Those struts are about $300 each from toyota. Video from thecarcarenut is free, the job is not that difficult. ' Course better those going sideways than the crappy UA80 transmission which will cost you $8K plus install unless you have the warranty.
Since you are still in the 3 year warranty period, you can buy the extended platinum warranty , so that when the transmission goes bad, Toyota will replace it under the warranty

 

My 2022 Toyota Highlander XLE power liftgate also keeps stopping part way open. Recalibrating etc does not help; it doesn't do it all the time, just sometimes. Yesterday the Toyota dealership recalibrated it and when I went to pick up the car, it opened part way on first attempt to open. The dealership said there is a problem with the motorized struts or sensors, but it is not registering an error code, so there is nothing they can do in terms of fixing under warranty, as Toyota corporate will only cover issues that register an error code. So I paid for a rental car for 2 days while my car was at the dealership and the issue is still unresolved. My 3 year warranty ends on 15Sep and I feel as though I have a lemon which I will need to fix out of pocket because the warranty will not cover it because of no error codes. This is my 3rd Highlander (and I just bought a 4th, 2025 model recently). Not the quality I'd expected from Toyota, which will have me looking at other makes of car going forward.

 

Well I'm here at the dealer. Service guy came out and said yep they are screwey and they have new ones in stock and are replacing them. He said the sequoias and other models are also having lots of issues. He was a tech in 2018 and said the ravs were the victims ( I know, I had them replaced on mine). He said there have been revisions in the construction..but.. yes, china makes them. He also said there's NO specific prevention we can do to prevent it. Socket alignment, lubing the shaft etc etc.. nuthin. Its either noise, malfunction or both. They are simply crappy.

 

He said the sequoias and other models are also having lots of issues. He said there have been revisions in the construction..but.. yes, china makes them.

Assuming no recall on these POS?

 

So far, knock on wood, I've not had a single issue with my power liftgate. No noises, no partial operations, nothing. Even the kick sensor works every time. Did I get a magic unicorn of a Highlander?

 

I mean, yours is only a couple of years old. Mine is 7 years old / 89K and I use the power gate almost daily and still works fine (outside a glitch once in a rare while).

 

Another not-so-well-known component of the rear hatch are the Pinch Sensors. These are also electronic and run down both sides of the hatch door. As the name states, these independently detect resistance and will signal the door to stop. However, there aren't any moving parts that I know of. Any crazy noises are usually indicative of the powered struts.

https://dz310nzuyimx0.cloudfront.net/strapr1/9fe1dcf5fdfe280042bdafa536fac048/062bdbad153108b7fc53150415c6af9b.png

 

Any crazy noises are usually indicative of the powered struts.

Ours is positively the right powered strut. Sounds like a machine gun some days.

 

Golftano29, WRCLVR, 54_96: Our discussion is about cleaning and lubricating. My '22 Platinum has had random closure problems, sometimes opening problems, in which a little hand pressure will let it complete an operation.
About a month ago, I took it through a high-dollar, special-discount, clean-it-all car wash, the cycle that has 'super' car wax etc. After this, we noticed the gate opened and closed without problem. Then after a couple of weeks, another incident or two occurred.
I intend to do a thorough clean on the hinges and struts, and try the synthetic grease that Golftango29 used (April 17, 2025). Like 54_96 stated, I hate to start throwing parts at the problem and give the dealer access.
Thanks.
Michael

 

Golftano29, WRCLVR, 54_96: Our discussion is about cleaning and lubricating. My '22 Platinum has had random closure problems, sometimes opening problems, in which a little hand pressure will let it complete an operation.
About a month ago, I took it through a high-dollar, special-discount, clean-it-all car wash, the cycle that has 'super' car wax etc. After this, we noticed the gate opened and closed without problem. Then after a couple of weeks, another incident or two occurred.
I intend to do a thorough clean on the hinges and struts, and try the synthetic grease that Golftango29 used (April 17, 2025). Like 54_96 stated, I hate to start throwing parts at the problem and give the dealer access.
Thanks.
Michael

Make sure there is no pinching / binding on any of the ball joints. Rotate them so they are perfectly straight.

 

I had a problem with my 2023 XLE a few months ago where the door wouldn’t open or even unlock at all. I took it to a private mechanic that specializes in Toyotas. Left it with him and he called to say it was ready. Got there and asked how much I owed and he told me there was no charge. He hooked up his scanner, cleared some codes, and life was good. I have no idea what codes he cleared, but has been working perfectly ever since.

 

Ours is 9.5 / 10 no go on the down. But today it was on the up. It sounds horrendous on the down.

 

I need to go back in for mine. They re-initialized it and it worked until the next morning. I've never had an issue getting it to open, only closed. It drops about 2 inches and stops and beeps. I can pull it lightly through and it will close. Now it's making a loud sqeaky noise when it almost closed.

 

UPDATE;
Took it in yesterday. Of course, it behaved and worked quietly like it's supposed to. Service guy says it's frustrating for them as well. He knows people don't want to bring a perfectly functioning car in. I'm leaning toward a temperature related issue. Maybe cooler temps cause more resistance in the crappy struts. Any resistance sensed by the pinch sensors is too much and stops the down travel.

 

Sorry to hear so many others (me included) are still dealing with this issue. Our 22' still does it at random. Up and down. Hate to start throwing parts at it, but may just do it and get it over with and hope we get rid of it before the new ones puke. Have said it in another thread here, 4 Toyotas in the drive but the next one won't be. Will likely have issues with every other brand, but this Toyota has left me quite disappointed.

