bit odd b/c you'd think the symptoms would always be the same but they're not. Maybe the low voltage affects different parts of the various electronics boxes? In any case, definitely check the battery & charging system. Most auto parts stores have a gizmo that does this.

Battery going bad caused this to happen to my '04 4runner.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and sharing similar issues.

I'll check the age of the battery....and measure voltage.
If I recall correctly I installed a new battery 2 years ago.
I think my problem is clearly related to high degree of moisture or water.
it is plausible that the tailgate ECU as suggested (2003-2009 Toyota 4Runner Tailgate Liftgate Multiplex Control Module 89222-35010) could be the trouble maker.

Since I was starting the thread the cars has mostly calmed down.
The back door window rolled down a few times since then but the problem faded mostly.

What I have seen on the highway however: The light for the locked differential was starting flickering at higher speeds.
I am not sure what this might be. So far I guessed it is another gremlin.

Has someone seen this flickering as well? It is the diagram for the front and rear axle with the driveshaft that lights up only if the differential lock is engaged. It would light up or not... I have not seen a flicker ever before.

Martin

With respect, that doesn't mean it's good. Earlier this year I had to replace a one-year-old Toyota battery that was bad. Alternator issues can ruin the battery or you could have just gotten a "bad apple" when it was replaced. The ideal would be if you have another vehicle with a similar type battery that you could swap in for a few days to see what happens.

Thanks Bluesky,

i hear what you are saying.

Is it that the battery does not have or keep the proper voltage?
Any good method to 'measure'?
Is measuring the voltage enough?

Thanks for all your suggestions.

To sum it all up it seems that the main trouble maker could be
in this order?

#1 battery is compromised (Voltage too low/charging problems). Install new battery

#2 Install new Voltage regulator or new alternator

#3 back door ECU module being bad/corroded.

exchange Tailgate Liftgate Multiplex Control Module 89222-35010

Martin

Most auto parts store have a device that checks the battery and charging system. I think you get a better result than just checking voltage.

Thanks,

I was measuring voltage today and the reading was 12.5V.

Then starting the engine i could read 14.0V.

I don't know what the autopart stores might be able to do I'll check it out.
This was what I found in the Haynes Toyota manual.

Ah... the battery I have is a AAA, year 2022, one year old... but that possibly does not mean much as people mentioned.

Best, Martin

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Your battery is perfect and alternator is functioning properly based on those values. So you do have a multimeter? If you have one then test the rear window circuitry in sections to find the issue.

Thank you Jakeepoo
I have a good multimeter, and I had the rear window door apart, had the Multiplex Control Module 89222-35010 removed, then installed again.

I simply don't know how to test the circuitry and find the issue.
I even don't know what the issue might be.
If you could give me some hints I'd appreciate it very much.

Right now the window stays closed but the door clicking is still active...very annoying... but this does not mean that the window will roll down when I am driving on the highway at 60 mph and rain....

Martin

Does the rear wiper and defrost work? I believe the module would be good if they do. What year and model is it, I'll look at the schematic if I can find one. Sounds like an easy fix but finding the culprit is the tricky part. That back window is a must have working!

Thanks, Jakeepoo

I have a crazy clicking 2003 T4R , V8.
I was disconnecting the board in the rear door multiple times and when removed the crazy clicking of the door locks stops. When I reconnect the 2 plugs to the board the clicking starts again.
This means the clicking must have to do with this board?

Best, Martin