HELP - Tailgate won't open or close

[Dusty Driftwood]

Hi T4R Friends,

I replaced the rear view camera over the weekend. This is (unfortunately) the 4th rear view camera I've had to install on the 2008, so I feel confident in my understanding of the order of operations.

Well, after I buttoned everything back up the tailgate has latched, but not closed all the way. Imagine you shut the tail gate, but the motor doesn't pull it in tight...

The tail gate is now "locked" in the 1/2 closed position. It will not open by the handle and it will not close all the way. I have a bungee cord keeping it closed for now, but this is not a long term solution.

It seems like the tail gate motor is not initializing, otherwise it should pull it closed. The rear window still operates as intended, as does the rest of the vehicle, the tail gate just will not close all the way.

This also prevents me from locking the vehicle since it thinks the tail gate is open.

Has anyone had the tail gate motor go out? Is this what it looks like? Any other suggestions are appreciated!

2008 SR5, V6 with ~125,000 on the ODO

 

[Finest]

Try and unhook the battery for a few minutes and reinstall. We had to reset the rear hatch mechanism after installing a rear camera too, it worked again.

 

[Bossman]

Tailgate Motor Problem

4th Gen Tailgate problem - HELP!

Rear hatch motor reset?

 

[MikeinNH67]

Tons of threads on rear hatch issues. I don't recall any that is the actual motor being the fault. There's a little plastic cover in the middle of the inside of the door. Behind that is a manual opener, push down or up, I forget. The usual issue is the latch mechanism freezing up or one of the switches not working properly. Once the door is open you can take the inside cover off and watch things. You can unplug the controller on the driver's side to reset it.

 

[sbenner44]

Similar problem

I’m having a similar problem, when I unplug the battery and “normalize” the rear window it will work for one or two times and then stop...can anyone help with some tips of where to go next?
2004 limited

 

[hinmo24t]

Tons of threads on rear hatch issues. I don't recall any that is the actual motor being the fault. There's a little plastic cover in the middle of the inside of the door. Behind that is a manual opener, push down or up, I forget. The usual issue is the latch mechanism freezing up or one of the switches not working properly. Once the door is open you can take the inside cover off and watch things. You can unplug the controller on the driver's side to reset it.

the motor itself is often times the culprit. i replaced mine less than a year ago, easily, and got it working again. i found lots of references on this site about the same issue at the time and also there was a great video:

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-...s-then-unlatches-2.html?highlight=hatch+motor
https://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-...ear-tailgate-latch.html?highlight=hatch+motor
YouTube

 

[MikeinNH67]

the motor itself is often times the culprit. i replaced mine less than a year ago, easily, and got it working again. i found lots of references on this site about the same issue at the time and also there was a great video:

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-...s-then-unlatches-2.html?highlight=hatch+motor
https://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-...ear-tailgate-latch.html?highlight=hatch+motor
YouTube

Cool. What stinks is you can't trust a junk yard one because failure is common for the hatch and new parts are expensive to shot gun. Mine does the lock un-lock deal so I added a manual switch for now. Motor seems fine.