 

Golftango29: What kind of lubricant do you use on the shafts of the struts?
Thanks.

I used Mobil 1 general synthetic grease.

I'll try that on my 22 Platinum. Do you have to pull the strut off to get grease into the socket? Thanks in advance for the reply

BTW that last pic looks a lot cleaner..did you clean that and what with?

No, just work the grease in by hand. It's just clean as I keep the vehicle, including the jambs, clean.


The main thing is making sure they are not binding. These liftgates are too sensitive and any resistance will trigger the stop/three beep.

 

Lots of us having the liftgate problem. Having to assist it by hand kind of defeats it being a remote button on the fob, doesn't it? This is the second problem I've had after 35 years and 7 Toyotas. The first has been radios that go crazy after about 10 years.

 

Fourth time in for this repair. Never was able to duplicate it at the Dealer of course. So over the weekend I got the phone out and recorded it opening two inches and then stopping. On the second opening it went all the way up but made the noise like nails on a chalkboard coming down as someone earlier had mentioned. Had not thought of taking a video earlier duh. Took the car in yesterday morning as the warranty runs out in the summer, showed the service advisor the videos who forwarded them to the shop foreman. Ordered new struts. Hopefully that fixes it. $1,200 plus or minus he said out of warranty. About an hour for the fix.

 

I'll try that on my 22 Platinum. Do you have to pull the strut off to get grease into the socket? Thanks in advance for the reply

BTW that last pic looks a lot cleaner..did you clean that and what with?

 

Mine went out a month ago. It will not close sometimes until i pull it down. It goes back up like there is something blocking it. I have a 2022 Highlander LE and my warranty is out. I took it to the dealership they said my lift gate struts need to be replaced. $1500 when the parts are only $250. If so many people are having issues with it this needs to be a recall item and fixed.

 

Before replacing parts or bringing it back to the dealer, check this simple thing.

If you are having an issue where the liftgate only opens a few inches then stops and beeps, you need to open the liftgate manually and check the positions of the lift arm ball joints. They need to be perfectly straight and not binding. I'd also recommend some lithium grease in the ball joints. You can grab the lift arm and rotate them until the ball joints are perfectly aligned like this:

Clean and lubricate the shafts of the struts, paying attention to where the smaller of the shaft (piston) goes into the larger part, make sure there is no dirt/debris. Then grab each of the struts and rotate them so they are perfectly centered and not binding in any of the ball joints. Reset the gate by holding the button and try again.

 

The same thing is happening to me. I just got back from Toyota and theydid a reset for me but same thing happened as they tried to show me that it opens. I need to return to Toyota this week.

 

2022 Highlander Limited. Lift gate off and on working. Still under warranty only 9K miles. Going there at open tomorrow cause who knows how long it will take to fix it or if they have to order a part. Will post my results.

 

is there a better replacements for the struts or maybe installing struts that do not use power (but how they would work?)

 

Just lift by hand. Might not be too difficult since most of the gate seems to be plastic anyway.

 

Now that seems like a reasonable explanation to me, and I'm not happy to hear it.

 

Wow! It has been well over a decade since the issue with the lift gate lifters ("struts") started on the Gen2 Highlanders... Still not figured out by Toyota! Somehow, it is not surprising.
Folks on one of the overseas Highlanders forum did a research. They disassembled a number of faulty "struts" and found one of the lift motor wires breaking overtime closer to the solder point because of being over-tightened. When the wire starts to break, the current to the motor falls and the issue is intermittent. When the wire breaks completely, the lift gate stops working at all. Lubrication doesn't help. Some reported that if the lift gate is set to not to reach its upper point by about 2 inches, then the chance of that wire breaking is minimized. I did adjust the lift gate on my former 2016 Highlander that way right from the start, as otherwise it would hit the garage door in the upper position. As a result, never had the "strut" issue until it was traded in after 7.5 years and 150K miles.

P.S.: There is nothing to leak in the power lift gate lifters/"struts". There is a rather tiny motor and gears inside, but no oil.

 

P.S.: There is nothing to leak in the power lift gate lifters/"struts". There is a rather tiny motor and gears inside, but no oil.

Toyota dealer told me the struts were gas-filled, and if they leaked that caused the problem. Not saying I believed him.

 

Wow, just happened couple days ago to mine too for the first time... 2020 HL LE
... a little persuasive punch fixed it for the time being

These struts seems like a time bomb for everyone.

 

It's interesting, as this happened to my '22 XSE the other day. It opened 1/10th of the way and was stuck, and I thought, that's odd...so I pushed it to close, hit the button on my FOB just to make sure, and opened it back up as normal. I hope it's not going out 😩

 

After reading this thread, I made an appt with Toyota for Monday. My Highlander is under a year old and less that 12K miles. I was told that other customers are calling with the same issue.

 

Please let us know how your appt went.

 

The left lift-gate strut on my 2020 Highlander Limited groans loudly when opening or closing. Occasionally it jams, but can be coaxed with a little up or down hand pressure. I've tried both silicone spray and white lithium grease on it, to no avail. I presume it will eventually fail, so I'm happy to report that I bought an extended warranty good to 125K when I purchased the vehicle. But if "Murphy's Law" kicks in, it'll likely fail at 126K. How did I get so cynical?

 

Mine started to refuse to open, the only way it would open is if it used the kick motion, then after a while it started working again from either inside the vehicle or outside using my fob.

Thanks,