Real time help: rear tailgate goes click, when button is pushed but won't open!!

[alia176]

i can do a search and red through myriad of "tailgate not opening" threads but I don't have the time. We left the house for a week of camping/wheeling in CO and stopped at the gas station, and tried to open the tailgate but it won't open. I can hear the click, then possibly some motorized sounds but the tailgate is not opening.

I know how to find out the solution and it involves removal of the 4"x4" square plastic piece and move the tailgate mechanism manually but I have one caveat. The rear is FULL of camping gear, along with a fridge. The fridge slide release level is squarely on the middle of this plastic access panel.

I opened up the rear glass and see nothing lodged in the door but something could've slid that I can't see and wedged itself under the door. I'm tempted to force it open after the click, whirr sound but man O man, that makes me nervous.

Lmk if any other ideas comes to your noggin while I deal with this in the driveway while my daughter and her friends are waiting!!!

 

[alia176]

Okay I'm able to access the rear hatch and removed it. I can see the mechanism lever move up every time I push the button to open the tailgate but the tailgate is still jammed closed or something.

I have a button inside for releasing the tailgate. After I pushing the release button, t I pushed with both feet while my back is against the seats but she won't budge.

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Google Photos

Google Photos

 

[MikeinNH67]

The latch at the bottom is most likely frozen. With some force I think you can get the large inside plastic cover off so you can start soaking the latch with penetrant. You will have to lift (I think lift) the lever and have to force the door open. Below is a video on the actual latch issue, mine was too far gone to repair so I bought an aftermarket one from Amazon.

Stuck open or closed rusty Tailgate Latch fix for 2003-2009 Toyota 4Runner - YouTube

 

[DAW89446]

Since you admitted to the back end being crammed full, is it possible that your cargo is pushing against the tailgate so much that the latch mechanism is binding and not fully opening?

 

[alia176]

Sorry for the delay in replying, we hit the road right after I came up with a workaround.

So, it turns out that the locking mechanism works really well when you close the tailgate. As you know, the tailgate gets sucked into the home position. The problem is that the motor apparently doesn't have the power to unwind and release the tailgate. The winding mechanism still sounds the same as it all is has with no funny sounds or any of that type of ugly noises!

Just to reiterate, this has been working perfectly for the last 380k miles. So I don't know what happened earlier today but there were zero obstructions causing any kind of a jamming issues.

Even though I was able to remove the inside access panel, I was not successfully able to move the lever into the unlocking position.

Here is the workaround:. I have to push into the tailgate at the bottom, right before I hit the button to unlock. This relieves the motor mechanism from doing too much work, which is why I suspect that the motor perhaps is getting a little tired!

When I return home next Sunday, I will start the process of investigating this further. Thankfully this issue only set me back 2 hours and I was able to set up camp at dusk without any problems.

Thank you for all the suggestions and hopefully this thread can help out others.

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[AuSeeker]

I was going to suggest pushing in on the hatch before pushing the switch, glad you figured it out and got it opened!

 

[LaZorChicKen]

Had same problem with mine, i just bought a new one. Havent had a problem since, going on 2 years now.
I did try and clean it before i bought a new one but that only worked for like a week. lol

 

[rwh963]

Just to reiterate, this has been working perfectly for the last 380k miles.

only 380k? toyota's suck!

 

[randy88fj62]

I had to replace mine at 525,000 miles for the exact opposite reason. It would come loose while driving on washboard roads. I believe mine lasted as long as it did since I like in CA and have zero rust issues out here.

I'm guessing yours is rusted up a bit? Plenty of lube and you may get some more miles out of it but buying and installing a new one isn't hard. Seeing it lasted 380,000 miles for you sounds like a win?

What I did going forward. I attached a cord to the manual open mechanism and taped it to the back of the tailgate. In a pinch I now have access to the cord and can pull it open when it's full of gear (ie drawers and fridge etc).

 

[alia176]

I had to replace mine at 525,000 miles for the exact opposite reason. It would come loose while driving on washboard roads. I believe mine lasted as long as it did since I like in CA and have zero rust issues out here.

I'm guessing yours is rusted up a bit? Plenty of lube and you may get some more miles out of it but buying and installing a new one isn't hard. Seeing it lasted 380,000 miles for you sounds like a win?

What I did going forward. I attached a cord to the manual open mechanism and taped it to the back of the tailgate. In a pinch I now have access to the cord and can pull it open when it's full of gear (ie drawers and fridge etc).

Just re-surfaced after a week of wheeling and camping!

No rust here, as I live in SW USA. I also tied a string to it and will end up replacing it with an OEM unit. Good idea on leaving the string to the mechanism for future!

Cheers.

 

[alia176]

Last week I took the rear door actuator out of the tail gate and gave it a thorough cleaning. Using a 12v battery, I was able to cycle the motor both directions. After reinstalling into the tail gate, the same thing is still happening. Seems the motor can't seem to move the actuator completely out of the latching hole on the body unless I push against the bottom of the tailgate to reduce the friction.

You'd think there's something jammed between the tailgate and the body that's causing too much friction or putting an extra amount of pre-load on the actuator but that doesn't appear to the be case.

I ordered a cheapo amazon unit as a replacement until I fully understand what the issue is with the original unit. I'm not sure if the motor is losing power due to worn out brushes or perhaps too much crud inside the windings but I'll look into it once I have a temp replacement. I'm going camping a lot and need to access the cargo frequently.

I don't like the idea of using a chinese actuator in my 4runner so hopefully I'll figure out this issue and solve it with the OEM actuator.

 

[alia176]

Update

So, it's time for an update. I purchased this amazon actuator and installed it. Life is good again. However, I did notice one thing and that is when the actuator is released the door after the button is pushed, the door becomes released with a small bang. Meaning, it got sucked in hard!

This could mean one of two things: the new actuator is pulling the door in further than the old, tired OEM actuator was pulling. I did replace the hard rubber mounts that are on both sides of the body and the door is REALLY rubbing hard against these things, which is causing the door get really tight when the new actuator pulls it in. The old actuator did groan a tad more once the new rubber things got installed so what's happening now makes some sense to me.

In any case, let me see if there are any long term affects from this slight bang which occurs on every release.

There's one thing you have to do when you purchase an Amazon actuator, that is to move the string. You see, the string they provide for an emergency release is a great idea. However, it's connected to the wrong end of the latch. Meaning, you have to pull DOWN on the string in order to release the door manually, which as we all know, can't happen when the door is closed and you're reaching in through the window.

So, all you have to do is move the string to the other end of the latch, then put a little hole in the plastic cover that covers the latch and pull the string through it. This way, the string is always available just in case the actuator fails to relase.

Just see the pics and it'll all makes sense. My thumb is on the manual release lever, which is the smaller of the two. The larger lever moves with the motor and can't be manipulated manually.

Incidentally, Amayama has OEM actuators for $147 + $23 shipping to my place. I've attached a screen shot of my cart but I didn't order it. Another option for us for an OEM part that is still cheaper than Claremont Toyota, which is where I get some of my OEM parts from.

HTH others with the same issue.

Cheers.