1st Gen Sequoia Back Hatch Locked (Sensor Reading as Open)

989 Views 1 Reply 1 Participant Last post by JBallinger, Feb 5, 2022

JBallinger

Discussion Starter · Feb 5, 2022

I just bought a 2005 sequoia and of course the hatch gets stuck shut after a few days of owning it. The previous owner mentioned he replaced the handle several times. I watched just about every video on the issue on YouTube (a lot of them), and have read many post on here. Sorry if I missed one. I bought a handle, cable, and latch on Amazon. I was worried I would not be able to open the hatch to install them. I watched videos on how to do that, and was not looking forward to attempting it. Fortunately, I was able to randomly get the hatch open with several attempts. The handle still looked good, the cable was stretched though, and the latch was old and very slow and difficult to open. So I replaced them both (cable and latch). This was not that difficult since I watched so many videos on how to do it.

I did notice the white (OE) electrical connector was not connected on the old latch. When I installed the new one I went ahead and reconnected it. As soon as I connected it the alarm went off. I used the key fob to turn off the alarm and continued latch installation.

When I was done everything was working fine. Tested it several times and was good. I never started the car. Just hit locks on the door, and on the key fob. Everything was good. But when I started the car and moved it. It then told me the back hatch was open (door ajar light on the dash). It will not open now. And it will not let me lock the car with the fob. It just beeps as if a door is open.

Summary

handle, cable, latch all good
hatch won't open with multiple unlocking attempts
it is reading that the hatch is open (door ajar light)
old latch had the white electrical harness disconnected
it will not let me lock with key fob (thinks a door is open)

See less See more

Save

1 - 2 of 2 Posts

JBallinger

Discussion Starter · #2 · Feb 5, 2022

JBallinger said:
I just bought a 2005 sequoia and of course the hatch gets stuck shut after a few days of owning it. The previous owner mentioned he replaced the handle several times. I watched just about every video on the issue on YouTube (a lot of them), and have read many post on here. Sorry if I missed one. I bought a handle, cable, and latch on Amazon. I was worried I would not be able to open the hatch to install them. I watched videos on how to do that, and was not looking forward to attempting it. Fortunately, I was able to randomly get the hatch open with several attempts. The handle still looked good, the cable was stretched though, and the latch was old and very slow and difficult to open. So I replaced them both (cable and latch). This was not that difficult since I watched so many videos on how to do it.

I did notice the white (OE) electrical connector was not connected on the old latch. When I installed the new one I went ahead and reconnected it. As soon as I connected it the alarm went off. I used the key fob to turn off the alarm and continued latch installation.

When I was done everything was working fine. Tested it several times and was good. I never started the car. Just hit locks on the door, and on the key fob. Everything was good. But when I started the car and moved it. It then told me the back hatch was open (door ajar light on the dash). It will not open now. And it will not let me lock the car with the fob. It just beeps as if a door is open.

Summary

handle, cable, latch all good

hatch won't open with multiple unlocking attempts

it is reading that the hatch is open (door ajar light)

old latch had the white electrical harness disconnected

it will not let me lock with key fob (thinks a door is open)

Update today. We took it to the dealer to see if they could diagnose it. If was going to be $230 just to diagnose it. We went ahead and just took it a part ourselves and tried different things. The panel came off fairly easily without the door open. I could not open it by pulling the cable. I disconnected the white electrical connector (for the censor) and was then able to get the door unlocked and opened. We thought it was done and fixed. But while testing it extensively, it locked up again on its own with the sensor still disconnected.

We finally just ended up disconnecting both electrical connectors and just left the latch in the unlocked position. This is not a great solution, but it is definitely working better for us then not being able to get into the hatch.

Summary

Something in the electrical system was erratically locking it, and then not unlocking it.
Disconnecting both electrical contractors to the latch allows the latch to function just fine, except it no longer can be locked.
All other doors lock fine with key fob or through door locks.
All the other electrical components in the hatch seems to work fine... hatch window, rear wiper, defrost.

We would love to know if this makes sense to anyone else, and if anyone knows of a more permanent solution. Thanks.

See less See more

Save

1 - 2 of 2 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month