03 4Runner Back Hatch Won't Open

[Runnin on E]

I just had this happen to me also. I had removed the hatch interior panel to look for the infamous "rusted hardware" that holds the window track to the door. I had disconnected to ECU harness to get a good look on that side. When I reassembled everything and closed the hatch it would not open no matter what. On the interior panel there is a small pop out panel maybe 3x4 inches. If you remove it there is a manual latch release lever inside, BUT that lever is covered by a second plastic guard that must also be removed. Once you get that far you can release the latch with the lever. I know this doesn't help with a bad ECU but at least you can open the hatch to get the interior panel off to investigate a possible cause. Hers the thing and this is the important bit. When I disconnected the ECU harness I wasn't aware that the ECUhad to be reset by disconnecting the battery (and starting the 4R). Once I figured that out everything worked normally again, and the best part was that I didn't have the dreaded rusted hardware (when it fails it can break your window, ouch!) Also I figured out how to get the hatch open manually and that the ECU needs to be reset if disconnected. Come on, how great is that....

 

[LEX4runner]

MY 06 4 runner the back wiper will start running when the engine is off and key out intermittently. I have reset the back ecu and battery several times , rear latch works now but just not sure why the wiper runs when power is off?? bad back ECU ???

 

[AuSeeker]

MY 06 4 runner the back wiper will start running when the engine is off and key out intermittently. I have reset the back ecu and battery several times , rear latch works now but just not sure why the wiper runs when power is off?? bad back ECU ???

This is a symptom of your battery being bad.

Have your battery load tested.

 

[TNRockyraccoon]

Same thing happened to me a year or so back. I was able to get it to open by pulling out on the hatch while pressing the button. After a few days this issue just disappeared on it's on. Been good ever since and I never figred out what the issue was. I did shoot the latch full of wd-40 once I got it opened.

 

[KanRunner]

I had issues on my 09 hatch not opening. The release was completely seized due to rust. I hope you fix your problem, its incredibly annoying to not have a working hatch.

 

[Cezar]

The $60 amazon unit works.


HOWTO:
To open hatch: disconnect battery and hit a dome light to kill charge. Then, reconnect battery, hit unlock on remote twice, and then open hatch.

Then, pop cover off grab handle rope and undo 10mm nut, then using a trim tool pop clips along bottom of large interior panel, once bottom is all loose, slide upwards and remove. Set aside. Remove vapor barrier.

Carefully remove black plastic cover from latch face. There are clips top and bottom. Undo 10mm nuts on face of latch and single nut on inside holding on mechanism, then unclip connector, loosen grommet and remove unit. If you break the clips on the latch face cover you can re-attach it with silicone but I highly recommend being careful with removal.

Installation is reverse of removal. For vapor barrier I just cut a piece of plastic from a discarded package and attached with silicone, then applied and trimmed with a utility knife.

SPECULATION:
I believe whoever designed this unit built it in such a way that the control unit measures the motor resistance and if it's too high (like a rusty mechanism), disables it to protect the motor. This is why disconnecting the battery works--it resets the monitoring.

 

[depjr]

This same thing happened to my dads 2005 4runner, all that you have to do is pull the ECU 10 fuse out for 10 second and put it back in. this we allow it to open again.
Or unplug the battery ground for 10 seconds then reconnect.