3rd Gen Lift Gate

[Ronin1082]

So twice I've torn apart the inside of the gate and thought I fixed the latch. Bar isn't loose, cable is tight and I oiled the latch itself. 3 times it's stopped working. I check it dozens of times, it opens both while the gate is up and down, then when I drive it fails. Won't open anymore. Any ideas on what the hell is going on?? I'm sick and tired of crawling through the back and taking it apart!

 

[hounddogman]

I had mine apart on Sunday because of this . On mine I traced it down to the locking-key mechanism . When I would turn the key clockwise ( to raise the window ) and then let the key self center in a vertical position the latch is locked-disconnected . But if I turn the key counter clockwise past center then back to center then the latch works . And yes , it has locked like this by it's self while driving . Hope this works for you .

 

[NoVAphotog]

So twice I've torn apart the inside of the gate and thought I fixed the latch. Bar isn't loose, cable is tight and I oiled the latch itself. 3 times it's stopped working. I check it dozens of times, it opens both while the gate is up and down, then when I drive it fails. Won't open anymore. Any ideas on what the hell is going on?? I'm sick and tired of crawling through the back and taking it apart!

Sorry to piggyback your thread...I just bought mine and this is the first thing I need to fix...any tips from your experience on taking it all apart?

As of now it's hit or miss whether or not it's going to open and the handle is very loose. Sometimes the door ajar light stays on even though the hatch is closed all the way.

 

[NoVAphotog]

I had mine apart on Sunday because of this . On mine I traced it down to the locking-key mechanism . When I would turn the key clockwise ( to raise the window ) and then let the key self center in a vertical position the latch is locked-disconnected . But if I turn the key counter clockwise past center then back to center then the latch works . And yes , it has locked like this by it's self while driving . Hope this works for you .

Might have to test this out...I've been using that "feature" quite a bit recently...

 

[Ronin1082]

I had mine apart on Sunday because of this . On mine I traced it down to the locking-key mechanism . When I would turn the key clockwise ( to raise the window ) and then let the key self center in a vertical position the latch is locked-disconnected . But if I turn the key counter clockwise past center then back to center then the latch works . And yes , it has locked like this by it's self while driving . Hope this works for you .

You done a "repair" on it yet? I won't get a chance/time to take it apart for the 3rd time till this weekend. I'll test this out as well.

 

[southsidewaterman]

So twice I've torn apart the inside of the gate and thought I fixed the latch. Bar isn't loose, cable is tight and I oiled the latch itself. 3 times it's stopped working. I check it dozens of times, it opens both while the gate is up and down, then when I drive it fails. Won't open anymore. Any ideas on what the hell is going on?? I'm sick and tired of crawling through the back and taking it apart!

FWIW, I had the same thing happen to me, where the latch just stopped working. I took the panel off on the inside, and couldn't see anything on the inside that looked out of place. I'd jiggle things around, and it would work for a little bit, and then go back to not working.

Frustrated and defeated after doing this several times, I just sprayed all the mechanisms on the inside with WD-40 and hoped it would started working again. Lucky to say, it has been over a year now and it still works, haven't had anymore problems with it.

 

[SpidermanGeek]

FWIW, I had the same thing happen to me, where the latch just stopped working. I took the panel off on the inside, and couldn't see anything on the inside that looked out of place. I'd jiggle things around, and it would work for a little bit, and then go back to not working.

Frustrated and defeated after doing this several times, I just sprayed all the mechanisms on the inside with WD-40 and hoped it would started working again. Lucky to say, it has been over a year now and it still works, haven't had anymore problems with it.

Yeah, in a lot of cases.. this fixes the issue.

All the mechanisms need a deep degreasing.

I shot everything in WD40, then engine degrease, then WD40 again all while manually working the latch mechanisms until the dripping gunk started looking clear.... then I soaked the stuff some more, lol.

When the latch was finally working properly, I sprayed a little bit of White Lithium Grease and my Lift Gate has been working great ever since.

I did the same with the Key Tumbler.

 

[Ronin1082]

Thanks guys, I'm gonna soak it down some more on the weekend when I get to tear it down again....... Just sucks that the two times that I've taken it apart and seemed to work until I put that gate down and drive. That's when it would stop working. Oh and the damn door light it on too....... Just another thing to fix while it's up again.

 

[SpidermanGeek]

I also added a selftapping screw in the metal tab that the handle makes contact with so that I don't feel like I'm about to rip off the handle to get the lift gate open. Now it acts more like the other door handles in terms of travel distance needed to operate the latch.

The latch mechanism rod in mine is pretty rusted and bent though, which is part of teh reason I needed to do that

 

[hounddogman]

Yeah , I just cleaned it up good . I think thats the fix for about 90% of 4Runner hatch problems .

 

[diverscale]

there was lot of rusted areas in mine, up to the lower right and left end of window, down to the lower, inner side of the door where water seems to puddle sometimes.


You could spray anti-rust oil while you'Re at it.

 

[Ronin1082]

Holy hell this worked! I tried it tonight and yeah, key turned to the right then centered, nothing. Key turned to the left and centered, worked fine! Thank you! I'm just gonna leave it cause if I take it apart again I'm just gonna cut a hole!